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 Doctor Who: Ambassadors
of Death (1970)
Date(s) of Broadcast:
21 March 1970 - 2 May 1970
Number of Episodes: 7
Episode Running Times: 25 mins
Format: colour
Sound: mono
CREDITS
PRODUCTION
Production Company: BBC
Producer: Barry
Letts
SCRIPT
Script: David
Whitaker, Malcolm Hulke, Trevor Ray
Script Editor: Terrance Dicks
Assistant Script Editor: Robin Squire (uncredited)
DIRECTION
Director: Michael Ferguson
PHOTOGRAPHY
Film Cameramen: A.A. Englander, Tony
Leggo
Studio Lighting: Ralph Walton, Geoff Shaw, Dave Sydenham
EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Film Editors: Don Godden, Chris Wimble
MUSIC
Title Music: Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Title Music Arranged By: Delia Derbyshire
Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson
SOUND
Special Sounds: Gordon Mackie, Brian Hiles
MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Marion Richards, Teresa Wright
Costumes: Christine Rawlins
VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects: Peter Day, Ian Scoones
DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Designer: David Myerscough-Jones
MISCELLANEOUS
Production Assistant: Nick John
Assistant Floor Manager: Margot Heyhoe
STUNTS
Action by: Havoc
CAST
Jon Pertwee (The Doctor)
Caroline John (Liz Shaw)
Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart)
Ronald Allen (Professor Ralph Cornish)
John Abineri (General Carrington)
Ric Felgate (Charles Van Lyden)
Robert Cawdron (Dr Bruno Taltalian)
Michael Wisher (John Wakefield)
Ray Armstrony (Grey)
Cheryl Molineaux (Miss Rutherford)
Robert Robertson (Collinson)
Dallas Cavell (Sir James Quinlan)
Bernard Martin, Joanna Ross, Carl Conway (control room assistants)
Juan Moren (Dobson)
James Haswell (Corporal Champion)
Derek Ware (UNIT Sergeant)
William Dysart (Reegan)
Cyril Shaps (Dr Lennox)
Ric Felgate, Steve Peters, Neville Simons (alien astronauts)
Gordon Sterne (Professor Heldorf)
John Lord (Masters)
Max Faulkner (UNIT soldier on main gate)
John Levene (Sgt Benton)
Tony Harwood (Johnny Flynn)
James Clayton (Private Parker)
Roy Scammel (Technician Petersen)
Peter Noel Cook (alien space captain)
Peter Halliday (aliens' voices)
Steve Peters (Joe Lefee)
Neville Simons (Frank Michaels)
Geoffrey Beevers (Private Johnson)
Sue Bourne (assistant - uncredited)
Royston Farrell, Tom O'Leary (military policeman - uncredited)
Roy Reeves, Les Shannon (cameramen - uncredited)
Alf Joint, Barry Kennington, Dinny Powell, Gordon Stothard (heavies
- uncredited)
Sally Avory, Roy Brent, Derek Chafer, Les Conrad, Stella Conway, Barbara
Faye, Paul Gilman, David J Graham, Dennis Haywood, Dianna Holt, Tony
Laing, Roger Minnis, Caroline Mylon, Wilma Oswald, Rod Peers, Clive
Rogers, Lindsey Scott, Keith Simon, Sheila Vivian (control room assistants
- uncredited)
David Aldridge, Roy Brent, Geoff Brighty, Derek Chafer, Alan Chuntz,
Les Conrad, Ron Conrad, Ron Gregory, Steve Kelly, Tom Laird, Stewart
Myers, Rod Peers, David Pike, Doug Rae, Clive Rogers, Jo Sentos, Keith
Simons, Steve Smart, Terry Walsh (soldiers - uncredited)
Max Diamond, Pat Gorman, Nick Hobbs, David Joyce (technicians - uncredited)
PLOT SUMMARY
Mars Probe 7 returning from Mars has lost contact
with Space Control on Earth. A recovery ship sent to find it is also
lost but when tracked and returned to Earth the astronauts are kidnapped.
The Doctor and Liz discover than the astronauts had been replaced
by ambassadors of an alien race and the Doctor pilots the recovery
ship on a mission to find Mars Probe 7.
CAPSULE REVIEW
Reminiscent of The Quatermass Experiment.
Once condemned as overlong and dull, critical opinion now lauds this
as a particularly interesting part of the season's dramatic change
in the direction of Doctor Who. Sadly it remains
for this viewer as both a child in the seventies and an adult overlong
and dull. The Yeti were better!
AVAILABILITY
UK
Television Distributor: BBC
Video Distributor: BBC Video
TIMELINE
1970
March
21: UK - Episode 1 first television broadcast (on BBC1)
28: UK - Episode 1 first television broadcast (on BBC1)
April
4: UK - Episode 1 first television broadcast (on BBC1)
11: UK - Episode 1 first television broadcast (on BBC1)
18: UK - Episode 1 first television broadcast (on BBC1)
25: UK - Episode 1 first television broadcast (on BBC1)
May
2: UK - Episode 1 first television broadcast (on BBC1)
ALTERNATIVE TITLES
The Ambassadors
- working title
Carriers of Death - working title
The Invaders from Mars - working title
REFERENCES
BOOKS
Doctor
Who: The Television Companion pp.189-192
credits, synopsis, review (by David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker)
OTHER SOURCES
screen
credits KEYWORDS
aliens
Last Updated:
1 January, 2009
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