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» » Doctor Who The Wheel in Space: Episode 1 (1963–1989)

Short summary

The Doctor and Jamie arrive on a mysterious spacecraft whose only occupant is a dangerous Servo Robot.

This episode was wiped by the BBC and no copy of it is known to exist.

This episode takes place aboard Space Station W3 in the 21st Century.

Several characters were renamed to give the space station a more international feel. Nell Corwyn became Gemma Corwyn; Tanya Lerner's surname was changed to the Russian Lernov; Tom Stone gained a promotion when he was rechristened Captain Leo Ryan; and Harry Carby became the Italianate Enrico Casali.

Tristan de Vere Cole found Patrick Troughton a joy to work with but later said he thought his portrayal of the Doctor was too jokey for his liking compared to the original Doctor William Hartnell.

Deborah Watling's appearance as Victoria was a recap from the end of Doctor Who: Fury from the Deep: Episode 6 (1968). Unusually, she received an on-screen credit for this appearance.

This is the only serial directed by Tristan de Vere Cole, who went on to become one of the UK's most prolific drama directors. He had previously been a production assistant during the William Hartnell era. He was reluctant to direct this, having previously directed a classic serial, and considered directing Doctor Who at the time something of a comedown from that.

Donald Sumpter who has a key role is one of the 39 actors who have been in both Doctor Who (1963) and Doctor Who (2005).

This episode was watched by 7.2 million viewers on its original transmission.

Fans voted this number 127 in a countdown of the 163 Doctor Who (1963) stories in Outpost Gallifrey's 40th anniversary poll in 2003.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Yozshugore
    Review of all 6 episodes:

    This is a fun and mostly decent standard production providing tense and exciting Cybermen attacks and the arrival of a good new companion Zoe. (Previous companion Victoria having just left and featuring only in a clip at the start of Episode 1)

    This story is written by David Whitaker from a story by Kit Pedler. Whitaker's script provides good dialogue and tense scenes but Pedler's plot is unremarkable and does not all make sense sadly. Some of the science is not as realistic as it could be (the meteorite sequences etc) and the Cybermen's plan is not entirely sensible or believable. It is not as awful as some would have you believe and the issues certainly do not make it a totally unsuccessful story but they do take the silver sheen off of some of this adventure as it lacks a bit of credibility and originality. It still is mostly solid, entertaining stuff. Part 5 is the least good featuring more of the silly aspects.

    The Wheel in Space is largely an enjoyable romp with some excellent elements but it is unexceptional and looks weak by comparison to the truly brilliant stories preceding it in season 5. The Cybermen voices are, in my opinion, far inferior to their original voices from The Tenth Planet or from some of their later incarnations.

    My Ratings: Episodes 1, 2, 3 & 6 - 7.5/10, Episode 4 - 8/10, Episode 5 - 6/10

    Overall: 7.33/10

    The rest of Season 5 was far better than this rather anticlimactic final story. Easily one of my top 5 Doctor Who Seasons of all time, truly fantastic quality.

    Season 5 Average Rating: 9.26/10
  • Episode cast overview:
    Patrick Troughton Patrick Troughton - Dr. Who
    Frazer Hines Frazer Hines - Jamie
    Deborah Watling Deborah Watling - Victoria Waterfield
    Freddy Foote Freddy Foote - Servo Robot (as Freddie Foot)
    Eric Flynn Eric Flynn - Leo Ryan
    Anne Ridler Anne Ridler - Dr. Gemma Corwyn
    Clare Jenkins Clare Jenkins - Tanya Lernov
    Donald Sumpter Donald Sumpter - Enrico Casali
    Michael Turner Michael Turner - Jarvis Bennett
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