Dragonfire ( TV story ) Dragonfire was the fourth and final story of Season 24 of " Doctor Who " . It marked the departure of companion Melanie Bush , the return and final appearance of Sabalom Glitz , and featured the debut of Sophie Aldred as Ace . Synopsis . As trouble brews on the space trading colony of Iceworld , the Doctor and Mel encounter their sometimes - ally Sabalom Glitz - and a new friend who goes by " Ace " . Plot . Part one . Iceworld is a space - trading colony on the dark side of the planet Svartos , controlled by the callous and vindictive Kane . He buys supporters and employees and makes them wear his mark iced into their flesh . Kane ' s body is so cold that one touch from him can kill . In his lair is a vast cryogenic section . Mercenaries and others are frozen and stored , losing their memories to become an unquestioning army . Kane stays there when he needs to cool down . There is also an aged sculptor carving a statue from the ice . The TARDIS arrives in a refrigeration sales section . The Seventh Doctor and Melanie Bush meet their roguish acquaintance , Sabalom Glitz . He owes Kane money , and if he doesn ' t return his debt soon he ' ll loose his ship . Glitz has come to look for a treasure guarded by a dragon in the icy caverns beyond Iceworld . Glitz has a map he won in a game of cards . Kane wanted him to have the map because he wishes to use Glitz in his own search for the treasure . The map has a tracking device in its seal . Kane has Glitz ' s ship , " the Nosferatu " , which he orders destroyed . Not knowing he is being used , Glitz goes off with the Doctor in tow . Glitz won ' t allow women on the expedition , so Mel stays with a waitress they have met , called Ace . Ace becomes irritated at a customer ' s complaints and pours a milkshake on her head , prompting her to be fired . Mel and Ace return to Ace ' s lodgings . Mel is stunned to hear Ace is a human from late twentieth century Earth who only arrived on Iceworld when a chemistry experiment caused a time - storm in her bedroom . Ace takes security matters into her own hands , and blows up an ice block previously causing an ice jam . Officer Belazs promptly arrives to deal with the matter , and finding Ace and Mel present , arrests them . They are interrogated by Kane , and Ace is offered a place at Kane ' s side . Ace seems to consider the offer , before using nitro - 9 to create an explosion as a distraction , allowing the pair to escape . As they run down the corridors , they encounter a frightening creature - the dragon . The Doctor , separated from Glitz , climbs over a parapet . He loses his grip , and hangs from the railing , holding onto his umbrella as he slowly slips down its length . Part two . The dragon shoots laser beams at Mel and Ace . Realising that the " dragon " is nothing of the sort , they flee . Glitz arrives and helps the Doctor to the bottom of the chasm . Glitz wants to head for his ship , and gives the map to the Doctor . Kane overhears them . Some of Kane ' s staff are not happy . Once they have taken his coin they are his for life ; Officer Belazs was naïve in her belief that Kane would not use her . She is keen to escape , and arranges for " the Nosferatu " not to be destroyed , hoping to use the craft to escape . When this fails , she tries to persuade Officer Kracauer to help her overthrow Kane . Their attempt to raise the temperature in his chambers and kill him fails . Kane kills them both , before killing the ice sculptor who has finished his statue of a woman called Xana , declaring that only he is to be allowed to be at witness to her magnificence . In the ice caverns the Doctor and Glitz find the treasureless dragon . It is a biped that fires lasers from its eyes . Mel and Ace have ventured into the caverns too . They meet their allies and are defended by the dragon , which guns down Kane ' s cryogenically altered soldiers sent to kill them . The dragon takes them to a room in the ice . It is some sort of control area . There is a pre - recorded hologram message . It explains Kane is half of the Kane - Xana criminal gang from the planet Proamon . When the security forces caught up with them , Xana killed herself to avoid arrest . Kane was captured and exiled to the cold , dark side of Svartos . It seems Iceworld is a huge spacecraft and the treasure is a crystal inside the head of the " dragon " . It is the key Kane needs to activate the ship and end his exile . The dragon is both Kane ' s jailer and his chance of freedom . Kane hears all through the device on the map , and declares his victory to be imminent . Part three . Kane sends his security forces to the ice caverns to bring him the dragon ' s head , offering vast rewards for bravery . He orders his army to cause chaos in the Iceworld shops , driving the customers towards the docked " Nosferatu " . When " the Nosferatu " takes off , Kane blows it up . The only survivors are a young girl , Stellar , and her mother , who have become separated . Shortly afterward , two of Kane ' s troopers manage to kill the " dragon " and remove its head , but are killed themselves by an energy discharge from the crystal . The Doctor has realised that Kane has been a prisoner on Svartos for millennia . He retrieves the crystal from the " dragon " . Kane uses a comms system to make a deal with Doctor : he has captured Ace , but is willing to trade her for the “ dragonfire ” . The Doctor , Glitz and Mel go to Kane ' s private chambers for the exchange . Kane rises to the Doctor ' s taunts but still powers up Iceworld as a spacecraft . It rises from the surface of Svartos . However , when Kane tries to set course for Proamon to exact his revenge , he realises he has been a prisoner so long the planet no longer exists . In despair , he opens a screen in his ship and lets in light rays , which melt him . Glitz claims Iceworld as his own spacecraft , the " Nosferatu II " . Mel decides to stay with him to keep him out of trouble and tells the Doctor that Ace doesn ' t wish to return home . He promises to take her home to Perivale : via the “ scenic route ” . Stellar comes across the TARDIS and approaches it , just before her mother finds her and gives her a telling - off for wandering away , telling Stellar to follow her . Stellar pauses for a moment and watches as the TARDIS dematerialises , the sight of which makes her giggle . Home video and audio releases . DVD Contents