The Ambassadors of Death

] [cite web
url= http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_3c.htm
title= subst:PAGENAME
publisher = Doctor Who Reference Guide
author =
date =
accessdate = 2008-08-31] [cite web
url= http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/ccc.html
title= subst:PAGENAME
publisher = A Brief History of Time Travel
last = Sullivan
first = Shannon
date = 2005-05-14
accessdate = 2008-08-31] This story was initially developed to feature the Second Doctor and his last companions, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot. As such, it was set well into the future, and did not include UNIT. When all three actors left the programme at the end of the sixth series, it was rewritten to fit the consequential revamp. Original script editor David Whitaker proved incapable of writing for the incoming new format and cast, hence the contributions of Trevor Ray and Malcolm Hulke. All concerned parties agreed to leave sole credit to Whitaker, and this was the last "Doctor Who" serial with his name on it.

Working titles for this story included "The Invaders from Mars" (later the title of a Big Finish Productions audio drama), and "The Carriers of Death".

Features a guest appearance by Ronald Allen. See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who.

The opening titles of this story start with the normal music and graphics, yet immediately fade after the Doctor Who title caption. There is a short "teaser" for episode one, and episodes 2-7 feature a reprise of the previous episode's cliffhanger. Starting with the "scream", followed by a zoom-in on the words "The Ambassadors", concluding with "of Death", and a "zap" effect. The experiment was not repeated after this story.

Outside references

This story is similar to the "The Quatermass Experiment", where a returning astronaut was also replaced by an alien.

Doctorwhobook
title=The Ambassadors of Death
series=Target novelisations
number=121
featuring=


writer=Terrance Dicks
publisher=Target Books
coverartist=Tony Masero
isbn=0 491 03712 0
set_between=
pages=
date=21st May 1987 (Hardback)1st October 1987 (Paperback)
preceding=The Romans
following=The Massacre|

Commercial releases

Although the entire story was made on colour videotape, only the first episode is retained in this format. In fact, it is the earliest episode that survives in the series' original videotaped format, either in colour or B&W. The remaining six episodes survive only as black-and-white film recordings and poor-quality domestic colour recordings made from a US transmission in the 1970s. This recording is severely affected by a rainbow-coloured pattern of interference that at times overtakes the entire picture. ^{[http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/helpus.htm]}

In May 2002, a restoration project for the story's VHS release combined the usable colour information from the domestic recordings with the black and white picture from the film prints, creating a high-quality colour picture. All told, over half of the serial's running time is presented in colour, including all of Episodes 1 and 5, and sections from 2, 3, 6 and 7. The remaining footage, including all of Episode 4, was deemed unsuitable for restoration, and so remains in black-and-white.

In print

A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in May 1987 and was the final Third Doctor serial to be adapted. The Third Doctor's era was, as a result, the first to be completely adapted by Target Books, to be followed over the next few years by the First, Seventh, and Second Doctor eras, plus the single televised Eighth Doctor story, in that order. (Due to licensing difficulties involving several serials, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Doctor eras remain incomplete, while no plans exist for novelisations based upon the Ninth or Tenth Doctor stories. Novelisations based on spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures starring the Third Doctor's companion Sarah Jane Smith have now been released, however.)

References

External links

*BBCCDW|id=ambassadorsofdeath|title=The Ambassadors of Death
*Brief |id=ccc | title=The Ambassadors of Death
*Doctor Who RG | id=who_3c | title=The Ambassadors of Death
* [http://www.doctorwholocations.net/stories/ambassadorsofdeath Doctor Who Locations] - The Ambassadors of Death

Reviews

*OG review | id=3c | title=The Ambassadors of Death
*DWRG | id=amba | title=The Ambassadors of Death

Target novelisation

* [http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~ecl6nb/OnTarget/1987/ambassad/87ambass.htm On Target — "The Ambassadors of Death"]