The Doctor thinks he's successfully managed to get the once hostile Tegan back to Heathrow Airport, 1981. Wrong! Instead, they've materialised on a mysterious high-tech spaceship, and soon caught in the plans of the manipulative and arrogant species of alien frogs known as the Urbankans. They've visited Earth four times in the past, and this time they're coming to stay for good, via a unique invasion plan hatched by the Urbankan leader, Monarch, which must be stopped at all costs.
Four heroes, and four days to doomsday!
Looking back on my original viewing from 1982, the series continued to have a fresh vitality about it- the new Doctor and his companion interactions were lively, the alien menace a strong one, with a terrific performance from Stratford Johns as Monarch. The entire guest cast was excellent, comprised of old and new names. Terence Dudley's script doesn't bear up to closer inspection when see as a complete four-parter, but it worked well enough in weekly episodic form back then. There's also top-notch cliff-hangers, good video-shot model work, great production design that is well lit, strong direction from John Black (selected for the first Davison filmed story by JN-T due to the great work he'd prior brought to Tom Baker's The Keeper of Traken) and a good score from Roger Limb, especially for the final episode's memorable and exciting space walk- okay, so the cricket ball scene doesn't bare scrutiny scientifically- who cares - the regular audiences (including my mum and dad watching it with me) loved it!
The TARDIS arrives on the Urbankan ship. Terrific set design for the story from Tony Borrough, part of the team reassembled from their prior great work on The Keeper of Traken.
The Doctor has fun exploring the strange technology around him.
Great shot of Davison in his Fifth Doctor garb during the filming of his first to be shot story.
The three who rule: Enlightenment (Annie Lambert), Monarch (Stratford Johns) and Persuasion (Paul Shelley). A formidable trio of enemies for our new Doctor.
The Doctor and his companions ponder the mystery of the Urbankans.
The recreational begins on board the spaceship, featuring diverse races (durably enhanced with robotics) kidnapped from Earth by the Urbankans. A fun sci-fi concept that felt fresh in this new WHO series.
The Fifth Doctor realises that he and his friends are being monitored, in a great image used on the cover of Doctor Who Monthly, promoting the start of the new series.
Peter Davison with the classic cover, and that infamous spelling mistake!
A frosty start to the Doctor's friendship with Tegan.
The Doctor and Bigon (Philip Locke) explore the ship, where the full truth about Monarch's evil plans are revealed.
The Doctor and Nyssa examine the sonic screwdriver. Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton clearly had good chemistry together on screen and off.
Having rescued Nyssa from Monarch's clutches, the Doctor is captured by Lin Futu's men.
Readying the victim.
The Doctor must win back the loyalty of Adric, who has been manipulated by Monarch. Interesting use is made of Adric early in the season - he could so easily be veered towards the dark side from time to time.
Adric helps the Doctor make a vital space walk to the TARDIS.
The classic space walk sequence, where the Doctor makes fine use of his love of cricket, to the delight of the series regular audience.
"Owzat!"
Excellent fan art for the story. If anyone knows the artist, please get in touch.
As well as DVD and Blu-ray, Four to Doomsday's BBC Audio novelisation is still available:
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