Doctor Who: The Sensorites (1964)

Date(s) of Broadcast: 20 June 1964 - 1 August 1964
Number of Episodes: 6
Average Episode Running Times: 25 mins
Format: black and white
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: BBC
Producer: Verity Lambert
Associate Producer: Mervyn Pinfield

SCRIPT
Script: Peter R. Newman
Story Editor: David Whitaker

DIRECTION
Directors: Mervyn Pinfield, Frank Cox

PHOTOGRAPHY
Studio Lighting: Peter Murray

MUSIC
Title Music: Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Title Music Arranged By: Delia Derbyshire
Music: Norman Kay

SOUND
Studio Sound: Les Wilkins, Jack Brummitt
Special Sound: Brian Hodgson

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Jill Summers, Sonia Markham
Costumes: Daphne Dare

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Designer: Raymond P. Cusick

MISCELLANEOUS
Production Assistant: David Conroy
Assistant Floor Managers: Val McCrimmon, Dawn Robertson

CAST
EPISODE 1: Strangers In Space
William Hartnell (The Doctor)
Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman)
William Russell (Ian Chesterton)
Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright)
Stephen Dartnell (John)
Ilona Rodgers (Carol Richmond)
Lorne Cossette (Captain Maitland)

EPISODE 2: The Unwilling Warriors
William Hartnell (The Doctor)
Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman)
William Russell (Ian Chesterton)
Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright)
Stephen Dartnell (John)
Ilona Rodgers (Carol Richmond)
Lorne Cossette (Captain Maitland)
Ken Tyllsen (first Sensorite)
Joe Greig (second Sensorite)

EPISODE 3: Hidden Danger
William Hartnell (The Doctor)
Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman)
William Russell (Ian Chesterton)
Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright)
Stephen Dartnell (John)
Ilona Rodgers (Carol Richmond)
Lorne Cossette (Captain Maitland)
Ken Tyllsen (first Sensorite)
Joe Greig (second Sensorite)
Peter Glaze (third Sensorite)
Arthur Newall (fourth Sensorite)
Eric Francis (first Elder)
Bartlett Mullins (second Elder)

EPISODE 4: A Race Against Death
William Hartnell (The Doctor)
Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman)
William Russell (Ian Chesterton)
Stephen Dartnell (John)
Ilona Rodgers (Carol Richmond)
Peter Glaze (third Sensorite)
Arthur Newall (fourth Sensorite)
Eric Francis (first Elder)
Bartlett Mullins (second Elder)
Ken Tyllsen (first scientist)
Joe Greig (second scientist)

EPISODE 5: Kidnap
William Hartnell (The Doctor)
Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman)
William Russell (Ian Chesterton)
Stephen Dartnell (John)
Ilona Rodgers (Carol Richmond)
Peter Glaze (third Sensorite)
Arthur Newall (fourth Sensorite)
Eric Francis (first Elder)
Bartlett Mullins (second Elder)
Ken Tyllsen (first scientist)
Joe Greig (warrior)

EPISODE 6: A Desperate Venture
William Hartnell (The Doctor)
Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman)
William Russell (Ian Chesterton)
Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright)
Stephen Dartnell (John)
Ilona Rodgers (Carol Richmond)
John Bailey (human commander)
Martyn Huntley (first human)
Giles Phibbs (second human)
Peter Glaze (third Sensorite)
Arthur Newall (fourth Sensorite)
Eric Francis (first Elder)
Joe Greig (warrior)

Uncredited Performers
Gerry Martin
Anthony Rogers

1. Strangers In Space
2. The Unwilling Warriors
3. Hidden Danger
4. A Race Against Death
5. Kidnap
6. A Desperate Venture

PLOT SUMMARY

The TARDIS dematerialises aboard a spaceship that has been captured by the alien Sensorsites, the human crew now paralysed. The Sensorites steal the locking mechanism of the TARDIS, trapping the crew aboard the ship. But the Sensorites are not all that they seem - they are dying in vast numbers from a mysterious disease that strikes down Ian and it's up to the Doctor to both find a cure and work out what - or who - is responsible.

UK
Television Distributor: BBC
Video Distributor: BBC Video

1964
May
29: UK - studio recording at BBC Television Centre Studio TC3

June
5: UK - studio recording at BBC Television Centre Studio TC3
12: UK - studio recording at BBC Television Lime Grove Studio D
19: UK - studio recording at BBC Television Centre Studio TC4
20: UK - Strangers in Space television broadcast (on BBC1)
26: UK - studio recording at BBC Television Lime Grove Studio D
27: UK - The Unwilling Warriors television broadcast (on BBC1)

July
3: UK - studio recording at BBC Television Lime Grove Studio D
4: UK - Hidden Danger due for television broadcast (on BBC1) but postponed when the preceeding programme, Summer Grandstand, over-ran due to extended coverage of a cricket test math and the Wimbledon tennis championships.
11: UK - Hidden Danger television broadcast (on BBC1)
18: UK - A Race Against Death television broadcast (on BBC1)
25: UK - Kidnap television broadcast (on BBC1)

August
1: UK - A Desperate Venture television broadcast (on BBC1)

MAGAZINES

Doctor Who Monthly no.115 p.35
article

Doctor Who Monthly Autumn Special 1987 p.40
review

BOOKS

Doctor Who - A Celebration p.172
review

Doctor Who Programme Guide pp.25-26
credits, synopsis (by Jean-Marc Lofficier)

Doctor Who: The Handbook: The First Doctor pp.74-76
synopsis, review

Doctor Who: The Television Companion pp.27-30
credits, synopsis, review (by David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker)

The Encyclopedia of TV Science Fiction p.109
credits, synopsis

KEYWORDS

aliens, paralysis, poisoning, spaceships, time travel

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008