Planet of Evil

"Here on Zeta Minor is the boundary between existence as you know it and the other universe which you just don’t understand!"

A distress call from the last planet in the known universe forces the TARDIS to commence emergency materialization on Zeta Minor.  Simultaneous with the Doctor’s arrival, is the landing of a spacecraft from the planet Morestra on a rescue mission to recover a missing group of scientists.  An expeditionary force from the spacecraft soon uncovers their gruesome remains, but who or what has caused their sinister deaths?  Only one scientist, Professor Sorenson, has survived.  He is hell-bent on tapping the powerful resources within Zeta Minor to save his own planet which is slowly dying.  But he and his compatriots cannot possibly realize the full extent of the dark forces at work.  And so it is left to the Doctor to convince them that Zeta Minor is indeed, the Planet of Evil…

• Here is an example of a story being written entirely because of a really cool monster costume that someone created at the BBC.  At least, that's the official story on how "Planet of Evil" came about.  Even so, it is a fairly decent story.

• Also, watch for a particularly good cliffhanger for episode 2.  In it, the Doctor is trying to communicate with the Zeta Minor creature and falls into a dark bottomless pit.  Really cool effect.  :)

• "Planet of Evil" also includes scenes shot inside the TARDIS (having been absent for all of season 12).

• Another actor returning for a guest role is Frederick Jaeger as Dr. Sorenson.  Professor Marius.  Jaeger's first role for Doctor Who was Jano in the Hartnell story "The Savages."  Two years after his involvement in "Planet of Evil" he would return one last time as Professor Marius (the creator of K-9) in "The Invisible Enemy."

• The actor playing the small supporting role of Morelli is none other than Michael Wisher.  He appeared frequently in Doctor Who over the years.  His first (minor) appearance was as reporter John Wakefield in "The Ambassadors of Death."  He returned the following year to play Rex Ferrel in "Terror of the Autons."  He went on to play Kalik in "Carnival of Monsters" and did the voice of the Daleks in both "Planet of the Daleks" and "Death to the Daleks."  Next up was probably his most memorable role as Davros in "Genesis of the Daleks."  He returned in the very next story, "Revenge of the Cybermen" as Magrik.  This story marks his final appearance in Doctor Who.

• The part of Salamar is played by Prentis Hancock.  Prentis' ability to play gits served him well in Doctor Who.  His first outing was in the Pertwee story "Spearhead from Space" while his final appearance was Tom Baker's "The Ribos Operation."