5C. The Stones Of Blood

  • Script Editor: Anthony Read;
  • Writer: David Fisher;
  • Produced by: Graham Williams;
  • Director: Darrol Blake;
  • Designer: John Stout;
  • Incidental Music: Dudley Simpson;

Programme Description

This time the third segment of the Key to Time is hidden on Earth, and the trail leads the Doctor and Romana to an ancient Druidic circle, the Nine Travellers, where they come across Professor Rumford and Vivien Fay.

Research by Professor Rumford and Vivien Fay have shown that over the years the number of stones has varied. Looking for the third segment they meet a group of Druids, and the Doctor narrowly avoids becoming a sacrifice. The leader is later killed by an Orgi, a silicon based life form that must feed on blood.

The Doctor finds that the Cailleach, worshipped by the Druids, is in fact Vivien Fay, who had been living on Earth for 4,000 years. Before he can warn Romana she is taken up to Fay's spacecraft which is in hyperspace orbit. The Doctor follows and accidentally lets out the Megara.

The Megara are justice machines sent to judge Cessair of Diplos. Instead they nearly execute the Doctor, but during his trial he persuades them to look into the mind of Vivien Fay, and they discover that she is in fact Cessair of Diplos. They turn her into one of the stones in the circle, but not before the Doctor grabs her necklace, which is the third segment of the Key to Time.

Regular Cast

  • Voice of K-9: John Leeson;
  • Romana: Mary Tamm;

Guest Cast

  • Professor Amelia Rumford: Beatrix Lehmann;
  • Vivien Fay (Cessair of Diplos): Susan Engel;
  • Leonard De Vries: Nicholas McArdle (1-2);
  • Martha: Elaine Ives-Cameron (1-2);
  • Megara Voices: Gerald Cross (3-4), David McAlistair (3-4);
  • Female Camper (Pat): Shirin Taylor (3);
  • Male Camper: James Murray (3);
  • Voice of the White Guardian: Gerald Cross (1);

  • UNCREDITED CAST:
  • Driuds: (all 1-2) Judy Cowne, Decima Delaney, James Muir, Mike Mungarvan, Ian Munroe, Margaret Pilleau;
  • Double for Romana: Roberta Gibbs (2);
  • Megara Operators: Angie Passmore (3-4), John Thirtle (3-4);

Transmissions

ChannelEpisodeTitleDateViewersPosition
BBC 1 488 Part One Sat 28 Oct 1978 2818:25 - 18:50 8.6M 38th
BBC 1 489 Part Two Sat 4 Nov 1978 418:20 - 18:45 6.6M 75th
BBC 1 490 Part Three Sat 11 Nov 1978 1118:20 - 18:45 9.3M 38th
BBC 1 491 Part Four Sat 18 Nov 1978 1818:20 - 18:45 7.6M 66th

Repeat Transmissions

This programme has not been repeated.

Locations

  • Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire;
  • Reed Cottage, Little Compton, Oxfordshire;
  • Little Rollright Quarry, Oxfordshire;

Studios

  • Television Centre Studio 3;
  • Television Centre Studio 6;

Bloopers and Mistakes

This programme has no bloopers or mistakes. It's probably not perfect, just that they haven't been found or pointed out yet

Notes and Trivia

There is nothing to add about this programme

Working Titles

The Nine Maidens
The Stones of Time
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