''Arc of Infinity'' is the first serial of the 20th season of the British

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'', which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

from 3 to 12 January 1983. The serial is set in Amsterdam and on the planet

Gallifrey Gallifrey () is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is the original home world of the Time Lords, the civilisation to which the protagonist, the Doctor belongs. It is located in a ...

. In the serial, the

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, the Doctor, is a member. Time Lords are so named for their command ...

traitor Hedin (

Michael Gough Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthu ...

) seeks to bring the founder of the Time Lords

Omega Omega (; capital: Ω, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system/ isopsephy ( gematria), it has a value of 800. The ...

( Ian Collier) out of the universe of

antimatter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioac ...

by making him bond with the body of the

Fifth Doctor The Fifth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Peter Davison. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from ...

(

Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor with many credits in television dramas and sitcoms. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan ...

) in the universe of matter.

Plot

, the

's home planet, a

traitor steals the bio-data code of another Time Lord and provides it to the Renegade, a creature composed of

. The High Council of the Time Lords issue a Warrant of Termination on the Doctor to ensure the Renegade can no longer bond with him. The Doctor is taken for execution, despite Nyssa's attempts to save him, and placed in a dispersal chamber. Unbeknownst to the High Council, The Doctor's mind has been taken into the Matrix, the repository of all Time Lord knowledge, while his body is hidden. The Renegade, who demands an opportunity to return to the Universe it once inhabited, contacts him. The truth of the aborted execution is discovered by the

Castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant ...

, who tells Nyssa, Damon, and the High Council that the Doctor is alive. Omega from the

In Amsterdam, the Doctor's former companion

Tegan Tegan is a given name of Welsh origin. It is a diminutive of the Welsh word ''teg'' ('fair') and means 'darling', 'loved one', or 'favourite', and is the normal Welsh word for 'toy'. People with the name Notable people with the first name Tegan ...

is looking for her cousin Colin Frazer. She is greeted by his friend Robin Stuart, who explains that Colin disappeared while they were crashing in the crypt of the Frankendael mansion. The Renegade, which has established its base at the Frankendael, finds them and uses Tegan as bait to force the Doctor to obey him. The Doctor is returned to normal space on Gallifrey where he makes for the High Council Chamber. Time Lord Councillor Hedin is revealed as the traitor who transmitted the bio-data. Hedin is in awe of his master

, first of the Time Lords and pioneer of time travel. Hedin wishes to release Omega from his exile in a universe of antimatter, not realising the great Time Lord has been driven insane by his years of solitary confinement. The Castellan kills Councillor Hedin, but this does not prevent Omega using the Arc of Infinity to seize total control of the Matrix and come to Earth. When he peels his decayed mask away, he reveals the features of the Doctor, whom he now perfectly resembles. Omega leaves for Amsterdam with the Doctor and Nyssa in pursuit. Within a short time, the Doctor's prediction of an unstable transfer begins to come true: Omega's flesh decays and it is clear his new body is not permanent. When the Doctor and Nyssa catch up with him, it is a painful task for the Doctor to use the Ergon's antimatter converter on Omega, expelling him back to his own universe of antimatter. The Time Lord High Council on Gallifrey detects the end of the threat. Once Tegan has checked on her cousin's progress in hospital, she decides to rejoin the TARDIS crew.

Production

The working titles for this story were ''The Time of Neman'' and ''The Time of Omega''. For Parts One and Two, the character of Omega was credited as "The Renegade" on the end credits.

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series ''Docto ...

stated on ''Doctor Who: The Colin Baker Years'' video that

John Nathan-Turner John Nathan-Turner (''né'' Turner; 12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002) was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He was also the final producer of the series' firs ...

believed his performance was a little arch, and therefore gave him the nickname of Archie. Substantial portions of the story were filmed on location in Amsterdam. This was only the second time the show had filmed outside of Britain. John Nathan-Turner hoped to repeat the success of the first story filmed overseas, ''

City of Death ''City of Death'' is the second serial of the seventeenth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor. It was produced by the BBC ...

'' (1979). Amsterdam was chosen both because the BBC had recently developed contacts there and because it was cheap to arrange travel and hotel accommodations. Story writer Johnny Bryne had some trouble at first because the producers wanted a plot that made the Amsterdam setting a key factor in the course of events, rather than him just happening to be there. Part One was broadcast on a Monday in contrast to the rest of this season's episodes, which were all transmitted on consecutive Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Cast notes

The story features a guest appearance by

(who had previously played the

Celestial Toymaker The Celestial Toymaker is a fictional character in the long-running British science fiction television series, ''Doctor Who''. He was played by Michael Gough, and featured in the 1966 story '' The Celestial Toymaker'' by Brian Hayles. Characte ...

in the story of the same name).

Leonard Sachs Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor. Life and career Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated t ...

previously played Admiral Gaspard de Coligny in ''

The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve ''The Massacre'' (also known as ''The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve'') is the completely missing fourth serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly par ...

'' (1966). Ian Collier previously played Stuart Hyde in '' The Time Monster'' (1972).

(who would later portray the

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time on the series was comparatively brief and turbulent, Ba ...

) appeared in the serial as Commander Maxil. It was his performance in this role (which, according to Baker, producer John Nathan-Turner repeatedly told him to "tone down") that first brought him to the attention of the production office. Shortly after the production, the Assistant Floor Manager on the serial, Lynn Richards, invited Colin Baker to her wedding reception. Amongst the other guests were Ron Jones,

Sarah Sutton Sarah Sutton (born 12 December 1961) is a British actress. She played the role of Nyssa in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Early life Sutton was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. Sutton studied ballet a ...

, Eric Saward,

and

Gary Downie Roderick Gary Downie Pinkus (17 July 1940 – 19 January 2006) was a South African-born English production manager on many 1980s episodes of the long-running science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and partner of its producer John N ...

. Baker has said in a number of interviews that his entertaining form at the party directly led to his being cast as the Sixth Doctor the following year. Baker reprised the role of Maxil as an uncredited cameo in the 2006

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include '' Doctor Who'', th ...

audio play ''Gallifrey: Appropriation''.

Elspet Gray Elspet Jean Gray, Baroness Rix (née Gray; 12 April 1929 – 18 February 2013) was a Scottish actress, who first became known for her partnership with her husband, Brian Rix, and later was cast in many television roles in the 1970s and 1980s. S ...

, who played Thalia, later played Hera in the audio play ''

Immortal Beloved The Immortal Beloved (German "Unsterbliche Geliebte") is the addressee of a love letter which composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote on 6–7 July 1812 in Teplitz. The unsent letter is written in pencil on 10 small pages. It was found in the comp ...

''. Her character's name is shared with the Greek Muse of comedy. At the Fifth Element convention in London in February 2010, Alastair Cumming (who played Colin Frazer) explained that he is not related to Fiona Cumming (director of the

serials '' Castrovalva'' (1982), '' Snakedance'', '' Enlightenment'' (both 1983) and '' Planet of Fire'' (1984)), despite frequent reports that she is his mother. Leela had been written into the script, but Louise Jameson was not available. A few of Leela's actions critical to the plot were therefore given to Nyssa, resulting in a slightly unusually aggressive role for the character.

Commercial releases

In print

A novelisation of this serial, written by

Terrance Dicks Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English author and television screenwriter, script editor and producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', working a ...

, was published by

Target Books Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became wel ...

in July 1983.

Home media

''Arc of Infinity'' was released on VHS in March 1994. A double-pack DVD featuring both '' Time-Flight'' and ''Arc of Infinity'' was released on 6 August 2007. This serial was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files in Issue 108 on 20 February 2013.

References

External links

Target novelisation

*
On Target — ''Arc of Infinity''
{{Gallifrey stories Fifth Doctor serials Doctor Who serials novelised by Terrance Dicks 1983 British television episodes Fiction set in 1983 Television episodes set in Amsterdam