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Doctor Who: Snakedance
Starring: Peter Davison , Janet Fielding
Directed by: Fiona Cumming
Produced by: John Nathan-Turner
Written by: Christopher Bailey
With Tegan (Janet Fielding) once more under the influence of the Mara, the TARDIS lands on the planet Manussa. After a whirlwind struggle, the fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) must use both cunning and courage to prevent the Mara from seizing the "great crystal" and returning to corporeal existence. Look for a young Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) as heroic Lon of Manussa. Digitally remastered. Extras include audio commentary and deleted scenes.
Item Number: 16011
- Format:
- DVD Fullscreen
- Region:
- 1 - More Details
- Run time:
- About 1 2/3 Hours
- Number of Discs:
- 1
- Special Features:
English Subtitles for the Deaf and Heariing Impaired
• Audio Commentary
• Snake Charmer
• Deleted Scenes
• In Studio
• Saturday Superstore
• Photo Gallery
• Easter egg
• Isolated music score
• PDF materials: Radio Times Listings
• Production Notes Subtitle Option
Tegan falls once more under the influence of the Mara and directs the TARDIS to the planet Manussa. There the Federator's son Lon and his mother Tanha are preparing for a ceremony to celebrate the banishment of the Mara five hundred years earlier.
The Mara takes control of Lon and uses him and Tegan to obtain from Ambril, the Director of Historical Research, the 'great crystal' - the large blue stone that originally brought it into being by focusing energy from the minds of the planet's one-time inhabitants. The Mara now plans to use the crystal during the ceremony to bring about its return to corporeal existence.
The Doctor and Nyssa, aided by Ambril's assistant Chela, locate Ambril's aged predecessor Dojjen, who predicted the Mara's rebirth before wandering off into the wilderness. The Doctor allows himself to be bitten by a snake in order to enter a state of mental commune with Dojjen, who tells him that fear is the only true venom and that in order to defeat the Mara he must find the still point within himself.
The Doctor and his friends then return to the caves where the ceremony is being held. The Doctor, by concentrating his thoughts with the aid of a small replica of the great crystal, is able to find the still point and repel the Mara.
| The Doctor | --- | Peter Davison |
| Nyssa | --- | Sarah Sutton |
| Tegan | --- | Janet Fielding |
| Ambril | --- | John Carson |
| Chela | --- | Johnathon Morris |
| Dojjen | --- | Preston Lockwood |
| Dugdale | --- | Brian Miller |
| Fortune Teller | --- | Hilary Sesta |
| Hawker | --- | George Ballentine |
| Lon | --- | Martin Clunes |
| Megaphone Man | --- | Brian Grellis |
| Puppeteer | --- | Barry Smith |
| Tanha | --- | Colette O'Neil |
Directed by Fiona Cumming
Written by Christopher Bailey
Produced by
Executive Produced by John Nathan-Turner
Original Music by Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, arranged by Peter Howell
Film Editing by Alastair Mackay
Costume Design by Ken Trew
First Transmitted
1 - 18/01/1983 18:50
2 - 19/01/1983 18:45
3 - 25/01/1983 18:50
4 - 26/01/1983 18:45
A young Martin Clunes, now better known as one of the stars of the sitcom Men Behaving Badly, appears in an early television role as Lon.
Brian Miller, whose wife Elisabeth Sladen had portrayed the Doctor's companion Sarah Jane Smith, appears as Dugdale.
Johnathon Morris, star of the BBC sitcom Bread, appears as Chela.
