The Pirate Planet

] [cite web
url= http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/5d.html
title= The Pirate Planet
publisher = A Brief History of Time Travel
last = Sullivan
first = Shannon
date = 2007-08-07
accessdate = 2008-08-30]
*The original draft for this story was extremely complex: centred around a Time Lord trapped in a giant aggression-absorbing machine and several paradoxes, it had to be heavily simplified by the script editor, Anthony Read.
*According to the DVD commentary, the Doctor's accident with the console early in the story was staged to explain Baker's real-life cut lip, which was due to a dog bite.
*The scenes in the engine room were filmed at the Berkeley Nuclear Power Station, which made many of the cast and crew rather nervous.

Outside references

* At one point, the Doctor tells Kimus, "Don't panic," which is the tagline for Adams's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
* The Name "Bantraginus V" is likely a reference to "Santraginus V", the home for one of the key ingredients in Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster in Adams's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
* Qualactin, mentioned as only other source than Bantraginus V for Oolion, is source for another Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster ingredient.
* The Doctor claims to have met Isaac Newton, and says he dropped the apple that made him discover gravity. Newton is said to have told the Doctor to get out of his tree, and the Doctor later explains gravity to him.

In print

This is one of five "Doctor Who" serials that were never novelised by Target Books as they were unable to come to an agreement with Douglas Adams that would have allowed him or another writer to adapt the script. A fan group in New Zealand published an unofficial novelisation of the story in 1990, later republishing it as an online eBook titled " [http://nzdwfc.tetrap.com/archive/pirate/ Doctor Who and the Pirate Planet] ".

Broadcast, VHS and DVD release

*This serial was broadcast over 4 consecutive Saturday nights starting on September 30, 1978 and finishing on October 21.
*This serial was released on VHS in April 1995.
*This serial, along with the rest of season sixteen, was released in North America as part of the "Key to Time" box set, and as an individually available title, on October 1, 2002.
*A Limited Edition of the "Key to Time" box set (with additional clean-up and extras over the North American release) containing this serial, was released in Region 2 on September 24, 2007 [cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/05/18/44552.shtml|title = DVD News|publisher=BBC|date=18 May 2007] . The same set, though not in Limited Edition guise, was released in Region 4 on November 7, 2007. The serial is not available separately on DVD in Regions 2 or 4.

References

External links

*BBCCDW|id=pirateplanet|title=The Pirate Planet
*Brief |id=5b | title=The Pirate Planet
*Doctor Who RG | id=who_5b | title=The Pirate Planet

Reviews

*OG review | id=5b | title=The Pirate Planet
*DWRG | id=pira | title=The Pirate Planet

Fan novelisation

* [http://nzdwfc.tetrap.com/archive/pirate/ "Doctor Who and the Pirate Planet"] ebook