Operation: Earth

Orbit of Earth LX-71/8, 1978

Deathdays

Operation: Earth was the fourth and final serial of season one of Category War. It was the first appearance of many recurring concepts, such as the Eversiscendants and the Terran Spiral.

## Synopsis

"I shall rule over every Earth that has ever existed!"

After escaping from an enemy time machine, Ank, Poseidon, and several other Resistance members find themselves in what appears to be Earth.

However, it isn't Earth - but rather a dimension made of parallel Earths. Each one is connected by a communication web - one that is a vital part of an invasion plot that also involves a space museum and a camp for lost aliens.

Can the Resistance stop the invasion of Earth or will Operation: Earth run to its completion?

## Plot

### Spiral Policies (1)

After managing to escape a Pillar Death Machine, Ankarstian's TARDIS materializes in closest safe point of materialization. Ankarstian and Poseidon are in the console room for this materialization and once it completes Ank turns on the TARDIS' scanner - showing that they are in what initially appears to be deep space, however, it turns out that it's actually an exhibit in a museum of space travel. Ank and Poseidon then leave the TARDIS after finding this out - and find a dead body that has seemingly been shredded by the claws of a huge lizard.

Meanwhile, A and a Resistance soldier named Xylan leave the TARDIS and slip out of the museum, They manage to find themselves on the streets of London - the city that the museum is in. A and Xylan quickly manage to separate - with Xylan slipping into a mysterious building. A loiters around the building - waiting for Xylan to come out. But he doesn't.

In the museum, the curator - a man named Maximillien Jespen - finds the Resistance members over the dead body. He immediately assumes that the Resistance members killed them. Even though the Resistance members attempt to reason with him he reveals that he will have them executed for the crime.

### Terra (2)

Eventually, A decides to enter the building - and is immediately grabbed by automatons. A is brought to a human named John Roanoke who welcomes him to the Project - a sort of "hideaway camp" for aliens visiting the Terran Spiral. Roanoke brings A to Xylan.

Meanwhile, Ankarstian attempt to bargain with Jespen. While this happens, Jespen goes into a trance - with a reptillian voice demanding that he kills Ank and Poseidon. As such, Jespen readies a firing squad of androids.

In the Project, A visits Xylan. Xylan reveals that he believes that something is going in inside the Project. This is watched by Roanoke - who goes into the same trance that Jespen went into. The reptillian voice gets Roanoke to drop a screen into the room. A reptillian face appears on the screen - which promptly explodes. This kills Xylan.

In the museum, the firing squad of automata is readied. They attempt to fire at Ank and Poseidon but they duck. An automata is hit by a beam from its gun due to the walls being mirrored and explodes - causing all of the automata to explode. Jespen is launched across the room by this. Ankarstian examines him and finds him to be unconscious - and also finds that his skin feels loose. She promptly rips his face off - revealing an alien face with yellow skin and facial tattoos around the ears.

## Cast

* Poseidon - Chris Barrie
* Ankarstian - Lesley Dunlop
* A - John Scott Martin
* Roko (voice) - Cristian Curtjaaz
* Hydrium - Jeff Rawle
* SANTACLAWS - Gerald Flood
* Thorn - John Hollis
* Adriano - Alun Armstrong
* Beanley - George A. Cooper
* Cubeson - Roy Skelton
* Xylan - TBA
* Phytanil - TBA
* automaton - TBA
* *rest to be added*

## References

### Locations

* The Terran Spiral is a collection of duplicate Earths
* Roko is a sadistic AI made outside of the Spiral. He destroyed the planet that he was made on.
* Thorn comes from the planet Thylassia. The main species on Thylassia is the Thylassians - a race of near-human beings.

### Species

* Xylan is a Drophema.
* Beanley is a Cagliarian

### Technology

* Ankarstian's TARDIS blends into the environment that it appears in. This also spreads to its occupants.
* The worlds of the Terran Spiral are linked by a vast communication network

## Notes

* Curtjaaz previously cameoed in Sephulchre as a board member
* Roko originally appeared in a canned Doctor Who script called "Operation: Shutdown". This script was set in Season 14 and saw the re-appearance of UNIT.
* The Automatons were originally going to have original costumes, however, due to budgetary restrictions Auton costumes had to be used

## Continuity

* The Eversiscendants re-appear in *Nova Six*
* The Terran Spiral re-appears in *Men of the Earth*
* Roko re-appears in the spinoff novella *The Mark of the Basilisk* and *The Technological Death*
* One of the automatons appears in *The Arboreals* - a part of the Mark of the Basilisk series of novellas
* Thylassia would be visited briefly in the final episode of Category War, *...Must Come to an End*
* Another Cagliarian would appear in *The Great Interstellar Train Robbery*

## Gallery

DVD coverPoster

Sephulchre, Decay, The Children Shall Rule, **Operation: Earth**, Deathdays, The Loop, Reach, Genesis, Parasite, The Relics of Sutekh, Nova Six, Siege

**Seasons 4 and 5**
The Final Sanction, Sultanate, Hunters, Legacy of the Dead, Art, The Vault, The Curse of Tau Ceti, The Great Interstellar Train Robbery, The Shoal, Ice Screams, Hephaestus, The War Makers

**Season 6**
The Wall, The Water Monsters, War and the Daleks, Song of Death, The Maze, The Raid

**Seasons 7-9**
Planet of the Evil Ones, The Evolutionary Episode, Liberation, The Labyrinth of Karakarat, The Corruptor, The Woodworks, The Dark One, The Core, The Obsidian Archipelago, Breath, The Wheel of Metal, Death in the Light, Diamond Dogs, Hotel Hell, Legacy

**Season 10**
Planet of Bones, Men of the Earth, The Eight Soldiers, The Orb of Cestala, The Palace of Death, The Time Storm, Angel of Time, The Flight of Luxury, The Fine Game of Nil, The Haunting of the Epsilon Zone, The Horrid Circus, The Last Day at Eridan, Town of the Damned, The Jester's Trial, Concealment, Death Masks, The Last City on Earth