The Dark Dimension

The Lords of Time was the 30th Anniversary Special of Doctor Who. It was written by Adrian Rigelsford, directed by Graeme Harper and featured Richard Griffiths as the Doctor, Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield and John Banks as James Black.

## The Dark Dimension

### Director

Graeme Harper

Synopsis

Far in the future of Earth, most humans have been wiped out. The Earth is left in ruins, the only people left on the planet being a resistance group which has been trying to hunt the creature that has done this to the planet. The group is searching an area, and their leader, Bernice, suddenly finds a body. It is the Eighth Doctor — murdered by the creature. The Doctor is given a funeral which Bernice finds fitting, as they are sent floating into sea and lit aflame. With the Doctor gone, Bernice tells the others that they have to finish what the Doctor started on their own, attempting to send the creature who killed him into the time vortex to be destroyed. However, this would have instead sent him into Earth's distant past, where he would have plotted to change history.

Plot

To be added.

Cast

The Doctor - Richard Griffiths

The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy

The Doctor - Colin Baker

The Doctor - Peter Davison

The Doctor - Tom Baker

The Doctor - Jon Pertwee

Bernice Summerfield - Julia Ormond

James Black - John Banks

Ace - Sophie Aldred

Peri - Nicola Bryant

Tegan - Janet Fielding

Leela - Louise Jameson

Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen

Romana - Lalla Ward

Gregori - Nigel Fairs

To be added

Crew

Writer - Adrian Rigelsford

Producer - Ian Fraser

Script Editor - Ben Aaronovitch

Director - Graeme Harper

Lighting - John King

Designer - David Laskey

Visual Effects Designers - Malcom James, Dave Chapman

Make-Up Designer - Helen Barrett

Casting Director - Anne Henderson, Andy Pryor

Music - Mark Ayres

Costume Designer - Amushia Nieradzik

Edited by - Dave King

Vision Mixer - Julie Mann

Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer

Title Music - Mark Ayres

Title Sequence by CAL Video

Memorable Quotes

To be added.

Background Information

Development

Pre-Production

To be added.

Production

With the BBC starting to have faith in the show again by now, with higher ratings and support, it was decided that the special would begin to use new camera equipment, most notably new digital cameras, which not only allowed the show to be edited in a non-linear fashion on the new Avid/1 machines, but also presented it in the PAL 480i format; giving the show even more of a drama feel and a bigger budget that would be put into better use for the set design and the visual effects. As a result, the 625-line PAL format, used after over 23 years as the setup, ceased.

Post-Production

To be added.

Reaction

This episode received a 7-Day Viewing Figure from BARB of 12.73m viewers.

Story Notes

Although all of the Doctors are from their own points in their timelines, they arrive on Gallifrey without their companions. All of the companions are either already on Gallifrey, such as Romana, Ace and Leela, or they have been picked up after their adventures with the Doctor.

This story was the last to be produced by Ian Fraser and script edited by Ben Aaronovitch.

Continuity

To be added.