but does not report the murder for fear of undermining the DN6 project to which he has dedicated his life. Ian and Barbara hide inside Farrow's briefcase to avoid being stepped on by Forester and Smithers, and get separated from the Doctor and Susan after the briefcase is brought inside the house. The Doctor and Susan climb up a drain pipe to find them. Forester alters Farrow's report to give support to the DN6 licence application and, disguising his voice as Farrow’s, makes a supportive phone call to the ministry to the same effect. This is overheard by the local telephone operator Hilda Rowse (Rosemary Johnson) and her policeman husband Bert (Fred Ferris), who suspect something is wrong. Within the house, Ian and Barbara encounter a giant fly, which is killed instantly when it contacts sample seeds that had been sprayed with DN6. Barbara had handled one of these seeds and begins to feel unwell. The Doctor, realising the toxic nature of DN6 and the probable contamination of Barbara, proposes they alert someone by hoisting up the giant telephone receiver, but they cannot make themselves heard. At the telephone exchange, the engaged signal makes Hilda and Bert increasingly concerned. Bert heads off to the house to investigate. The Doctor and his companions decide to attract attention by starting a fire, succeeding in manoeuvring an aerosol can into the flames of the Bunsen burner gas outlet. This coincides with Smithers discovering the true virulence of DN6 and demanding Forester cease his licence application. In the lab, the makeshift bomb explodes in Forester’s face as PC Rowse arrives. Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor succeeds in returning the craft and crew to normal size, a process which cures Barbara of her infection by DN6. Production Conception and writing The concept of the Doctor and his companions shrinking in size was initially proposed as the first story of the show's first season, written by C. E. Webber and entitled The Giants. After some rewrites, the serial was rejected by show creator Sydney Newman in June 1963 due to its technical complexity and lack of character development. The concept of The Giants was given to writer Robert Gould in mid-1963 to develop as the four-part fourth serial of the first season, but it was dropped by January 1964 due to scripting difficulties. By February 1964, the serial was assigned to writer Louis Marks. The