Meglos
A cactus creature steals a crystal energy source.
The Zolfa-Thuran plant Meglos, from the 18th season of Doctor Who, steals the Dodecahedron, a massive power source on the planet Tigella. This second serial aired in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 27 September to 18 October 1980.
Quick Facts
- Number
- 110
- Doctor
- Tom Baker – Fourth Doctor
- Companions
- Lalla Ward – Romana; John Leeson – Voice of K9
- Director
- Terence Dudley
- Writer
- John Flanagan and; Andrew McCulloch
- Script editor
- Christopher H. Bidmead
- Producer
- John Nathan-Turner
- Executive producers
- Barry Letts
Facts from the source article.
Plot
In the Prion star system, two planets can support life: Zolfa-Thura, a barren desert world that appears empty of living things, and Tigella, a jungle planet home to the humanoid Tigellans. Tigellan society splits into two groups: the scientific Savants, whose leader is Deedrix, and the religious Deons, headed by Lexa. The Deons worship a crystal called the Dodecahedron, which they believe is a gift from their god Ti. The Savants have been using that same crystal to power their entire civilization. As the energy from the Dodecahedron starts to falter, tensions between the two factions rise. The planet’s mediator, Zastor, calls on his old friend the Doctor for help. When the Fourth Doctor, Romana, and K9 try to bring the TARDIS down, they get stuck in a time loop, forced to repeat the same brief moment over and over. The one responsible is Meglos, the last surviving Zolfa-Thuran—a cactus-like being hiding in a secret underground structure. He has hired a crew of space pirates called Gaztaks to help him steal the Dodecahedron, which is actually a powerful energy source from his own world. Meglos takes over an Earthling’s body and reshapes it to look like the Doctor, then sneaks into the Tigellan city. The Doctor and Romana break free of the time loop and land in Tigella’s dangerous jungle. The Doctor heads off to find Zastor, while Romana runs into deadly plants and then the Gaztaks waiting near their ship. She slips away and makes for the city. Posing as the Doctor, Meglos steals the Dodecahedron, but the Earthling inside him fights back, causing green cactus spines to burst through his skin. The Tigellans notice the theft and raise the alarm. When the real Doctor arrives, he is blamed. Lexa uses the chaos to stage a coup, arresting Zastor and Deedrix, and prepares the Doctor for sacrifice. Meglos takes a Savant named Caris hostage, but she gains the upper hand when the Earthling resists again. In the confusion, Romana overpowers Caris, letting Meglos escape. He rejoins the Gaztaks and returns to Zolfa-Thura.
Production
Before it settled on its final title, this story was called either The Golden Pentangle or The Last Zolfa-Thuran. It is one of just two multi-part serials where every credited actor appears in all episodes, the other being The Edge of Destruction from 1964. A unique camera system called Scene-Sync was used here, the only time Doctor Who employed it. This setup let the production superimpose moving shots of actors onto a miniature set; when the camera filming the performers moved, a linked camera on the miniature moved the same scaled distance automatically. The precise scaling was worked out through trial and error, with tiny voltage adjustments to the slave camera’s motors. For the closing theme of part four, the music was transposed into a lower key than the original. While this story was being made, Madame Tussauds in London opened its Doctor Who Exhibition, featuring wax figures of both the Fourth Doctor and his Meglos double, making Tom Baker the only person to appear twice in that museum. Gareth Roberts, writing the 2010 episode The Lodger, briefly considered making it a sequel to this story but abandoned the plan. Jacqueline Hill, who played the First Doctor’s companion Barbara Wright, appears here as Lexa, marking the first time a former companion returned to play a different character. The name Brotadac is an anagram of “Bad Actor,” a private joke by the production team, who later felt awkward when the role went to Frederick Treves, an actor they greatly admired. Bill Fraser only accepted the part of Grugger on the condition that his character could kick K9; the request was allowed, and he later appeared in the spin-off pilot K-9 and Company. Crawford Logan voiced Meglos but was credited only as Deedrix.
Commercial releases
Terrance Dicks' novelisation of Meglos, published by Target Books in February 1983, gives a name to the human host the villain takes over and frames the story with his abduction and eventual return to Earth. A French version came out in 1987. An audiobook narrated by Jon Culshaw and John Leeson was issued by BBC Audio on 1 July 2021. The serial itself arrived on VHS in April 2003, on DVD in January 2011, and as part of Doctor Who DVD Files issue 109 in March 2013. The incidental score by Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell appeared on the 2002 compilation Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 4: Meglos & Full Circle.
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