The Wheel in Space

] [cite web
url= http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_2s.htm
title= PAGENAME
publisher = Doctor Who Reference Guide
author =
date =
accessdate = 2008-08-30] [cite web
url= http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/ss.html
title= PAGENAME
publisher = A Brief History of Time Travel
last = Sullivan
first = Shannon
date = 2006-05-10
accessdate = 2008-08-30] The story's working title was "The Space Wheel".

This serial was the first time the BBC Radiophonic Workshop were called upon to provide the backing score.

Casting

* Patrick Troughton did not appear in episode 2 as he was on holiday. Thus, a body double was used to substitute for the unconscious Doctor.
* Deborah Watling's appearance in episode 1 was a recap from the end of the previous story "Fury from the Deep". Unusually, she received an on-screen credit for this appearance.
* Michael Goldie previously played Craddock in "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" (1964), whilst Kenneth Watson had played Craddock in the theatrical version of this story, "Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD" (1966).

Missing episodes

Only Episodes 3 and 6 exist in the BBC Archives. Episode 6 was transmitted from a 35 mm film print and retained in the BBC Film Library (although Episode 5 was not). A private collector obtained a copy of Episode 3 and returned it in 1983. A few other clips have been discovered as well.

Fan myth

A persistent fan myth was that an early edit (known as a "slash print") of episode 6 was held by the BBC, with an incomplete audio track. Unusually, but not uniquely, for 1960s "Doctor Who", the electronic output for episode 6 was recorded directly onto 35mm film, rather than videotape (episode 5 was likewise recorded onto film but all copies of the film were later junked for this episode).

The associated optical soundtrack of this film contained the raw studio sound and was subsequently altered during the physical cutting of the film to form the edited transmission master of the episode. This did not matter because a separate magnetic film containing the final audio track to be used for broadcast, including music and sound effects, was prepared.

Early fan bootleg copies of the episode mistakenly sourced the audio from the film's optical track, which gave rise to the myth that a different version existed. The BBC video and DVD releases subsequently used the (correct) magnetic soundtrack. However, if the audio commentary option is selected for episode six on the DVD release, an audio snippet of from the recording session, sourced from the optical soundtrack, can be heard after the end credits.

Doctorwhobook
title=The Wheel in Space
series=Target novelisations
number=130
featuring=


writer=Terrance Dicks
publisher=Target Books
coverartist=Ian Burgess
isbn=0 426 20321 6
set_between=
pages=
date=18 August 1988
preceding=The Underwater Menace
following=The Ultimate Foe|

Commercial releases

Episodes 3 and 6 were released on VHS on "Cybermen: The Early Years" in July 1992, and again in November 2004 on DVD in the three-disc "Lost in Time" set.All six episodes' original audio tracks were released on the 2-disc BBC audiobook CD "Dr Who The Wheel in Space" with narration by Wendy Padbury (Zoe) in May 2004.

In print

A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in March 1988. Only 23,000 copies of the paperback edition were circulated (reportedly due to stocks being destroyed in a warehouse fire), leading to this book becoming a rare collectible. [http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~ecl6nb/OnTarget/1988/wheel/facts.htm]

References

External links

*BBCCDW|id=wheelinspace|title=The Wheel in Space
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/photonovels/wheelinspace/index.shtml Photonovel of "The Wheel in Space" on the BBC website]
*Brief |id=ss | title=The Wheel in Space
*Doctor Who RG | id=who_2s | title=The Wheel in Space

Reviews

*OG review | id=ss | title=The Wheel in Space
*DWRG | id=whee | title=The Wheel in Space

Target novelisation

*DWRG | id=wheenov | title=The Wheel in Space (novelisation)
* [http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~ecl6nb/OnTarget/1988/wheel/88wheel.htm On Target — "The Wheel in Space"]