Survival (Doctor Who)

Notes

• Working titles for this story included Cat-Flap and Blood Hunt.
• Although Survival was the last Doctor Who serial of the original series to be transmitted, it was not the last to have been produced; that was Ghost Light, which had been broadcast some weeks earlier.
• This story is the last to feature Anthony Ainley as the Master. Ainley was not asked to return as the Master for the 1996 Doctor Who television movie. Instead, Gordon Tipple was cast as the Master for the prologue and Eric Roberts played the Master for the rest of the movie. Ainley reprised the role of the Master for the 1998 computer game Destiny of the Doctors. He continued to be active in Doctor Who, attending conventions and recording a commentary track for the as-yet-unreleased DVD of the 1981 serial The Keeper of Traken. Ainley died in May 2004.
• This story was also the last to feature Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. McCoy returned briefly to the role in 1996 at the beginning of the American television movie continuation of the series, Doctor Who, to regenerate into the Eighth Doctor. Allegedly, if the series had been renewed, McCoy would have left the role after Season 27, regenerating at the end of the season.
• Finally, this story was the last to feature Sophie Aldred as Ace. Aldred would have continued in her role had the series been renewed for Season 27; however, Aldred's contract was set to expire at the middle part of that season. As a result, the character of Ace was set to be written out of the series in an Ice Warrior story called Ice Time (1990) by Marc Platt.
• Doctor Who eventually returned to production as a BBC television series in 2004, produced by BBC Wales. Rose, the first episode of the new series, aired on March 26, 2005.
• Although there was no public indication that this was to be the final regular instalment of Doctor Who, unlike previous season-ending stories there was no voice-over on the closing credits of the final episode to tell viewers that the programme would return for a new series for following year.
• Having already surmised that episode three of Survival was likely to at least be the last episode of Doctor Who for some time, and possibly the last ever, the programme's producer John Nathan-Turner decided close to transmission that a more suitable conclusion should be given to the final episode. To this end, script editor Andrew Cartmel wrote a short, melancholic closing monologue for actor Sylvester McCoy, which McCoy recorded on November 23 1989 — by coincidence, the show's twenty-sixth anniversary. This was dubbed over the closing scene as the Doctor and Ace walked off into the distance, apparently to further adventures. The Doctor Who production office at the BBC finally closed down, for the first time since 1963, in August 1990.
• The gap between Survival and the Doctor Who television movie was filled by British publisher Virgin Publishing, who from 1991 onwards produced a range of novels entitled the New Adventures carrying on the adventures of the Doctor and Ace following the end of Survival.
• For details on Doctor Who during the 1990s, see History of Doctor Who.
• The part of Karra in this serial is played by Lisa Bowerman, who is now more familiar to fans as the voice of Bernice Summerfield in the Big Finish Productions audio dramas.
• This serial features guest appearances of the comedians Gareth Hale and Norman Pace, and actress Adele Silva. See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who.
• When the Master next appears in the Fox TV movie, he can be seen sporting cat's eyes on occasion, an apparent allusion to his condition in Survival.