The Keys of Marinus

The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan land on the planet Marinus and find themselves trapped on an island where the beaches are strewn with glass and the surrounding sea is acid.  They encounter Arbitan, Keeper of the Conscience of Marinus, a machine that can control the minds of the planet's inhabitants.  Under attack by the evil and ambitious race of Voords, Arbitan forces the travelers to search for the four keys of the Conscience.  There follows an odyssey that takes them to the four corners of the planet, from steaming jungles to deadly ice caves, where they make many new friends as well as enemies.

• This story was technically quite difficult for the crew as it involved all new sets every week as the Doctor and his companions traveled about the planet Marinus.  Normally, the same sets would be designed and used for 4 to 6 weeks at a time - not once a week.
   

• Snafus and fluffed lines are at an all time high in this adventure.   Watch for several occasions when backstage crew get caught in the camera's sights as they try and operate equipment.  Additionally, beware of menacing Voord tripping into their victims.  :)
   

• This is one of the very few stories written by Terry Nation (creator of the Daleks) that didn't feature the Daleks in it.  The only other non-Dalek story Nation wrote for Doctor Who was "The Android Invasion" during Tom Baker's tenure.
   

• In an earlier draft of the first episode, the Doctor reveals the reason he and Susan were on Earth in 1963.  Apparently he was there to visit the British Broadcasting Corporation in order to attain a replacement part for his scanner (it was black and white, but the Doctor wanted one in color).  He goes on to explain the reason he was in such a bad mood when Barbara and Ian found him trying to enter his TARDIS was because the BBC was so "infernally secretive!"
   

• Hartnell took a 2 week vacation during this story and was written out of episode 3 and 4.  It is important to remember that the length of seasons in the first 6 years of Doctor Who were massively long (in fact they ran for very nearly an entire year).  It was not unusual to give the regular actors a break by writing them out for an episode or two.  Carol Ann Ford (Susan) got a break during "The Aztecs," Jacqueline Hill (Barbara) got hers during "The Sensorites," and William Russell (Ian) had some time off during "The Reign of Terror."  This was all within the span of one season.
   

• The Doctor Who Restoration Team did extensive work on this video release by cleaning up both the picture and the sound.