The Savages (Doctor Who)

Last updated
026 The Savages
Doctor Who serial
Savages (Doctor Who).jpg
The Doctor being observed by the savages Chal and Tor
Cast
Others
Production
Directed by Christopher Barry
Written by Ian Stuart Black
Script editor Gerry Davis
Produced by Innes Lloyd
Executive producer(s)None
Music by Raymond Jones
Production codeAA
Series Season 3
Running time4 episodes, 25 minutes each
Episode(s) missing All 4 episodes
First broadcast28 May 1966 (1966-05-28)
Last broadcast18 June 1966 (1966-06-18)
Chronology
 Preceded by
The Gunfighters
Followed by 
The War Machines
List of episodes (1963–1989)

The Savages is the completely missing ninth serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who , which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 28 May to 18 June 1966.

Contents

In this serial, the Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Steven (Peter Purves) and Dodo (Jackie Lane) arrive on an unnamed planet where they encounter two distinct people - the Elders and the Savages. They soon discover the Elders are the evil ones, draining the primitive Savages for their life source to remain young and powerful forever. This serial marks the final appearance of Purves as Steven.

To date, the serial is missing from the BBC archives. Although audio recordings, still photographs, and 8mm clips of the story exist, no episodes of this serial are known to have survived.

A fully animated version is set to be released on 24 March 2025.

Plot

The TARDIS materialises on a distant planet in the far future. The First Doctor, Steven and Dodo find the planet inhabited by both an advanced, idyllic civilisation (the Elders), and bands of roaming savages. The Elders welcome the Doctor, greeting him as "The Traveller from Beyond Time" and revealing they have admired his exploits from afar and predicted that he would soon be arriving here. Their leader Jano showers the Doctor and his companions with compliments and gifts, reinforcing the idyllic nature of the society of the Elders. However, the Doctor becomes suspicious of the Elders' seemingly perfect civilisation, but it is Dodo who finds the secret. The soldiers Exorse and Edal are sent outside the Elder city and use advanced weapons to capture the savages, entrapping them and returning them to the city. The Elders are only able to maintain the energy needed to run their civilisation by draining the life force of the helpless savages. The Doctor, appalled, tries to stop the Elders and persuade them of the wrong they are doing by building a civilisation on such immoral grounds.

Jano's response is to have the Doctor himself subjected to the energy transfer process. The Doctor is put into the transfer device and his life force is channelled into the Elder Jano, who desires his intelligence. Yet the plan backfires when the Doctor's personality takes over Jano, imbuing him with the Doctor's mannerisms, outlook and morality. The two identities cause Jano a personality crisis. Dodo and Steven have meanwhile ventured outside the city and made contact with the savage leaders Chal and Tor, who are respectively pleased and antagonised by their presence. The savages are the remnants of a once highly skilled and artistic race, but over the centuries the energy transfer process has stymied their creativity and ability. Chal hides the two fugitives in a deep cave system, pursued by the guard Exorse, whom Steven overpowers. They return to the city and find a weak but determined Doctor, and help him escape the city.

The time travellers now help the Savages fight back against the Elder guards. The Doctor realises that the Elders must be forced, not persuaded, to change their ways as their whole civilisation must change overnight. His mixed personality convinces Jano to help the Savages and he tries to convince the other Elders to treat the Savages as equals, while Exorse too has realised the error of his ways. Jano and Exorse begin the destruction of the technology underpinning the society and are soon joined in the destruction by the Doctor, Steven and Dodo. The end of the technology means the end of the oppression, and Jano and Chal begin to talk of how a new society can be built together. The Doctor surprises Steven by convincing him to remain behind as a mediator. When both sides agree to accept Steven's decision, he decides to stay. The Doctor and a heartbroken Dodo bid their friend goodbye, before they head back to the TARDIS.

Production

Working titles for this story included The White Savages. [2] This was the first serial of the series to have an overall title divided into numbered parts or episodes. [3] All stories up until and including The Gunfighters had individual episode titles for each episode.

Cast notes

This was Purves' last appearance as companion Steven Taylor. He later said that "I was unhappy to leave it, actually, I didn’t particularly want it to stop there, but the policy of the programme had changed and they’d decided that they were not going to keep the companions onboard for longer than a year, or so I understand." [4]

Clare Jenkins later played Tanya Lernov in The Wheel in Space (1968) [5] and The War Games (1969). [6] Frederick Jaeger later played Sorenson in Planet of Evil (1975) and Professor Marius in The Invisible Enemy (1977). Ewen Solon appeared as Vishinsky in Planet of Evil . [7] Patrick Godfrey later played Major Cosworth in The Mind of Evil (1971). Robert Sidaway later played Captain Turner in The Invasion (1968). Kay Patrick previously appeared as Poppaea in The Romans (1965). [8]

Broadcast and reception

EpisodeTitleRun timeOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [9]
Archive status [10]
1"Episode 1" [a] 23:4128 May 1966 (1966-05-28)4.8Only stills and/or fragments exist
2"Episode 2" [a] 23:574 June 1966 (1966-06-04)5.6Only stills and/or fragments exist
3"Episode 3" [a] 24:5911 June 1966 (1966-06-11)5.0Only stills and/or fragments exist
4"Episode 4" [a] 24:4118 June 1966 (1966-06-18)4.5Only stills and/or fragments exist

In the guidebook The Discontinuity Guide , it was described as a serial that "plays intelligent games with witless SF clichés. Whilst not aspiring to greatness it does create an effective atmosphere." [11]

Commercial releases

In print

The Savages
Doctor Who The Savages.jpg
Author Ian Stuart Black
Cover artistDavid McAllister
Series Doctor Who book:
Target novelisations
Release number
109
Publisher Target Books
Publication date
March 1986 (Hardback) 11 September 1986 (Paperback)
ISBN 0-491-03602-7

A novelisation of this serial, written by Ian Stuart Black, was published by Target Books in March 1986.

Home media

The complete soundtrack recordings, as recorded off-air by fans and coupled with linking narration by Peter Purves, has been released on CD. All four episodes of this serial are missing from the BBC archive. [7] A few brief off-air 8 mm film recordings made by an unknown Australian fan represent the only extant clips [12] (which include the departure of Steven) and were made available on the DVD box set release Lost in Time . A reconstruction has been made with telesnaps, production stills and the complete soundtrack.

On 12 December 2024, it was announced that an animated version would be released on 24 March 2025. [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

The Evil of the Daleks is the mostly-missing ninth and final serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in seven weekly parts from 20 May to 1 July 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Chesterton</span> Character in the TV series Doctor Who

Ian Chesterton is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and a companion of the First Doctor. He was played in the series by William Russell and was one of the members of the programme's first regular cast, appearing in much of the first two seasons from 1963 to 1965. In a film adaptation of one of the serials, Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), he was played by Roy Castle, but with a very different personality and backstory. Ian appeared in 16 stories and 77 episodes. He later returned for a cameo appearance, played once again by Russell, in the 2022 episode "The Power of the Doctor".

Steven Taylor (<i>Doctor Who</i>) Fictional character in the TV series Doctor Who

Steven Taylor is a fictional character played by Peter Purves in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A space pilot from Earth in the future, he was a companion of the First Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1965 to 1966. Steven appeared in 10 stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodo Chaplet</span> Fictional character in the TV series Doctor Who

Dorothea "Dodo" Chaplet is a fictional character played by Jackie Lane in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An Earth teenager from the year 1966, she was a companion of the First Doctor and a regular in the programme in its third season, from February to July 1966. Only three of the serials in which Dodo appeared as a regular are complete in the BBC archive. Dodo's personality was an unsophisticated, bright and happy one.

Planet of Evil is the second serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 27 September to 18 October 1975.

The Keeper of Traken is the sixth serial of the 18th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 31 January to 21 February 1981.

<i>The Ark</i> (<i>Doctor Who</i>) 1966 Doctor Who serial

The Ark is the sixth serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 to 26 March 1966.

<i>The Time Meddler</i> 1965 Doctor Who serial

The Time Meddler is the ninth and final serial of the second season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Dennis Spooner and directed by Douglas Camfield, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 3 to 24 July 1965. Set in Northumbria in 1066, before the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the serial features the time traveller the First Doctor and his companions Vicki and Steven Taylor as they attempt to outwit the time traveller the Monk, who is plotting to change the course of European history by wiping out King Harald Hardrada's Viking invasion fleet, leaving Harold Godwinson and the Saxon soldiers fresh to defeat William of Normandy and the Norman soldiers at the Battle of Hastings.

<i>Galaxy 4</i> 1965 Doctor Who serial

Galaxy 4 is the first serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by William Emms and directed by Derek Martinus, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 11 September to 2 October 1965. In the serial, the First Doctor and his travelling companions Vicki and Steven arrive on an arid planet, where they encounter the beautiful but dangerous Drahvins and the hideous but friendly Rills, two crash-landed species in conflict with one another. Both species wish to escape as the planet is set to explode in two dawns, but the Drahvin leader Maaga wants only her people to make it out alive.

The Abominable Snowmen is the mostly missing second serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 30 September to 4 November 1967.

<i>The Massacre</i> (Doctor Who) 1966 Doctor Who serial

The Massacre is the completely missing fifth serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 to 26 February 1966.

<i>The Celestial Toymaker</i> 1966 Doctor Who serial

The Celestial Toymaker is the mostly missing seventh serial of the third season in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 2 to 23 April 1966.

<i>The Gunfighters</i> (Doctor Who) 1966 Doctor Who serial

The Gunfighters is the eighth serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 April to 21 May 1966.

<i>The Smugglers</i> 1966 Doctor Who serial

The Smugglers is the completely missing first serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 10 September to 1 October 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Doctor</span> Fictional character from Doctor Who

The First Doctor is the original incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by actor William Hartnell in the first three series from 1963 to 1966 and the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors from 1972 to 1973. The character would occasionally appear in the series after Hartnell's death, most prominently as portrayed by Richard Hurndall in the 1983 multi-doctor special "The Five Doctors", and as portrayed by David Bradley in the 2017 Twelfth Doctor episodes "The Doctor Falls" and "Twice Upon a Time" and in the 2022 Thirteenth Doctor episode "The Power of the Doctor", the latter previously having portrayed Hartnell himself in the 2013 biopic An Adventure in Space and Time.

The Underwater Menace is the half-missing fifth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 14 January to 4 February 1967.

The Web of Fear is the partly missing fifth serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 February to 9 March 1968.

The Enemy of the World is the fourth serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 23 December 1967 to 27 January 1968.

Vicki (<i>Doctor Who</i>) Fictional character in the TV series Doctor Who

Vicki is a fictional character played by Maureen O'Brien in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An orphan from the 25th century, she was a companion of the First Doctor and a regular in the programme in Seasons 2 and 3 in 1965. Her last name was never revealed during the series. Vicki appeared in 9 stories.

<i>Doctor Who</i> season 3 Season of British TV sci-fi series (1965–1966)

The third season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 11 September 1965 with the story Galaxy 4 and ended on 16 July 1966 with The War Machines. Only 17 out of 45 episodes survive in the BBC archives; 28 remain missing. As a result, only three serials are complete.

References

  1. "Tony Holland (EastEnders creator/writer)". Roobarb's Forum. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  2. Howe, David J.; Stammers, Mark; Walker, Stephen James (1994). Doctor Who The Handbook – The First Doctor. London: Doctor Who Books. p. 130. ISBN   0-426-20430-1.
  3. "The Savages ★★★". Radio Times.
  4. "Peter Purves".
  5. "BBC One - Doctor Who".
  6. Mulkern, Patrick. "The War Games". Radio Times. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  7. 1 2 "BBC - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Photonovels - The Savages". www.bbc.co.uk.
  8. "The Romans ★★★".
  9. "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  10. Shaun Lyon; et al. (31 March 2007). "The Savages". Outpost Gallifrey. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  11. "BBC – Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide – The Savages – Details". www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. "The Savages".
  13. https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/missing-doctor-who-story-the-savages-returns-as-animation
  14. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Savages-Steelbook-Blu-ray/dp/B0DQ57SXNH/