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4F
80
30 Aug 75 - 20 Sep 75
4
4H
81
27 Sep 75 - 18 Oct 75
4
4G
82
25 Oct 75 - 15 Nov 75
4
4J
83
22 Nov 75 - 13 Dec 75
4
4K
84
03 Jan 76 - 24 Jan 76
4
4L
85
31 Jan 76 - 06 Mar 76
6
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Episode 1.
31 January 1976
6:01 p.m.
24.10
11.4
16
Episode 2.
7 February 1976
5:31 p.m.
24.09
11.4
30
Episode 3.
14 February 1976
5:57 p.m.
24.51
10.3
32
Episode 4.
21 February 1976
5:47 p.m.
24.26
11.1
23
Episode 5.
28 February 1976
5:48 p.m.
25.06
9.9
26
Episode 6.
6 March 1976
5:47 p.m.
21.51
11.5
15
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Deep in the permafrost of the Antarctic, scientists discover two vegetable pods. The Doctor identifies them as Krynoids, an alien species of plant, hostile to all animal life. One of the pods opens and a Krynoid takes over a scientist's body. In England Harrison Chase, a rich and eccentric botanist, sends two men to steal the remaining pod. They succeed but in the ensuing battle the base and the first Krynoid monster are destroyed. Back in England the second pod opens and takes over Keeler, one of Chase's scientists. He soon evolves into a giant Krynoid monster which threatens to turn the native plants of Earth against Humanity. The Doctor and his allies at the World Ecology Bureau manage to infiltrate Chase's residence, but it is too late to stop the demented millionaire or the Krynoid. The RAF bombs the Krynoid, now larger than Chase's house, before it germinates.

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The Doctor:  Tom Baker
Sarah Jane Smith: Elisabeth Sladen

Guest Appearances:
Harrison Chase: Tony Beckley
Scorby: John Challis
Arnold Keeler: Mark Jones
John Stevenson: Hubert Rees
Charles Winlett: John Gleeson
Derek Moberley: Michael McStay
Richard Dunbar: Kenneth Gilbert
Sir Colin Thackeray: Michael Barrington
Hargreaves: Seymour Green
Amelia Ducat: Sylvia Coleridge
Guard Leader: David Masterman
Doctor Chester: Ian Fairbairn
Chauffeur: Alan Chuntz
Guards: Harry Fielder, David Masterman, Ian Elliott
Major Beresford: John Acheson
Sergeant Henderson: Ray Barron
Major Beresford: John Acheson
Secretary: Keith Ashley
Kzynoid Monster: Ronald Gough, Keith Ashley
The Krynoid's Voice: Mark Jones

Producer: Phillip Hinchcliffe
Script Editor: Robert Holmes
Writer: Robert Banks Stewart
Director:
Douglas Camfield
Designer:
Roger Murray-Leach
Costume: Barbara Lane
Make up: Ann Briggs
Visual Effects: Richard Conway, Jeremy Bear
Music: Geoffrey Burgon

..


1977 Target edition with cover art by Mike Little1979 Pinacle edition with cover art by David Mann1989 Pinacle edition with cover art by David Mann

Novelized as "Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom" by Philip Hinchicliffe (0 426 11658 5) first published by Tandem / Wyndharn Publications (now Virgin Publishing Ltd) in 1977 with cover by Chris Achilleos. Target library number 55.

Pinnacle Books released the novel in America in March 1980 as number 10 in their series. The second printing was in February 1981 (ISBN 0 523 41620 2). The sixth printing came in December 1989 (ISBN 1 55817 297 1). This was the final Pinnacle adaptation. In the early eighties, W. H. Allen arranged for distribution of Target books in the USA and so there was no continuing need for these translations.

Image of the Doctor and Sarah Jane outside the TARDISImage of Scorby (John Challis) and Guard by statute of Queen Victoria
Image of Arnold Keeler (Mark Jones) after changing into a Krynoid
Image of Stevenson (Hubert Rees), Sarah Jane and the Doctor
Image of  Secretary (Keith Ashle) and Harrison Chase (Tony Beckley)
Image of  the Doctor in snows of Antartica
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a
Image of Video CoverReleased as "The Seeds Of Doom" in episodic format, August 1994, (BBC Video 5377) on two tapes (UK only).
Released in US and Canada (Warner catalogue # E1300) with cover art by Colin Howard

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The original designer was John Bear, but after doing work on the Antarctic base camp sets and models for the first two episodes, he fell ill and was replaced by Roger Murray-Leach.
The costume for the humanoid Krynoid was created by taking one of the surviving Axon costumes from 'The Claws of Axos' and spraying it green.
At the season's conclusion, Elisabeth Sladen announced that she would leave Doctor Who after the second serial of the next season. Sladen was finding herself turning down other promising work because of her commitment to the series, and had decided it was time to move on.

All six episodes exist in color on videotape.

Studio recording in Stage TC4. (17-18 November; 1-2 December 1975)
Studio recording in Stage TC8.
(15-16 December 1975)
Buckland Sand and Silica Company Ltd., Reigate Road, Buckland, Surrey. (7-8 December 1975)
Athelhampton House,
Athelhampton, Dorset. (30 October -3 November 1975)
BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, Shepard's Bush, London, W12. (16 December 1975))

Episode 1 - The fake snow looks relatively credible... until the scene where Tom Baker digs up the second Krynoid pod. It's so obviously made from chunks of styrofoam that Tom looks like he's unwrapping a mail-order package.
Episode 1, 2 - If you pay close attention, you'll notice the chessboard propped up against the wall in the Antarctic base. In episode 1, it is positioned so that the upper-left square is white, but by episode 2 it has been rotated 90 degrees, so that the upper-left square is black instead.
Episode 2 - When Keeler and Scorby are in the Antarctic base alone and a call comes in on the radio, Scorby answers it and talks to the people on the other end for a while. The problem is - when he stops talking, he's supposed to flip the switch on the radio from 'send' to 'receive' so that he can receive the transmissions from the other end (since that's how 2-way radios normally function). However, on at least two occasions, the voice of the other people comes in before he flips the switch.
Episode 4 - Sarah's scream at the advancing Krynoid at the episode's climax is a study in inability to suspend disbelief. She's looking at this big green plastic thing, and it shows on her face. What's more, her actual scream couldn't have been very convincing - it was dubbed in afterwards.
Episode 5 - In several shots of the Krynoid after daybreak, it's pictured with trees and sky behind it - a blue CSO screen, naturally. Yet the trees in many of those blue screen shots have no leaves on them. No real tree lacking foliage is shown in episode 5 (though Autumn does inexplicably start to arrive in episode 6).
Episode 6 - As the Doctor and Sarah flee the house through the undergrowth, which is supposedly moving wildly in order to ensnare them, their hair is blown about just as well by the wind machines that move the plants. When they look up to see the house burning, in fact, Sarah looks like she's just been standing next to a jet engine.
Episode 6 - Watch for the priceless moment when Tom Baker grabs Elisabeth Sladen's chest (during the "steam!" scene).
Episode 6 - How does the TARDIS get to Antarctica at the end of the story? The Doctor claims he "never reset the coordinates", but the TARDIS never went to Antarctica in the first place - the Doctor and Sarah travelled there by helicopter.

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