Earth Aid (TV Story)

***Earth Aid*** was the first serial of Season 27 of *Doctor Who*. It was written by Ben Aaronovitch, directed by Alan Wareing and starred Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace.

## Synopsis

Welcome aboard the Space Vessel *Vancouver*. Its mission: to guard a vast shipment of grain from Earth to the planet Safensthome.

Its Captain is called Ace. She seems a little unsure of herself. In fact, some might almost think she was new to the job...

Its medical officer is called simply "the Doctor", and he's perhaps not all he seems.

When mysterious ships target the *Vancouver*, Ace and the Doctor are pushed to the limit. Meanwhile, there's something nasty in the grain containers. And it's not very happy....

## Plot

### Part One

The Space Vessel Vancouver flies across space. On the bridge, Yanikov and Shepstay announce that they will soon reach Safensthome to the captain, who's revealed to be Ace. Ace, satisfied that the mission will soon be over, retires to her quarters.

Ace enters her room to find the Doctor eating biscuts and drinking tea, she tells him that this plan isn't going to work, however the Doctor says that she's doing fine. Ace then expresses concern that Yanikov doesn't trust her, to which the Doctor thinks she's exaggerating. It's then revealed that the Doctor and Ace are working undercover in case something happens.

Back on the Bridge, Yanikov expresses his mistrust about Ace to Shepstay who dismisses this.

## Cast

* The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
* Ace - Sophie Aldred
* Victor Espinosa - Paterson Joseph
* Shepstay - Sabina Franklyn
* Yanikov- Michael Keating
* Lt. Baraki - Sasha Mitchell
* The Metatraxi - Peter Tuddenham

## Crew

* Writer - Ben Aaronovitch
* Producer - John Nathan-Turner
* Script Editor - Ben Aaronovitch
* Director - Alan Wareing
* Lighting - Ian Dow
* Designer - Nick Somerville
* Visual Effects Designers - Malcom James, Dave Chapman
* Make-Up Designer - Joan Stribling
* Music - Keff McCulloch
* Costume Designer **-** Ken Trew
* Edited by **-** Hugh Parson
* Vision Mixer - Dinah Long
* Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer
* Title Music - Keff McCulloch
* Title Sequence by CAL Video

## Story Notes

* A working title for this story was Bad Destination.
* In an early draft of the script, the Metatraxi were intended to be more Samurai like.
* This early draft also featured something known as a 'Data Vampire' and the Seventh Doctor creating Stone Henge to send a signal into space.
* Another early draft featured another ship known as the Lilliput, a race of aliens known as the Grub, who would be related to the Metatraxi, a visit to Safensthome, which would turn out to be sentient.
* This was the first story for Ben Aaronovitch as Script Editor.

## Continuity

* Ace, is once again angered at being called small. (TV: *Remembrance of the Daleks*)
* Ace wishes that she still had her original Tape deck. (TV: *Remembrance of the Daleks*)
* Ace mentions that she almost became a cheetah on one occasion. (TV: *Survival*)

## Home video and audio releases

### DVD

* This story along with the other stories in Season 27 were released as *Doctor Who: The Complete Twenty-Seventh Season* in 2004.

### Blu-ray

* This story along with the other stories in Season 27 were upscaled in 1080i50 high definition and were released as *Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 27* in the UK.