''Survival'' is the final serial of the
26th 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 u ...
'', which was first broadcast in three 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 22 November to 6 December 1989. It is also the final story of the series' original 26-year run; it did not return regularly until 2005. It marks the final regular television appearances of
Sylvester McCoy
Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...
as the
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy.
W ...
and
Sophie Aldred
Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''D ...
as
Ace
An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
, and is also the final appearance of
Anthony Ainley
Anthony Ainley (20 August 1932 – 3 May 2004) was an English actor. He was the fourth actor to portray The Master (Doctor Who), the Master in ''Doctor Who''.
Early life
Ainley was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, the son of the actor Henry Ainle ...
as
the Master, the latter appearing alongside McCoy's Doctor for the only time.
Journalist
Matthew Sweet
Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...
has described ''Survival'' as "a parable about
Thatcherism
Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and general style of manag ...
" that shares multiple characteristics with the later
David Tennant
David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...
era of ''Doctor Who''. The Doctor brings Ace home to
Perivale
Perivale () is an area of Greater London, west of Charing Cross. It is the smallest of the seven towns which make up the London Borough of Ealing.
Perivale is mostly residential, with a library, community centre, a number of parks and open ...
, where her friends have been transported to the planet of the Cheetah People.
Plot
The
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy.
W ...
brings
Ace
An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
back home to
Perivale
Perivale () is an area of Greater London, west of Charing Cross. It is the smallest of the seven towns which make up the London Borough of Ealing.
Perivale is mostly residential, with a library, community centre, a number of parks and open ...
in west London. Ace becomes worried when most of her old friends seem to have disappeared, but the Doctor is more preoccupied with the black cat he sees skulking about. The cat appears to be selecting people and transporting them to another dimension. Ace finds herself being hunted down by a creature on horseback, which seems to be half-human, half-cheetah, and which hunts in tandem with the black cat. Later the Doctor and a keep-fit instructor called Paterson are chosen and teleported to another world, where the Doctor is greeted by his nemesis
the Master.
![Doctor Who 50th Celebration (11278583083)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Doctor_Who_50th_Celebration_%2811278583083%29.jpg)
The Master explains the complex situation: they are on a sentient planet, which has the power to transform its inhabitants into animals. The formerly human inhabitants, which have since evolved into Cheetah People, originally bred the black cats as pets. The Master himself shows signs of transformation and needs the Doctor's help to escape from the planet.
Ace finds her friends, Shreela and Midge, who are hiding in some woods with a young man called Derek. A Cheetah pack attacks and during the fight Midge kills one Cheetah while Ace injures another, called Karra. She begins to form an attachment to Karra and nurses her, tending her injuries, which worries the Doctor greatly. Ace's eyes change and she begins to transform into a Cheetah herself.
Midge submits to the power of the planet and begins to transform. The Master seizes on this and uses Midge to
teleport them both back to Earth and away from the dying world. Ace helps The Doctor get back to Perivale, also enabling Paterson, Derek and Shreela to flee the strange planet. The Doctor and Ace return to Perivale, where they find Midge and the Master have killed Paterson for sport. Midge too is killed in the Master's machinations. Karra's arrival brings comfort to Ace, whose transformation is continuing, but the Master kills Karra too.
The Master transports the Doctor with him back to the Cheetah Planet for a final conflict but the Doctor resists the pull of the planet, turning away from violence, and is transported away from the dying world. However, the Master looks doomed on the planet as it begins to break up. The Doctor has gone back to the
TARDIS
The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior a ...
and Earth, where he finds Ace, whose metamorphosis has reversed.
Production
Writing
Writer
Rona Munro
Rona Munro (born 7 September 1959) is a Scottish writer. She has written plays for theatre, radio, and television. Her film work includes Ken Loach's '' Ladybird, Ladybird'' (1994), ''Oranges and Sunshine'' (2010) for Jim Loach and ''Aimée & J ...
approached script editor
Andrew Cartmel
Andrew J. Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British author and journalist. He was the script editor of ''Doctor Who'' during the Sylvester McCoy era of the show between 1987 and 1989. He has also worked as a script editor on other television serie ...
at a BBC scriptwriting workshop and said that she'd "kill to write for ''Doctor Who''."
The story Munro developed incorporated themes including the morals of hunting (personified by the Cheetah People and signposted by Ace's friend Ange collecting for
hunt saboteurs).
The title ''Survival'' was chosen by Cartmel.
Munro was disappointed by the realisation of the Cheetah People:
Recording
''Survival'' was one of only a handful of ''Doctor Who'' serials to be recorded completely on BBC Outside Broadcast video, instead of the mix of OB and studio video that was more common during the late 1980s, and the mix of film and video that was usual before them. The other stories to be recorded solely on OB video were ''
The Sontaran Experiment
''The Sontaran Experiment'' is the third serial of the 12th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast on BBC1 on 22 February and 1 March 1975.
The serial is set on Earth more than 10 ...
'' (1975), ''
Delta and the Bannermen
''Delta and the Bannermen'' is the third serial of the 24th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 2 to 16 November 1987.
In the serial, aliens called the Ban ...
'' (1987), ''
Silver Nemesis
''Silver Nemesis'' is the third serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 in three weekly parts from 23 November (the 25th anniversary) to 7 ...
'' (1988) and ''
The Curse of Fenric
''The Curse of Fenric'' is the third serial of the 26th season of the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 25 October to 15 November 1989.
In it, the ancient evil ...
'' (1989).
It was almost on the shooting days for the scenes on the planet of the Cheetah people. One of the extras removed her costume (revealing that she was wearing very little underneath) and simply walked off the set, causing delays while a replacement was found. The battle at the climax of the story was recorded and is set on the site of the ancient
hill fort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
at
Horsenden Hill
Horsenden Hill (; ) is a hill and open space, located between the Perivale, Sudbury, and Greenford areas of West London. It is in the London Borough of Ealing, close to the boundary with the London Borough of Brent. It is one of the higher em ...
, Perivale. The majority of location recording was done in and around Perivale, with small sections shot at nearby
Ealing
Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Ealing was histor ...
, outside and near
The Drayton Court
The Drayton Court is a boutique hotel and one of the oldest pubs in Ealing, west London. The former Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, Hồ Chí Minh, worked in the kitchens in 1914.
History
The pub was conceived as a family and residential ...
pub.
The final Doctor Who episode in the original series
Having already surmised that episode three of ''Survival'' was likely to at least be the last episode of ''Doctor Who'' for some time, and possibly the last ever, the show's producer John Nathan-Turner decided close to transmission that a more suitable conclusion should be given to the final episode. To this end, script editor
Andrew Cartmel
Andrew J. Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British author and journalist. He was the script editor of ''Doctor Who'' during the Sylvester McCoy era of the show between 1987 and 1989. He has also worked as a script editor on other television serie ...
wrote a short, melancholic closing monologue for actor Sylvester McCoy, which McCoy recorded on the 23rd November 1989, the day after episode one was broadcast and, by coincidence, the show's twenty-sixth anniversary:
''"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke, and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there’s injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace – we've got work to do!"''
This was dubbed over the closing scene as the Doctor and Ace walked off into the distance, apparently to further adventures. Although ''Survival'' was the last ''Doctor Who'' serial of the original series to be transmitted, it was not the last to have been produced; that was ''
Ghost Light'', which had been broadcast some weeks earlier, as the antepenultimate story of the original run. The ''Doctor Who'' production office at the BBC finally closed down in August 1990, having been in continuous operation since 1963.
This story is the last to feature Anthony Ainley as the Master. Ainley was not asked to return as the Master for the
1996 ''Doctor Who'' television movie. Instead, Gordon Tipple was cast as the Master for the prologue and
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...
played the Master for the rest of the movie. Ainley reprised the role of the Master for the 1997 computer game ''
Destiny of the Doctors
''Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors'' is an action video game based on the BBC British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was released on 5 December 1997 by BBC Multimedia.
Overview
A collaboration between BBC Multimedia ...
''. He continued to be active in ''Doctor Who'', attending conventions and recording a commentary track for the DVD of the 1981 serial ''
The Keeper of Traken
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''. Ainley died in May 2004.
McCoy and Aldred would reprise their roles onscreen on a number of occasions: first in a 1990 episode of the educational series ''Search Out Science''; and again in 1993, along with many other former ''Doctor Who'' actors, for the
Children in Need special ''
Dimensions in Time
''Dimensions in Time'' is a charity special crossover between the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and the soap opera ''EastEnders'' that ran in two parts on 26 and 27 November 1993. It was filmed on location at Greenwich ...
''. McCoy would briefly return to the role for the
1996 ''Doctor Who'' television movie which saw the Seventh Doctor regenerate into the
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Paul McGann.
The character was introduced in the 1996 TV film ''Doctor Who'', a back-door pilo ...
, played by
Paul McGann
Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial '' The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which wa ...
, and once more in 2021 for a webcast trailer promoting the blu-ray release of
Season 24
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
alongside
Bonnie Langford
Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford (born 22 July 1964) is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series ''Just William''. In the 1980s, she played c ...
as
Mel Bush
Mel, also sometimes referred to as Melanie, is a fictional character played by Bonnie Langford in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. A computer programmer from the 20th century who is a companion of the ...
.
Had the series continued, Aldred would have remained in her role until the expiry of her contract midway through the following season. Ace was to be written out of the series in ''Ice Time'', an
Ice Warrior
The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. They were originally created by Brian Hayles, first appearing in the 1967 serial ''T ...
story written by
Marc Platt. Aldred returned as Ace in 2019 for a webcast trailer promoting the blu-ray release of
Season 26
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
.
In 1999, McCoy agreed to reprise his role as the Doctor in officially-licensed ''Doctor Who'' audio adventures produced by
Big Finish, with Aldred also returning the following year. As of 2022, both McCoy and Aldred continue to make regular appearances in ''Doctor Who'' audio releases and associated spin-offs. The pair also returned in 2001 for the BBC
webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...
production, ''
Death Comes to Time
''Death Comes to Time'' is a webcast audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', produced by the BBC and first broadcast in five episodes on the BBCi Cult website from 12 July 2001, accompani ...
''.
''Doctor Who'' eventually returned to television as a
BBC Wales production in 2005, helmed by
Russell T Davies
Stephen Russell Davies (born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include '' Queer as Folk'', '' The Second Coming'', ''Casanova'', the 2005 revival of the BBC One scie ...
. In 2022, Aldred made a special guest appearance as Ace in the revived series, alongside
Janet Fielding
Janet Fielding (born Janet Claire Mahoney; 9 September 1953) is an Australian actress who starred in the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' as companion Tegan Jovanka.
Early life and career
Fielding was born in Brisbane. Aft ...
as
Tegan Jovanka
Tegan Jovanka is a fictional character played by Janet Fielding in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An Australian airline stewardess and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the Fourth and Fift ...
, for the BBC's Centenary special - ''
The Power of the Doctor
"The Power of the Doctor" is the third and final of the 2022 specials of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', and was broadcast on BBC One on 23 October 2022. The episode was ordered for the occasion of the 100th ann ...
'' - which saw the end of
Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Whittaker (born 17 June 1982) is an English actress who is best known for portraying the thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2017–2022) and as Beth Latimer in ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2017).
She came to prominence ...
's tenure as the
Thirteenth Doctor
The Thirteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the fictional protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, ''Doctor Who''. She is portrayed by English actress Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to portray the character, st ...
and was the last story produced entirely by
BBC Studios
BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...
before entering a co-production deal with
Bad Wolf
"Bad Wolf" is the twelfth episode of the revived first series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 June 2005. It is the first of a two-part story. The concluding episo ...
. McCoy also made a surprise cameo as a manifestation of the Seventh Doctor.
Cast notes
The part of Karra in this serial is played by
Lisa Bowerman
Lisa Bowerman (born 1 February 1962) is a British actress. She is best known for portraying Sandra Mute, the paramedic, in the BBC One medical drama ''Casualty'', in the first two series (1986–1987). She also starred as Professor Bernice Summe ...
, who is now more familiar to fans as the voice of
Bernice Summerfield
Bernice Surprise Summerfield (later Professor Bernice Summerfield or just Benny) is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length ''Doctor Who ...
in the
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'', the ...
audio dramas
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
. She is also a director of many Big Finish productions, and also returned to the ''Doctor Who'' series proper when she provided voice-acting work for the animated special ''
Dreamland'' in 2009.
This serial features guest appearances of the comedians Gareth Hale and Norman Pace, and actress Adele Silva (as an 8-year-old, in her first television role). See also
Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who.
Broadcast and reception
There was no direct indication given to the public that this was to be the final regular instalment of ''Doctor Who''; however, unlike previous years' final episodes, this one featured no announcement in the closing credits that the programme would return the following year.
Reviewing ''Survival'',
David J. Howe and
Stephen James Walker described it as "a very good story", with a
script that contains "highly imaginative and original concepts".
[Howe, David,
Walker, Stephen James. ''Doctor Who : The Television Companion''. London : BBC Worldwide, 1999.
(pp. 536-37).] They also expressed admiration for the special effects used for the Cheetah People's planet,
calling them "superb electronic video effects". Ainley's performance was also praised, with the reviewers
stating it was "deadly serious and implacably evil, but with occasional flashes of dark humour".
While stating that it was "deeply regrettable" that the original series of ''Doctor Who'' had to end with ''Survival'', they added "that it went out on such a high note is, however, something to be thankful for".
The serial was also positively received by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, who praised Anthony Ainley's performance and considered the show to be "a great end to the series" with "an epic quality".
Commercial releases
In print
A novelisation of this serial, written by
Rona Munro
Rona Munro (born 7 September 1959) is a Scottish writer. She has written plays for theatre, radio, and television. Her film work includes Ken Loach's '' Ladybird, Ladybird'' (1994), ''Oranges and Sunshine'' (2010) for Jim Loach and ''Aimée & J ...
, 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 October 1990, making Munro the third woman to write a ''Doctor Who'' novelisation. A reprint edition was one of several possible books included with a 2008 issue of
Doctor Who Magazine
''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the followi ...
.
Home media
''Survival'' was released on
VHS in October 1995. It was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
on 16 April 2007 as a 2-disc set and as part of the Doctor Who: The Collection Season 26 blu-ray box set released in 2020. It is the only story from season 26 not to be have an alternate extended cut. This serial was released as part of the
Doctor Who DVD Files
This is a list of ''Doctor Who'' serials and episodes that have been released on DVD and Blu-ray.
DVD Release
Most ''Doctor Who'' DVDs have been released first in the United Kingdom with Region 2, and released later in Australia and Ne ...
collection, in issue 51, published 15 December 2010.
Soundtrack release
The music from this serial, composed by
Dominic Glynn
Dominic Francis Glynn (born 27 September 1960 in Cuckfield, Sussex) is an English electronic composer.
Glynn is a prolific composer of music for television and film. His work includes the arrangement of the ''Doctor Who'' theme music which se ...
, was first released on CD on 15 September 2017.
Track listing
References
External links
*
*
Guide to the Perivale locations used in ''Survival''Doctor Who Locations- Survival
Target novelisation
*
{{Doctor Who soundtracks
Seventh Doctor serials
British television series finales
The Master (Doctor Who) television stories
1989 British television episodes
Doctor Who stories set on Earth
Fiction set in 1989
Television episodes set in London