Survival (Doctor Who)

Survival is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in three weekly parts from November 22 to December 6, 1989. It was the final story to be transmitted on BBC One as part of the original 26-year run of the series.

Synopsis

The Seventh Doctor brings Ace back to her home town of Perivale. However, her old friends are being kidnapped by a race of alien hunters called the Cheetah People, who were shown the way to Earth by the Doctor's old enemy the Master.

Notes

1. Although Survival was the last Doctor Who serial of the original series to be transmitted, it was not the last to have been produced; that was Ghost Light, which had been broadcast some weeks earlier.
2. The story was the last to feature Anthony Ainley as the Master and Sophie Aldred Ace. Sylvester McCoy returned briefly to the role in 1996 at the beginning of the American television movie continuation of the series, Doctor Who, to regenerate into the Eighth Doctor. Doctor Who eventually returned to production as a BBC television series in 2004, produced by BBC Wales. Rose, the first episode of the new series, aired on March 26, 2005.
3. Although there was no public indication that this was to be the final regular instalment of Doctor Who, unlike previous season-ending stories there was no voice-over on the closing credits of the final episode to tell viewers that the programme would return for a new series for following year.
4. Having already surmised that episode three of Survival was likely to at least be the last episode of Doctor Who for some time, and possibly the last ever, the programme's producer John Nathan-Turner decided close to transmission that a more suitable conclusion should be given to the final episode. To this end, script editor Andrew Cartmel wrote a short, melancholic closing monologue for actor Sylvester McCoy, which McCoy recorded on November 23 1989 - by coincidence, the show's twenty-sixth anniversary. This was dubbed over the closing scene as the Doctor and Ace walked off into the distance, apparently to further adventures. The Doctor Who production office at the BBC finally closed down, for the first time since 1963, in August 1990.
5. The gap between Survival and Doctor Who was filled by British publisher Virgin Publishing, who from 1991 onwards produced a range of novels entitled the New Adventures, which carried on the story of the Doctor and Ace from the end of Survival.
6. For details on Doctor Who during the 1990s, see History of Doctor Who.
7. The part of Karra in this serial is played by Lisa Bowerman , who is now more familiar to fans as the voice of Bernice Summerfield in the Big Finish Productions audio dramas.

External Links

• Cast and Crew list, on the BBC website