Story #155 "Survival"

Season

26

Writer

Rona Munro

Book/CD

 X

Episodes

3

Director

Alan Wareing

Vid

X

Story code

Producer

John Nathan Turner

DVD

X

Episode Details

Episode

DR MM:SS

TX dd/mm/yy

RPT TX dd/mm/yy

In BBC Archive

1

24:14

22/11/1989

Y

2

24:13

29/11/1989

Y

Cast Details

Regular Cast

Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace)


Guest Cast  
Anthony Ainley (The Master), Julian Holloway (Paterson), Lisa Bowerman (Karra), Norman Pace (Harvey) [1], Gareth Hale (Len) [1], William Barton (Midge), Sakuntala Ramanee (Shreela), David John (Derek), Sean Oliver (Stuart) [1], Kate Eaton (Ange) [1], Kathleen Bidmead (Woman) [1], Adele Silva (Squeak) [3], Michelle Martin (Neighbour) [3].

Synopsis

The Doctor takes Ace back home to Perivale so she can catch up with her old friends. But Perivale has changed, the old gang has split up, and some of them have vanished without trace. They are not the only ones - West London is plagued by unexplained disappearances.

Before long the mysterious kidnappers make themselves known. A race of galactic hunters called the Cheetah people have found a way to transport themselves to Earth - and the entire human race is their prey. They have been shown the doorway to the planet by an old foe of the Doctor, a bitter and desperate enemy who needs the Doctor's help to free him from a diabolic enchantment.

As the Doctor tries to unravel the mystery, Ace finds some of her old friends, trapped on the savage and beautiful world of the Cheetah People. But the only way she can lead them to safety is to allow herself to succumb, like so many before her, to the curse of the planet. The Doctor realises that Ace's new powers will provide the only route home, but it will mean the sacrifice of her humanity to the most bestial and dark side of human nature...

1. Last classic series TV story
2. Series returned in a film in 1996 almost 9 years later.
3. The gap between Survival and the Doctor Who television movie was filled by British publisher Virgin Publishing—who from 1991 to 1997 produced a range of novels entitled the New Adventures—and the Big Finish audio adventures, which are carrying on the adventures of the Doctor and Ace following the end of Survival.
4. The Master would return (played by two different actors) in the 1996 TV film. In the movie, the character is shown having cat's eyes similar to those seen in this serial. He is also heard in two audio stories Dust Breeding and Master, which take place after Survival but before the movie.
5. During the scenes in Midge's flat, Ace grabs War, an album by rock band U2, and says "are they still going?". When Ace left Earth in 1987, the group had been active for eleven years.

• Order Survival BBC DVD Page