The Chase is the eighth serial of the second season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Richard Martin, the serial was broadcast on BBC in six weekly parts from 22 May to 26 June 1965. Set in multiple time periods on several different planets, including Aridius, Earth, and Mechanus, the serial features the Dalek race travelling through time while pursuing the time machine the TARDIS and its occupants—the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien)—to kill them and seize the TARDIS for themselves. The Doctor and companions encounter several characters, including monsters Dracula (Malcolm Rogers) and Frankenstein's monster (John Maxim), human astronaut Steven Taylor (Peter Purves), and an android replica of the Doctor (Edmund Warwick). Nation was commissioned to write the serial by story editor Dennis Spooner following the success of the Daleks in The Daleks (1963) and its sequel The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1963–1964); Martin was also chosen to direct based on his work on these serials. The Chase was the final work on Doctor Who by Martin and Spooner. The story was allocated a larger budget than normal, resulting in minimal budget for the preceding and following stories. A substantial part of the budget was allocated to the construction of the Mechonoids; they were given a press launch, and their merchandising rights were offered to manufacturers. The production crew coordinated with the Beatles's manager Brian Epstein to feature a clip of the band in the first episode of The Chase. Dudley Simpson composed the serial's incidental score. The serial marks the final appearance of series regulars Russell and Hill, who depart in the sixth episode; their decisions, made independently, greatly upset Hartnell. It also marks the first appearance of Purves, whose appearance in the third episode as American tourist Morton Dill led to his casting in the sixth episode as Steven Taylor, who later became a companion. Warwick worked with Hartnell to imitate his mannerisms as the android replica of the Doctor. Due to the variety of work, set designers Raymond Cusick and John Wood collaborated for the serial; Cusick redesigned some of the Daleks that had been modified since their original creation. The production crew sourced Dalek props that were on loan to various studios and companies, including for the film Dr. Who and