Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday

Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday
Promotional poster for Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday
Written by	Terrance Dicks
Date premiered	December 16, 1974 (1974-12-16)
Place premiered	Adelphi Theatre London, England
Original language	English
Genre	Science Fiction

Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday was a stage play based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The play ran at the Adelphi Theatre in London, England for four weeks, beginning on 16 December 1974. Originally, the part of the Doctor was going to be played by Jon Pertwee, but the role went to character actor Trevor Martin instead. Martin had previously appeared in Doctor Who as a Time Lord in the 1969 serial, The War Games. In the play, it is stated that Martin's version of the Doctor is regenerated from Pertwee's; this makes him an alternate version of the Fourth Doctor (the play premiered about two weeks before Tom Baker began his television tenure as the Fourth Doctor).

Appearing as the Doctor's companions were Wendy Padbury (who had previously played Zoe Heriot in the television series) as Jenny, and James Mathews as Jimmy. Future The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy star Simon Jones appeared as the Master of Karn.

The plot centred around the Daleks, who were trying to take over the universe with the help of their crab-like slaves, the Clawrentulars. The play was directed by Mick Hughes and was written by Terrance Dicks, former script editor for the television series. Dicks would later use some of the plot elements in his Fourth Doctor story The Brain of Morbius.

The play was actually titled Seven Keys to Doomsday but the additional words preceding the title became known as part of it.

Other Productions

In 1984, the show was performed by the Porirua Little Theatre at the Community Hall in Titahi Bay, Porirua, New Zealand. Performances began at 3pm and 7:30pm on November 24 and 25, and December 1, 2 and 8th.^[1]

This production used the same script as the 1974 English production, with actor Micheal Sagar taking the role of the Doctor. The Doctor's companions Jenny and Dave were played by Theresa Milgate and Alistair Hudson respectively. Three Daleks, custom-built for the play, were used to promote the play in central Wellington.

Director Brian Hudson had previously worked for the BBC during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was a fan of Doctor Who.

In a February 2008 interview with Dicks, it was revealed that he had been contacted by Big Finish Productions to adapt his Doctor Who plays for audio release.^[2] Seven Keys to Doomsday was released in October 2008 and features Trevor Martin as the Doctor.

Audio Adaptation

The Seven Keys to Doomsday was produced as a Big Finish Productions audio drama.

Big Finish Productions audio play
The Seven Keys to Doomsday
Series	Doctor Who: The Stageplays
Release number	2
Featuring	Trevor Martin as The Doctor Jenny Jimmy
Writer	Terrance Dicks
Director	John Ainsworth
Executive producer(s)	Nicholas Briggs Jason Haigh-Ellery
Release date	October 2008

Cast

• The Doctor — Trevor Martin
• Jenny — Charlie Hayes
• Jimmy — Joe Thompson
• Jedak — Nicholas Deal
• Tara — Christine Brennan
• Garm/The Master of Karn — Steven Wickham
• Computer/Marko — Paul Thornley
• The Daleks — Nicholas Briggs

Cast notes

• Charlie Hayes is the daughter of Wendy Padbury, who played Jenny in the original stage production.

Notes and references

1. ^ "The Dalek Invasion of Porirua: 1984", Time/Space Visualiser issue 61, December 2000
2. ^ "Daleks, Doctors and a dog called Goliath" EADT24

External links

• Big Finish Productions - "Seven Keys to Doomsday"
• The New Zealand production of Seven Keys to Doomsday