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32 MIN READ TIME

DEEP TROUBLE

INTERVIEW BY MARCUS HEARN
Writer Johnny Byrne, pictured in 1988.

The late Johnny Byrne had big ambitions for Doctor Who.

Although best remembered for his prolific contributions to cosy dramas such as All Creatures Great and Small (1978-90) and Heartbeat (1992-2010) he enjoyed a parallel career in science-fiction. He wrote numerous episodes of Gerry Anderson’s Space: 1999 (1975-77) before applying his typically thought-provoking approach to the Doctor Who stories The Keeper of Traken (1981) and Arc of Infinity (1983). On paper his third and final story, Warriors of the Deep (1984), was an edge-of-your-seat thriller, with vengeful Silurians and Sea Devils seeking to reclaim the Earth by prompting the planet’s superpowers to wipe each other out.

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The Essential Doctor Who: Invasions of Earth
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Other Articles in this Issue


EDITOR’S LETTER
INVASIONS OF EARTH
In 1969 the BBC’s publicists clearly felt it wasn’t quite
THE ESSENTIAL DOCTOR WHO
THE INVADERS
Terry Nation’s original plans for his 1964 serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth included a new companion for the Doctor and an intriguing visit to the forecourt of Television Centre
The Boy with the Knack
Long before he was Robby Box in the comedy drama Big Deal, and Pauline Fowler’s husband in EastEnders, Ray Brooks was defending the Earth against Daleks and their Robomen…
FURY FROM THE DEEP
THE TARDIS HAVING LANDED OFF THE NORTH SEA coastline, the
DEVILS’ WORK
In this previously unpublished interview, conducted in 1988, writer Victor Pemberton reflects on Fury from the Deep and his similarly themed audio story Doctor Who and the Pescatons
ICE SCULPTING
In the 1960s Jack Lovell made the costumes for some of Doctor Who’s greatest invading aliens. In this previously unpublished interview, conducted in 1995, he remembers the creation of the Ice Warriors
THE SEEDS OF DEATH
THE POPULATION OF EARTH VASTLY OUTNUMBERS the Ice Warriors of
TERROR FIRMA
As the man behind some of Doctor Who’s greatest alien invasion stories, director Michael Ferguson never allowed being Earthbound to limit his imagination…
SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE
SIX MONTHS BEFORE THEIR MAIN STRIKE, THE Nestenes discreetly commence
THE SPARE-PART SPARE-PART PEOPLE
In 1970 a story submitted to the Doctor Who production office began with a bizarre invasion led by unstoppable mummies. The Spare-Part People is made all the more intriguing by the fact it was co-written by the actor currently playing the Doctor
DAY OF THE DALEKS
TOWARDS THE END OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, a series of
TIME WARRIOR
As freedom fighter Anat, Anna Barry helped to save the world from the Day of the Daleks
TERROR OF THE ZYGONS
CENTURIES AGO, THE CREW OF A DAMAGED ZYGON craft landed
MILITARY PARECISION
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart was the Doctor’s staunchest ally when the Earth was threatened by alien invaders. He was played by the irreplaceable Nicholas Courtney
THE SEEDS OF DOOM
THE KRYNOIDS HAVE NO EXPLICIT PLANS FOR THE invasion of
WHO'S ARMY
The men and women of UNIT have been our first line of defence against alien invasions since the Yeti stalked the London Underground. But these soldiers are far from unique, and have parallels in the most surprising places…
Horrible History
The 1974 serial Invasion of the Dinosaurs featured one of the strangest occupations of London in the series’ history. The story has long been criticised for the quality of its visual effects, but what does palaeontologist Dr Dave Hone make of its historical accuracy?
WARRIORS OF THE DEEP
AFTER MILLIONS OF YEARS IN SUSPENDED animation, the Silurians launch
ALIENS OF LONDON/WORLD WAR THREE
IF THERE’S ONE THING YOU CAN’T ACCUSE THE Slitheen of,
COUNTERSTRIKE
The plucky group that helped the Doctor defend the Earth in Remembrance of the Daleks has returned in Counter-Measures, an audio series from Big Finish
THE CHRISTMAS INVASION
Having intercepted and impounded the Mars-bound Guinevere One space probe,
Comic-strip INVASIONS
Comic-strip adaptations of Doctor Who have been depicting invasions of Earth since the 1960s. These are some of their highlights
THE SONTARAN STRATEGEM/THE POISON SKY
PREOCCUPIED WITH MILITARY STRATEGY AND THE glory of war, the
Marshalling THE TROOPS
Director Douglas Mackinnon has overseen some of the most memorable invasion stories of recent years
THE VAMPIRES OF VENICE
FLEEING FROM THE SILENCE, THE LAST OF THE Saturnynes travelled
SECRET ARMIES
Toby Whithouse recalls the alien invasion stories he’s written for Doctor Who, and the kind of invasion he dreamt of as a child
THE POWER OF THREE
THE OCCUPATION THAT COMES TO BE KNOWN AS ‘the Slow
BEHIND THE MASK
As well as defending the Earth as a UNIT soldier, actor Jon Davey is also one of Doctor Who’s most prolific Earth invaders…
FLATLINE
FEW ALIEN INCURSIONS HAVE PROVEN AS inexplicable as the one
INVERSION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
Writer Peter Harness drew upon controversial contemporary issues and a violent chapter of American history for one of the series’ most startling invasion stories
Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Many have tried to take over the Earth; many have failed. But what’s the appeal? And what can any would-be conqueror learn from these failures?
THE SECRET INVASION
Terry Nation’s final Dalek invasion of Earth was published by Target Books in 1979 and marked the end of an era
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