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masque of mandragora

story 86 : season 14 : serial 4M : 4 episodes

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe
Director: Rodney Bennett
Writer: Louis Marks
Script Editor: Robert Holmes
Designer: Barry Newbery

cast information

Tom Baker (Doctor Who); Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith); John Laurimore (Count Federico); Norman Jones (Hieronymous); Antony Carrick (Captain Rossini); Gareth Armstrong (Giuliano); Tim Piggott-Smith (Marco); Robert James (High Priest); Brian Ellis (Brother); Pat Gorman (Soldier); James Appleby (Guard); John Clamp (Guard); Peter Walshe (Pikeman); Jay Neill (Pikeman); Peter Tuddenham (Titan Voice); Peggy Dixon (Dancer); Jack Edwards (Dancer); Alistair Fullarton (Dancer); Michael Reid (Dancer); Kathy Wolff (Dancer); Stuart Fell (Entertainer);

crew information

Linda Graeme (Assistant Floor Manager); James Acheson (Costumes); John Baker (Film Cameraman); Clare Douglas (Film Editor); Dudley Simpson (Incidental Music); Jan Harrison (Make-Up); Thea Murray (Production Assistant); Chris D'Oyly-John (Production Unit Manager); Dick Mills (Special Sounds); Dennis Channon (Studio Lighting); Colin Dixon (Studio Sound); Delia Derbyshire (Theme Arrangement); Ron Grainer (Title Music); Ian Scoones (Visual Effects);

episode information

  Title First UK Transmission Duration Ratings Archive Status
1 Part One 4 September 1976 at 18:10 24'31" 8.3mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
2 Part Two 11 September 1976 at 18:05 24'44" 9.8mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
3 Part Three 18 September 1976 at 18:10 24'34" 9.2mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
4 Part Four 25 September 1976 at 18:10 24'45" 10.6mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
  1. Part One
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
  2. Part Two
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
  3. Part Three
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
  4. Part Four
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978

release information

In Print:
Novelised as: Doctor Who and the Masque of Mandragora
Written by: Phillip Hinchcliffe
Number 042 in the Target Doctor Who Library

Versions
1977 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in hardback
With cover artwork by: Mike Little
8 December 1977 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Mike Little
ISBN: 0 426 11893 6
November 1979 Published by Pinnacle Books, USA in paperback
With cover artwork by: David Mann
ISBN: 0 523 40640 1
June 1987 Published by Éditions Garancière, France in paperback
Translated into French by Richard D Nolane & Corine Derblum
With cover artwork by: Penichoux
ISBN: 2 734 00218 3
1991 Published by Virgin Publishing Ltd, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Alister Pearson
ISBN: 0 426 11893 6

plot synopsis

Part of the malevolent Mandragora Helix energy gets on board the TARDIS, and the Doctor accidentally transports it to Italy in the fifteenth century, where it uses the ancient cult of Demnos to instigate plans to take over the Earth, A celebration by the local nobility will see a party where all the guests will be the great thinkers and artists of the period. The Doctor has to stop the Mandragora energy before it can kill them all, and as a result, some of the greatest inventions will never be made, and the Earth will remain in the dark ages for eternity

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