the Doctor. The Doctor's group is then chased by two cannibals, but loses them thanks to some deadly plant tendrils. The Chief and Quillam arrive on the scene but are entangled in the tendrils, killing them. The group then meet up with Peri, the Governor, and Meldak. They all make their way back to the control centre as Sil reveals the invasion force he had dispatched hours earlier to take Varos by force. However, Sil is mortified to learn that the invasion force has been called back, and a second Zeiton-7 deposit has been discovered, so his company has ordered him to obtain the Varosian ore at any price. The Doctor and Peri then bid the Governor farewell, taking some ore with them for the TARDIS. Soon after, the Governor issues a message to the citizens to abolish their government's injustice, torture, and executions. Citizens watch in disbelief, wondering what they should do now with their new-found freedom. Production This story was written as a replacement for a serial called Song of the Space Whale by comics writer Pat Mills, which was originally scheduled to be in season 20, before finally being cancelled. Working titles for this story included Domain and Planet of Fear (the latter being vetoed for being too similar to the previous season's Planet of Fire). The story was first written for the 1982 season, but was repeatedly pushed back and re-written. In its final draft, the story had a number of comedic sequences, most of which wound up being cut, and one of which, the acid bath sequence, was played seriously. The result was that the final story was much darker than originally intended. The more grim acid bath sequence was much criticised for its tone and for the Doctor's flippant remark at the end of the scene. During the first recording of the noose execution scene, part of the set collapsed under the weight of the actors. Fortunately, this did not happen when Baker and Connery actually had their necks in the nooses (although in that case, for safety reasons the nooses were not actually tied up). In his 1986 interview for Starburst, script editor Eric Saward said he thought this story was "poorly directed". Cast notes Jason Connery (Jondar) is the son of actor Sean Connery. Martin Jarvis makes a guest appearance as the beleaguered Governor of Varos; he had previously appeared in the