SS. The Wheel In Space

Season Five - 1967/1968

Story Editor: Derrick Sherwin
Writer: David Whitaker
From a story by: Kit Pedlar
Produced by: Peter Bryant
Director: Tristan de Vere Cole
Designer: Derek Dodd
Incidental Music: Brian Hodgson (1 - credited to The BBC Radiophonic Workshop) and Stock (2-6)

Synopsis

The TARDIS materialises on board the Silver Carrier, an abandoned rocket where the Doctor and Jamie are attacked by a servo robot. Jamie manages to contact the Wheel, a space station that the rocket is orbiting, and the Doctor and Jamie are rescued.

Cybermats, robotic servants of the Cybermen, also on board the rocket, are also sent over to the Wheel to pave the way for an attack by the Cybermen. The Cybermen plan to use the radio beacon on board the Wheel as part of their invasion of Earth.

The Doctor sends Jamie, and an astrophysicist named Zoe Heriot, back to the Silver Carrier to retrieve the TARDIS's vector generator rod, while he manages to free the Wheel's crew from Cyber control.

On Jamie and Zoe's return the Doctor uses the rod to increase the power of the station's X-ray generator, and uses it to destroy the Cyber fleet. On leaving the Wheel the Doctor and Jamie find they have a stowaway on board - Zoe.

Regular Cast

  • Jamie McCrimmon: Frazer Hines
  • Zoe Heriot: Wendy Padbury

Guest Cast

  • Jarvis Bennett: Michael Turner
  • Tanya Lernov: Clare Jenkins
  • Leo Ryan: Eric Flynn
  • Enrico Casalie: Donald Sumpter
  • Doctor Gemma Corwyn: Anne Riddler (1-5)
  • Servo Robot: Freddie Foote (1)
  • Victoria Waterfield: Deborah Watling (1)
  • Sean Flannigan: James Mellor (2-6)
  • Armand Vallance: Derrick Gilbert (2-6)
  • Elton Lakeheim: Michael Goldie (2-5)
  • Ken Chang: Peter Laird (2-4)
  • Bill Duggan: Kenneth Watson (2-4)
  • Cybermen: Jerry Holmes (2-6), Gordon Stothard (3-6)
  • Cybermen Voices: Peter Hawkins (3-6), Roy Skelton (3-6)
  • Kemel Rudkin: Kervork Malikyan (2)
Uncredited:
  • Double for the Doctor: Chris Jeffries (2)
  • Gemma Corwyn's Corpse: Dorothy Ford (6)
  • Extras: Yinka Adbeyi, Harry Fielder, Ken Gibson, Tony Harwood, Chris Konyils, Angela March, Gordon Pitt, Kenn Senton, Dorothy Su, John Taylor

Original broadcast on the BBC

Channel Title Date Viewers Rating
BBC 1 204. Episode 1 Saturday, 27 April 1968 17:15 - 17:40 7.2M 57%
BBC 1 205. Episode 2 Saturday, 4 May 1968 17:15 - 17:40 6.9M 60%
BBC 1 206. Episode 3 Saturday, 11 May 1968 17:15 - 17:40 7.5M 55%
BBC 1 207. Episode 4 Saturday, 18 May 1968 17:15 - 17:40 8.6M 56%
BBC 1 208. Episode 5 Saturday, 25 May 1968 17:15 - 17:40 6.8M 57%
BBC 1 209. Episode 6 Saturday, 1 June 1968 18:00 - 18:25 6.5M 62%

Studios

  • Ealing Television Studios
  • Lime Grove Studio D
  • Riverside Studio 1
  • Television Centre Studio 1
  • Television Centre Studio 3

Working Titles

The Space Wheel

Notes

Patrick Troughton is absent from Episode 2; a double plays the unconscious Doctor

This story sees the first use of the Doctor's pseudonym Doctor John Smith.

From Episode 2 onwards, the credits in the opening titles are brought up over the model of the Wheel.