Episode Number:

Episode Title:

Transmission Date:

Duration:

Ratings (in Millions):

1

The Edge of Destruction

8/2/64

25.04

10.4

2

The Brink of Disaster

15/2/64

22.11

9.9

 

Season:

Doctor:

Producers:

Script Editor:

Writer:

Directors:

One

William Hartnell

Verity Lambert,

Mervyn Pinfield

David Whitaker

David Whitaker

Richard Martin,

Frank Cox

 

 

  

William Hartnell - (The Doctor)

William Russell - (Ian Chesterton)

Jaqueline Hill - (Barbara Wright)

Carole Ann Ford - (Susan)

 

  

No additional Cast members.

 

  

After their skirmish with the Daleks, the TARDIS crew hurriedly leave the planet Skaro in an attempt to return to contemporary England, home to schoolteachers Ian and Barbara.

 

However, an explosion renders both of them, plus the mysterious doctor and his granddaughter Susan, unconscious - and when they awake, all four sense that something is very wrong indeed.

 

Aggression, paranoia and a feeling of despair have gripped them all - no one seems to trust the other and, bit-by-bit, the Doctor's trusted ship seems to be breaking down around them. But is it? Has the TARDIS finally tired of its inhabitants, or is there a more logical, more rational explanation for everyone's behaviour and the ship's bizarre course of action?

 

  

Working Title:

Inside the Spaceship, Beyond the Sun.

 

Things to look out for:

Coming Soon

 

Archive:

Both episodes exist as 16mm telerecordings.

 

Bloopers:

Coming Soon

 

  

 

Click for larger image

Title Information:

  • The Edge of Destruction & Dr.Who The Pilot Episode

  • Episodic format

  • UK PAL - Released May 2000

  • BBCV cat.#6877

 

 

Title Information:

  • The Edge of Destruction - (released as part of "The Beginning box-set")
  • Released together with An Unearthly Child & The Daleks
  • Episodic format
  • UK PAL - Released January 2006
  • BBCDVD cat.#1156

Special Features:

  • Commentaries on various episodes by William Russell and Carol Ann Ford plus the show's producer Verity Lambert and directors Waris Hussein and Christopher Barry.
  • Unedited studio footage of the pilot episode.
  • Documentary detailing the origins of the show.
  • Condensed version of the (missing) fourth story Marco Polo.
  • Comedy sketches from the Doctor Who night broadcast on BBC 2.

 

 

Not yet released on Audio.

 

 

  - The Edge of Destruction written by Nigel Robinson, Published 1988 - [Target no.132]

  

  **For further information on the Target Books, please visit On Target.

 

  

Discuss this Episode in our Forums!


 

 

 

Photos © Copyright to the BBC.

 

Doctor Who is © Copyright to the BBC. No infringement intended.

 

See Also:

Doctor Who Online

Reviews

On Target