Illegal Alien

Illegal Alien was the second story of Season 30. It was written by Mike Tucker and Robert Perry, directed by Fraser C. Heston and featured Richard Griffiths as the Doctor and Julia Ormond as Bernice Summerfield.

## Illegal Alien

### Director

Fraser C. Heston

Synopsis

Britain is at war. Night after night the Luftwaffe are bombing London. A serial killer dubbed the Limehouse Lurker is stalking the rubble-strewn streets. But a deadlier threat falls from the sky in the shape of a sinister silver sphere..

Plot

Part One

Cody McBride, a private detective, witnesses a large metallic sphere fall from the sky. He investigates and falls unconscious. Later, the Doctor and Bernice approach McBride about an article that ran in 'tomorrow's' newspaper. London is being terrorised by a serial killer known as the 'Limehouse Lurker', a terror who brutally 'squishes' their victims. McBride gathers evidence from underworld contacts he has, notably former military intelligence man George Limb. The Doctor assumes the Lurker to be a time-travelling Cyberman that has been damaged by a bomb from the Blitz and is seeking blood plasma to heal it's damaged organic components.

Part Two

McBride and the Doctor investigate the factory of Dr Peddler, a murdered businessman, where they discover a covert operation to improve the effectiveness of British foot soldiers using captured cybertechnology. Out on her own investigations, Bernice fends off a Cybermat attack at a bar and takes shelter at George Limb's house. Bernice discovers Limb has been sheltering the Lurker and it attacks her. Captain Hartmann, a Nazi officer, turns up and destroys the Lurker but kidnaps Bernice and takes her to his Nazi base in Jersey.

Part 3

George Limb is revealed to be the mastermind of the cyber-operation, having given cybertechnology to both the British and the Nazis to kick-start a technology race. The Doctor recovers the Lurker's cyber command unit, a mobile computer that directs the Cybermen. He travels to Jersey and uses the command unit to seize control of the Cybermen and sets them against Limb and his Nazi allies. A Nazi captain damages the control unit, all hell breaks loose and the Cybermen can no longer be controlled. Limb flees using the Cybermen's time capsule, however the primitive device can't cope and time is slowed down. The Doctor is able to resist the effect and pulls Bernice free. They both escape. The cyber control unit explodes and destroys the factory on Jersey. The Doctor assumes Limb to have been shredded through time and space, dead. The Doctor and Bernice leave, not knowing that McBride has found hundreds of Cybermen cocoons underneath London.

Cast

The Doctor - Richard Griffiths

Bernice - Julia Ormond

Cody McBride - John Banks

George Limb - Alan Cave

Limehouse Lurker - Samual West

Cyber-Leader - David Banks

Chief Inspector Patrick Mullen - Ian Brooker

Major Lazonby - Mike Dowling

Captain Hartmann - Sean Calaghar

Dr Peddler - Kenneth Hadley

Colonel Schott - Norman Tipton

Colonel T.P. Potter - Tony Robinson

Washington/Mama - Leslie Ash

Sharkey - Kenneth Hadley

Crew

Writer - Mike Tucker and Robert Perry

Producer - Ian Fraser

Script Editor - Ben Aaronovitch

Director - Fraser C. Heston

Lighting -  John King

Designer - Malcom Thornton

Visual Effects Designers - Malcom James, Dave Chapman

Make-Up Designer - Helen Barrett

Casting Director - Anne Henderson

Music - Dominic Glynn

Costume Designer - Phoebe De Gaye

Edited by - Dave King

Vision Mixer - Julie Mann

Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer

Title Music - Mark Ayres

Title Sequence by CAL Video

References

The Doctor

When he is talking about the Daleks, the Doctor's voice develops a harder edge, which disturbs Bernice.

The Doctor is fond of baseball and once watched a game that included Babe Ruth in 1926.

The Doctor doubts that Captain Hartmann would be able to pronounce his given name.

The Cybermen

The Cybermen that were featured in the story were capable of repairing themselves.

The Cybermen have used different types of Cybermats which attacked in different ways, such as the injection of poison and a sonic scream. The Cybermats present in the story have metal teeth used for cutting flesh.

The Cybermen are from the 30th century, where they still have a limited control of time travel.

A baby is among those converted by the Cybermen. It is given regular-sized Cyber-arms but has the tail of a Cybermat.

In a similar scene a Cyber-Conversion is witnessed, in which Cybermats are used for surgical instruments.

Individuals

Many characters are mentioned or referenced throughout the novel, fictious or otherwise, that do not appear in person including Winston Churchill (who appears in a painting), Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, Admiral Canaris, General Hindenberg, Tyrus Cobb, Hack Wilson, Joshua Gibson, Babe Ruth, Shreela Govindia, Midge, Ange, Flo, Stevie, Manisha Purkayastha, Darth Vader, Frank Dudman, Kathleen Dudman, Audrey Dudman, Delores, Mary Shelley, Dr Frankenstein, Prometheus, Jack the Ripper, Joe Louis, Max Schmeling and Bogart. Sid Napley and Reinhard Heydrich, meanwhile, do not appear but receive dialogue, speaking to other characters through a wall and over a phone call respectively.

Species

In a moment of contemplation, the Doctor admires the achievements of some of his greatest enemies, thinking of the Daleks as the creators of amazing technology and the Sontarans as great geneticists.

Notes

As part of the end, a hidden chamber full of dormant Cybermen is found beneath the streets of London waiting for a call that would be eventually activated in the television story The Invasion.

Continuity

The Doctor expresses disdain about his reputation as "the manipulator" and "the Chessmaster". (TV: The Curse of Fenric, et al.)

The Doctor carries a UNIT pass dated 1980, purchased by either his third or fourth incarnation. (TV: Spearhead from Space, Robot)

Ace mentions her grandmother (TV: The Curse of Fenric) and her gang in Perivale, (TV: Survival) including Manisha whose home was firebombed by racists. (TV: Ghost Light) She also shows a great dislike and fear of clowns. (TV: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy)

The Doctor mentions the Dalek Invasion of Earth in the 22nd century. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)

Ace has a bar towel that says "Welcome to Iceworld". (TV: Dragonfire)

Ace remembers encountering the Cybermen before. (TV: Silver Nemesis) That story also featured both a loose alliance and a battle between the Cybermen and the Nazis, albeit neo-Nazis.

Cybermen repeatedly say: "You will be like us." (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen)

At the end of this novel, even more Cybermen are found "hibernating" within the sewers. The Cybermen would later activate their invasion of Earth through hibernating in the sewers. (TV: The Invasion)