The Ambassadors of Death: Episode 1
- Episode aired Mar 21, 1970
- TV-PG
- 25m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
604
YOUR RATING
While the Brigadier investigates a loss of contact with Mars Probe 7, the Doctor realises signals coming from the probe are of extra-terrestrial origin.While the Brigadier investigates a loss of contact with Mars Probe 7, the Doctor realises signals coming from the probe are of extra-terrestrial origin.While the Brigadier investigates a loss of contact with Mars Probe 7, the Doctor realises signals coming from the probe are of extra-terrestrial origin.
Alan Chuntz
- Thug
- (uncredited)
Max Diamond
- Technician
- (uncredited)
Pat Gorman
- Technician
- (uncredited)
David J. Grahame
- Control Room Technician
- (uncredited)
Billy Horrigan
- Collinson's Man
- (uncredited)
Eric Kent
- UNIT Soldier
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- David Whitaker
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- Trevor Ray(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn an interview years later, Terrance Dicks recounted the experience of rewriting David Whitaker's story:
"One of the situations I inherited [as Doctor Who (1963) script editor] was Ambassadors of Death and the ongoing tangle with that. David Whitaker...had gone through four or five drafts and you come to a stage where you write so much it just gets worse. What was happening was that the need for the script was very urgent and I stormed into [producers] Peter [Bryant] and Derrick [Sherwin] and said, "Look, we've got five drafts of this. David's fed up with it, he doesn't know what to do. What we need to do is pay David in full and Mac [Hulke] and I will finish." And that's basically what we did. I made sure that David got a full script fee for all his episodes because he had been buggered about by the establishment and Mac and I took the bare bones of his story and almost did a "War Games" - wrote new scripts very quickly - and it shows. It had its moments though".
- GoofsEverything the aliens touch violently explodes, except the capsule, their prison, the gates and doors they open, and many other things that would be inconvenient to the plot.
- Quotes
The Doctor: [shouting down the lift] My dear fellow, I simply don't happen to have a pass!
[pause for inaudible query]
The Doctor: Because I don't believe in them, that's why!
- Crazy creditsThe opening credit sequence for all episodes of the story is split into two parts and the episode title is presented in two separate lines, the second "OF DEATH" part being larger and accompanied by a dramatic audio sting.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Mars Probe 7: Making the Ambassadors of Death (2012)
Featured review
Goes nowhere, accomplishes little, but still pretty great
Normally I have a really hard time getting through the serials that just seem to repeat the same actions for 2-7 episodes, like The Doctor getting captured, escaping, finding a single clue, the companion gets caught, escapes, finds one clue, red herrings, and a whole bunch of chase scenes to pretend there is something going on, instead of just a flurry of mindless activity. But this cast is SO GOOD despite everything that I just want to watch them do whatever they need to do to (maybe) push the plot forward. I can't believe this is so early into Jon Pertwee, Caroline John, and Nicholas Courtney's run, because they have their roles down. This is a really solid serial, despite its shortcomings.
helpful•00
- TARDIS_Tech_Support
- Oct 25, 2023
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
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- Filming locations
- TCC Condensers, Wales Farm Road, North Acton, London, England, UK(UNIT gun battle)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
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