The Horns of Nimon
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''The Horns of Nimon'' is the fifth and final broadcast serial of the 17th 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 four 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 December 1979 to 12 January 1980. It is the last broadcast of David Brierley's voice as K9 (as
John Leeson John Francis Christopher Ducker (born 16 March 1943), known professionally as John Leeson, is an English actor, voice artist and freelance wine educator. He is known for portraying Bungle in ''Rainbow'' and voicing K9 in ''Doctor Who'' and s ...
returned in the next season). The serial is set on the planets Skonnos and Crinoth. In the serial,
minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...
-like aliens called the Nimons plot to invade Skonnos by creating a tunnel in time and space linked between two artificial
black hole A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...
s.


Plot

The declining Skonnan Empire is under control of a mysterious horned being called the Nimon. It resides inside a labyrinthine Power Complex on the planet Skonnos, and communicates only with the Skonnan leader, Soldeed, who reveres the Nimon as a god. The Nimon demands a regular tribute of young people, who are flown in from the nearby planet Aneth, as well as a supply of hymetusite crystals. A transport ship bearing the sacrifices from Aneth breaks down and becomes stranded in interplanetary space, close to a
black hole A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...
. Outside the ship, 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 ap ...
materialises. The
Fourth Doctor The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Tom Baker. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the ...
attempts to save the TARDIS from being drawn into the black hole by attaching it to the Skonnan ship with a force field. He and Romana then board the ship, leaving K9 behind. Once aboard they find a cargo of hymetusite crystals and a hold full of young prisoners from Aneth, led by Seth. The Doctor and Romana are captured at gunpoint by the co-pilot, who forces them to fix the ship using a hymetusite crystal. The Doctor returns to the TARDIS to get supplies, and becomes stranded when the ship's engines start. Steering the TARDIS away from the black hole, he travels to Skonnos. On Skonnos, the Nimon is enraged by the delayed sacrifice and threatens to withhold the promised armaments that will help rebuild the Skonnan Empire. The ship arrives, bearing the sacrifices and Romana, who are forced to carry the hymetusite crystals into the Power Complex. Within the labyrinth, the walls seem to shift and change, forcing them towards the Nimon. They discover desiccated husks of bodies, previous Anethans who have been drained of life. They meet the Nimon, who has the power to fire deadly laser beams out of his horns. Meanwhile, the TARDIS has materialised on Skonnos. The Doctor enters the labyrinth and distracts the Nimon, enabling Romana, Seth and Teka to escape. In the centre of the Power Complex, the Nimon operates a transit system, opening a tunnel through a pair of black holes. Large globes carrying two more Nimon appear. It is revealed that the Nimon are a parasitic race who travel via artificial black holes between planets, draining their resources, before moving on to conquer new worlds. They refer to this as "the Great Journey of Life". They are now abandoning the distant Planet Crinoth to take over Skonnos. Soldeed questions his faith when confronted with multiple Nimons. Romana accidentally travels through the tunnel to Crinoth, which she finds overrun with Nimons. She is assisted by an old man named Sezom, who gives her a mineral called jacenite which can be used to destroy Nimons. Sezom admits that he was the one who helped the Nimons take over, falling for their promises (much like Soldeed). He realized too late that the small tributes were only the start of destruction of the whole population. Romana is brought back to Skonnos. Amid a struggle, Seth has taken Soldeed's weapon, a ceremonial staff, and fitting it with the jacenite, he stuns the Nimons. K9, who has been held captive in Soldeed's laboratory, shoots the remaining Nimon. Soldeed is also shot by Seth, but sets off a self-destruct system to destroy the Power Complex. Guided by K9, the Doctor and his party escape from the labyrinth. The Skonnans evacuate their city as the Nimon Power Complex explodes. Seth and Teka take a spacecraft to return to Aneth, while the Nimon-infested Crinoth disintegrates.


Production


Outside references

''The Horns of Nimon'' is an analogue of the Classical Greek myth of
Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...
and the
Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur ( , ;. grc, ; in Latin as ''Minotaurus'' ) is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "pa ...
. Several names in Read's script allude to the original myth: the name of the planet Skonnos is close to
Knossos Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...
; the Anethans, like the ancient
Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
s, are sent to die in a
Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...
; its guardian is Soldeed, whose name refers to
Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, an ...
, designer of the Labyrinth at Knossos; the eponymous bull-headed Nimon is based on the Minotaur; and the Anethan hero Seth is based on Theseus. In the closing scenes of ''The Horns of Nimon'', the Doctor alludes to the Ancient Greek story by reminding Seth to paint his ship white (in reference to Theseus's return to Athens), and insinuates that he was personally involved in the original events of on Knossos, when he "caused quite a hoohah … Other times, other places".


Broadcast and reception

Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping gave a mixed review of the serial, stating "With its cheap design work, and a wonderfully watchable OTT performance from Graham Crowden, The Horns of Nimon is by turns brilliant and dull". ''Doctor Who: The Television Companion''s David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker noted that the show had acquired a low reputation but they considered this to be undeserved. Although "admittedly a little more light hearted than usual" it did feature a performance by Tom Baker which was "rather more serious and intense here than in most other stories of a similar vintage". Production values were "no worse than on many other stories of this era, and rather better than on some" and the story was "ingenious and fun". Patrick Mulkern of ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'' was very critical of the serial which he described as "a turgid quagmire of vapid characters, amateur dramatics, mirthless antics and clattering sets". Although the script contained "interesting concepts" these were not portrayed well due to the "absurd" Nimon costumes. Mulkern also thought the cast gave "terrible performances" with the exception of Tom Baker and Lalla Ward. In ''A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television'',
John Kenneth Muir John Kenneth Muir (born December 3, 1969) is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres. Biography Bo ...
opined that Read's use of classical allusions to Greek mythology served little purpose, but noted that the December broadcast slot of ''The Horns of Nimon'' coincided with the British panto season, obliging the scriptwriter to include
in-jokes An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It i ...
. He considered the serial was "memorable only in its superficial, mythology-based trappings, not in its content". Writing in 2017, Carey Fleiner linked the mythological theme of ''The Horns of Nimon'' to the idea of the
monomyth In narratology and comparative mythology, the hero's journey, or the monomyth, is the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home changed or transformed. Earlie ...
popularized by the author Joseph Campbell in his 1949 book ''
The Hero with a Thousand Faces ''The Hero with a Thousand Faces'' (first published in 1949) is a work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell, in which the author discusses his theory of the mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myths ...
''. She noted that Campbell's writing had influenced
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...
for his film ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'', released two years before ''The Horns of Nimon'', and suggested that the popularity of ''Star Wars'' had inspired mythological content in a number of ''Doctor Who'' serials. ''Den of Geek''s Andrew Blair selected ''The Horns of Nimon'' as one of the ten ''Doctor Who'' stories that would make great musicals.


Commercial releases


In print

Terrance Dicks Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English people, English author and television screenwriter, script editor and Television producer, producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fictio ...
' novelisation 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 1980. Dicks begins with a history of the Skonnan Empire and Soldeed, culminating in the arrival of the Nimon. Original author Anthony Read completed a new novelisation for audiobook publisher
AudioGO AudioGO (formerly BBC Audiobooks) was a publisher of audiobooks and a range of spoken word and large-print titles. It was majority owned by AudioGO Ltd, and minority owned by BBC Worldwide. It was formed in 2010, when AudioGO purchased a majori ...
in 2013, but with that company's suspension of operations and Read's death in 2015, the likelihood of its eventual release is now unclear.


Home media

''The Horns of Nimon'' was released on VHS in June 2003. It was released in a
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 ...
box set entitled ''Myths and Legends'' along with ''
The Time Monster ''The Time Monster'' is the fifth and final serial of the ninth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 20 May to 24 June 1972. The serial is set in a vi ...
'' and ''
Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...
'' in March 2010. In Region 1 North America DVD, ''Horns of Nimon'' as a single title, with extras and commentary, was released on 6 July 2010. A "no extras" DVD 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 New ...
in Issue 139 on 30 April 2014.


References


External links

*


Reviews


''Past Times: The Horns of Nimon''
Review at Nebula One


Target novelisation

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horns of Nimon, The 1979 British television episodes 1980 British television episodes Cultural depictions of Theseus Doctor Who serials novelised by Terrance Dicks Fiction about black holes Fourth Doctor serials Television series based on classical mythology