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episode guide

the armageddon factor

story 103 : season 16 : serial 5F : 6 episodes

Producer: Graham Williams
Director: Michael Hayes
Writer: Bob Baker
Writer: Dave Martin
Script Editor: Anthony Read
Designer: Richard McManan-Smith

cast information

Tom Baker (Doctor Who); Mary Tamm (Romana); John Leeson (voice of K-9); Lalla Ward (Princess Astra); Valentine Dyall (The Black Guardian); Barry Jackson (Drax); John Woodvine (Marshal); William Squire (The Shadow); Davyd Harries (Shapp); Ian Saynor (Merak); John Cannon (Guard); Harry Fielder (Guard); Iain Armstrong (Technician); Pat Gorman (Pilot); Ian Liston ('Hero'); Susan Skipper ('Heroine');

crew information

Steve Goldie (Assistant Floor Manager); Rosemary Padvaiskas (Assistant Floor Manager); Michael Burdle (Costumes); Ann Briggs (Make-Up); Ann Aronsohn (Production Assistant); John Nathan-Turner (Production Unit Manager); Dick Mills (Special Sounds); Mike Jefferies (Studio Lighting); Richard Chubb (Studio Sound); Delia Derbyshire (Theme Arrangement); Ron Grainer (Title Music); John Horton (Visual Effects);

episode information

  Title First UK Transmission Duration Ratings Archive Status
1 Part One 20 January 1979 at 18:25 24'39" 7.5mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
2 Part Two 27 January 1979 at 18:25 23'56" 8.8mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
3 Part Three 3 February 1979 at 18:25 25'03" 7.8mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
4 Part Four 10 February 1979 at 18:25 25'09" 8.6mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
5 Part Five 17 February 1979 at 18:20 24'42" 8.6mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
6 Part Six 24 February 1979 at 18:25 25'09" 9.6mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
  1. Part One
    » Always held by the FVTL
  2. Part Two
    » Always held by the FVTL
  3. Part Three
    » Always held by the FVTL
  4. Part Four
    » Always held by the FVTL
  5. Part Five
    » Always held by the FVTL
  6. Part Six
    » Always held by the FVTL

release information

In Print:
Novelised as: Doctor Who and the Armageddon Factor
Written by: Terrance Dicks
Number 005 in the Target Doctor Who Library

Versions
1980 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in hardback
With cover artwork by: Bill Donohoe
ISBN: 0 491 02660 9
26 June 1980 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Bill Donohoe
ISBN: 0 426 20104 3

plot synopsis

The planet of Atrios had been fighting its direct neighbour, Zeos, for years. When the TARDIS arrives, the Doctor is lured onto Zeos, where he finds that a computer K9 is able to communicate with is actually what the Atrians are fighting - a strategic planner. The war is kept going by the Shadow, a malevolent agent of the Black Guardian, and the Doctor is able to overthrow him with the help of another Time Lord, Drax. The Shadow reveals that the sixth segment is Princess Astra, and she is converted into the crystal. With everything settled between the planets, the Doctor leaves and puts the key together, and the White Guardian appears on the scanner screen. When it becomes clear that he was the Black Guardian all along, the Doctor disperses the key through space once again, and the evil guardian swears revenge.

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