Blood and Iron (serial)

Blood and Iron
Doctor(s)	Seventh Doctor
Companion(s)	Katie Tollinger Henrick
Featuring	Brigadier Winifred Bambera
Main Enemy	Raymond Scobie The Numlocks
Main Setting(s)	Margrave University, England, 2001
Key Crew
Written by	Andrew Cartmel
Directed by	Graeme Harper
Produced by	John Nathan-Turner
Release Details
TX Date(s)	14 November- 5 December 1990
TX Time	19:35
Original Release	BBC1
Format	4x25 minutes
Chapter	Chapter Two
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The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective.

Blood and Iron is the fourth and final serial of Season 27 of Doctor Who. It was written by Andrew Cartmel, directed by Graeme Harper and featured Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor, Julia Sawalha as Katie Tollinger and introduced John Banks as Henrick.

This serial marked the final regular appearance of Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and introduced Richard Griffiths as the Eighth Doctor in the closing moments of Part 4.

 Synopsis

Receiving a call from Brigadier Bambera, the Doctor and Katie visit Margrave University in 2001, where UNIT are investigating the most unusual plant life.

Plot

Part 1

In a jungle, Brigadier Winifred Bambera and a group of UNIT soldiers enter an alien spacecraft. They pan out and search it, finding absolutely nothing inside… it’s deserted. Bambera then looks around the edge of the ship and notices several strange plants. One of the UNIT soldiers touches it and is instantly turned into a skeleton. Bambera tells everyone to stay clear and they have a “code nine”.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor tells Katie all the amazing places they could go, but Katie seems rather unimpressed instead asking about the facilities on the TARDIS. The Doctor is rather taken aback when Katie asks for details such as whether he has a shower or bath, how big is her bedroom, how many clothes can she get into her wardrobe. He tries to explain to her that the TARDIS is a dimension of infinite space and that her human mind just can’t wrap her head around it. Katie is offended by this and says that “she’ll see about that!”. An alarm then goes off in the TARDIS, which startles Katie, but the Doctor says it’s nothing to worry about and it’s just that UNIT need their help: 2001, Margrave University. Katie suddenly becomes very excited about the prospect of travelling 11 years into the future.

The TARDIS lands at Margrave University, which has dozens of portacabins, with the UNIT logo, set up outside it. Bambera comes to greet the Doctor and thanks him for answering her call, especially because she only sent it a few seconds ago. The Doctor takes off his hat and pats the TARDIS saying that she’s behaving at the moment. Bambera chuckles and tells them to follow her.

Bambera takes the Doctor and Katie to a greenhouse at the university, but before entering tells them they need to get into hasmat suits for their own safety. They do so and go inside. Bambera explains that the plant in there was found by an alien spacecraft in the middle of the jungle and it has the most terrifying properties. She then takes out a small metal case, opens it and pulls a mouse out by it’s tail. Katie looks nervously at her before she chucks it at one of the plants… instantly the mouse becomes a skeleton. Bambera says that initially they only found this out because one of their own soldiers was reduced to bones. Katie is horrified and the Doctor says that he’s seen enough and asks to continue the conversation elsewhere.

In one of the portacabins, Bambera explains that UNIT have partnered with Margrave University to find a way of controlling the plants to be used for good. The Doctor questions what “for good” means and Katie asks if “for good” includes purposefully “skeleifying” mice. Bambera comments that she sounds like “one of Scobie’s lot” before she has an idea. She radios “Sergeant Henrick” and asks him to come to the portacabin. Soon a fresh-faced UNIT soldier bursts in and salutes Bambera. Bambera explains that she thinks it would be a good idea for Katie to go undercover at the university, as she’s worried about something compromising taking place there, and says that Sergeant Henrick will join her. Katie says that surely the students will recognise Henrick, but Henrick assures her that as long as he’s out of uniform they won’t even realise he’s been there for weeks. Katie is weary about agreeing but the Doctor says she’ll fit right in, and she’ll have fun. As Katie leaves the portacabin with Henrick, she comments that it’s “hardly Oxford” …

The Doctor continues his conversation with Bambera, alone, where he tells her that he’s seriously concerned about the ethics that UNIT are employing here. Bambera tells him that it’s “orders from above” and these plants could be a golden bullet… The Doctor nods and says that he knows and that’s what worries him.

Some time later, Katie and Henrick enter a seminar, dressed in casual clothing. A girl called Willa comes up and introduces herself to them, asking where they’ve been all term. Thinking fast, Katie responds in her German accent, that she and Henrick are exchange students and are joining them for a few weeks. Willa quickly accepts this and invites them along to a meeting that evening that her boyfriend, Ray, is running. Katie politely declines, but Henrick jumps in (with a far less convincing accent) and says that they’d love to go. The seminar begins, which is about the carnivorous plants that the university is investigating.

The Doctor and Bambera return to the greenhouse where the Doctor inspects the plants for himself. He says that he doesn’t recognise the species at all, and he thinks there’s a good chance that the species has been significantly genetically modified by a group of alien scientists. Bambera says that UNIT have come to the same conclusion and that they think if the plants have already been genetically modified by scientists, then the same can happen again.

Katie and Henrick arrive at the meeting in a hall and see Willa with her boyfriend, Ray Scobie. He’s telling all the 10-ish people there about an aerial that he has built which might be able to contact the people that they need. Willa sees Katie and Henrick and comes to greet them, telling them to sit down. They watch and see that Ray is an animal rights activist and thinks that the plants were made to kill any animal that eats another animal.

After the meeting, Ray and Willa approach Katie and Henrick and ask them to follow them. They do so and enter a series of underground tunnels. Ray explains that they’re fairly secret and even the “UNIT buffoons” don’t know they exist. Katie and Henrick laugh along but he then turns around with a gun and says “Well, I suppose the UNIT buffoons do now I’ve told them, but not for long”… And all the joy quickly disappeared from Katie and Henrick’s faces.

Part 2

Katie drops the German accent and explains to Ray and Willa that she and Henrick are indeed working for UNIT but that she has a lot of sympathy for his cause. She doesn’t agree with turning the plants into weapons and she certainly doesn’t like the animal testing.

The Doctor takes Bambera into the TARDIS where he shows her his analysis of the plants. He says that they seem to be mainly converting the blood of the creature it kills into some sort of iron and then absorbing rest, but the skeleton. Bambera asks if the plant lives off iron, but the Doctor looks at the readings and says that’s the bizarre thing… it just disposes of the iron right away. He says that it’s purposely collecting something just to immediately dispense of it.

With guns on Katie and Henrick, Ray tells them to plant explosives underneath the UNIT portacabins to prove their loyalty. Henrick says that he won’t and there’ll just be killing innocent people for no reason. He questions why Ray stands up so much for animal rights when he’s prepared to kill humans. He responds by telling Henrick that those who torture, kill and consume animals don’t deserve any mercy. He then reloads his gun and insists that they plant the explosives… but just then Willa whacks Ray around the head, from behind, knocking him unconscious. She tells Katie and Henrick to run and she’ll deal with him.

Katie and Henrick burst into a portacabin to find Bambera and the Doctor continuing to investigate the plants. They bring the two of them up to speed and they take special interest at Ray’s theory about only meat-eaters being killed. The Doctor then proposes that perhaps the plants are a method of creating some sort of meat substitute, from the blood of meat-eaters and then converting them for herbivorous creatures. Bambera says that surely, by definition, they’re carnivores if they’re killing humans to eat. The Doctor agrees that something isn’t adding up here.

Ray wakes up in the university, with Willa at his side. He asks her what happened, and Willa explains that Katie and Henrick overpowered him. He then says that they have no time to waste and must activate the antenna then. Willa asks if that’s such a good idea as he doesn’t know who’ll be at the other end of it, but Ray insists that he does, and it’ll be some very like-minded people.

Katie explains to Bambera that Ray is unhinged and plans to blow up the portacabins. He isn’t happy with UNIT using mice to test the plants and frankly neither is she. Bambera then has an idea and suggests using a species of omnivores, such as millipedes or beetles, and see if they are killed. Katie interjects and says that defeats the purpose and says that UNIT need to stop using animals to test this deadly weapon on. Henrick then reiterates that Ray is planning to blow up the portacabins that they’re in and maybe, just maybe, they have enough evidence to arrest him now.

Henrick leads a group of UNIT soldiers to find Ray Scobie and arrest with, with the Doctor, Katie and Bambera following shortly behind.

Ray activates the aerial which emits a signal out into the stars. He smiles and tells Willa that finally humanity will evolve past the need to consume animals… and any that do will be rendered into skeletons. He then tells Willa to follow him as he heads to the greenhouse.

Outside the greenhouse, UNIT catch up with them and tell Ray that he’s under arrest. Ray, however, without a hasmat suit steps into the greenhouse… and UNIT can’t follow him. They all look terrified, but Ray is fine. He touches all the plants and is unharmed. He exclaims that he is a herbivore and will not be hurt, unlike the others before manically laughing.

Then suddenly the glass of the greenhouse shatters, as a spaceship enters the atmosphere. The plants begin to move out of the greenhouse, escaping into the rest of the grounds. The spaceship comes down from the sky and lands next to the antenna. The door opens and the Numlocks step out.

Part 3

The Numlocks introduce themselves to UNIT and Bambera asks them to stop their plants from leaving the greenhouse. They oblige and the plants retreat back inside. The Numlocks ask to examine their ship… the one that crashed. Bambera says that it is still in the jungle. The Doctor offers to accompany the Numlocks inspecting it and tells Katie to join him. The two of them board the Numlock ship which travels to the location of the crash site.

On the ground, Bambera has UNIT soldiers dress in hasmat suits and arrest Scobie, who’s been sheltering amongst the plants thus far. He’s taken to an interrogation room where Bambera questions him. She essentially manages to summarise that Scobie is just a mad scientist who has ideologically aligned himself to a cause.

On the Numlock ship, the Doctor speaks to their leader and asks what the purpose of the plants is. The Numlock leader explains that they are herbivores and on their home world there’s a large amount of unintelligent insect and rodent life that are carnivores. In order to supplement their diet, they developed the plants to grow in the wild and collect the necessary supplements from the insect and rodent life and transfer it into the wider population. They explain that the plants were never meant to come to Earth, and they don’t know why their ship crashed.

Willa speaks to Scobie in the interrogation room and he tries to persuade her to let him free. She tells him that she can’t do that and she agrees with UNIT that he went too far. She agrees that animal testing needs to be stopped and she says that she’s a vegetarian but killing people who have a different view is not the answer. She says it’s tantamount to genocide.

Henrick helps Bambera and the other soldiers with patching up the greenhouse and keeping the plants closed in. Henrick notices that they’re behaviour seems different now and that they’re more at ease.

The Numlock ship lands in the jungle and the Numlocks, alongside the Doctor and Katie, investigate the crashed ship. The Numlock leader comments that the plants were rooted out with force and says that it’s rather upsetting the way they were treated. The Doctor sympathises and makes a comment about the brutality of humanity. They inspect the ship and the Numlocks ascertain that it was shot down and they suddenly become very angry. The Doctor tries to calm them saying that he, himself, isn’t human and that they can trust him. The Numlocks say they were transport the remnants of the ship into their cargo bay and then return to the University, where they’ll be making significant demands.

The Numlock ship lands at Margrave University again, shattering the newly repaired greenhouse, once more. Bambera and Henrick come out of the portacabin to meet them and the Numlocks explain their findings. They then say that in exchange for not declaring war on Earth, for shooting down their ship, they have a few demands. Firstly, they say that they want all laboratory animals freed. Bambera says that planet wide that couldn’t happen straight away, but they can make a start at Margrave University, to which the Numlocks agree. Secondly, they say that they want their plants returned to them, which Bambera agrees to easily. Finally, they say that they are a race of scientists and they’d like to study human physiology and ask to study a sample of humans at the university, for the pursuit of science. Bambera is cautious but ways up allowing this or facing war with the Numlocks and agrees but says that Henrick will supervise the process and the lead Numlock assures him that the humans will “come to no harm”.

Bambera and the UNIT soldiers set about fulfilling the Numlocks demands, while the Doctor and Katie return to the TARDIS to discuss matters. The Doctor asks Katie if she’s thinking what he is and they both say that remnants of the Fourth Reich might still be within the government and they were the ones who shot down the Numlock ship. The Doctor says they should investigate and Katie suggests Downing Street might be a good place to start… and wonders who the Prime Minister is now. The Doctor sets the TARDIS to dematerialise and it begins to… but then it fails. The Doctor tries again and again but it keeps failing. He then looks at the scanner and sees that the Numlocks have imposed a forcefield around the university.

The Doctor and Katie run out of the TARDIS and into the Numlock ship, where dozens of people have already had samples of their blood taken. The Doctor tells Henrick that the Numlocks are up to something. At that moment the lead Numlock turns around and tells the Doctor “yes we are” and laughs before saying “did we say that the humans would come to no harm, well we meant they would come to… know… harm!”. They then activate a machine and suddenly dozens of people around the campus turn into skeletons and the Numlocks feed and feed…. And they laugh.

Part 4

The Doctor tells them that what they’ve just done is mass murder. They say that they will continue this “mass murder” on a planet wide scale and the Doctor will help them. The proclaim that Earth will become their new breeding world. The Doctor says that Earth is protected and that won’t happen on his watch. The Numlock then smiles and offers the Doctor a syringe saying that maybe instead he’ll offer them some of his blood. The Doctor politely declines and leaves the ship.

Bambera and the rest of the soldiers all have their guns at the ready, having just seen all those people turn to skeletons. The Doctor says that they have to find a way of disabling these plants because the Numlocks almost certainly have the means to distribute them across the entire planet causing mass genocide. Bambera says that the Numlocks have taken the plants off UNIT now and they can’t continue to analyse them but Katie remarks that they could try asking a certain someone’s help.

Katie, alone, enters Scobie’s cell. She tells Scobie the situation and Scobie just laughs saying that if most of humanity is killed for eating animals then “it serves them right”. Katie tries and tries to appeal to him telling him that she knows deep down he is a good person. She says that the Numlocks could’ve taken him with them, as an ally, but they chose not to because they don’t see him as important. He isn’t really one of them and he isn’t edible. She says that they think he’s useless whereas UNIT see him as the most useful person on the planet at the moment. Scobie looks at her and considers this deeply. He is flattered by the attention but still doesn’t know if he can help UNIT. Katie leaves and tells him to think about it.

The Doctor speaks to Bambera and Henrick about his theory of deep corruption rooted in the government and that the Fourth Reich are somehow operating from within. Bambera is sceptical but points her to several (fictional) incidents throughout the 1990s which support this theory. He asks Bambera and Henrick to investigate this while he deals with the Numlocks.

Willa enters Scobie’s cell, being sent by Katie, and appeals to Scobie personally telling him that if he won’t do it for UNIT then do it for her. She tells him about all their loved ones who eat meat, who they don’t agree with, but they do love and whether he’ll let them be killed and just turned into nutrients for a bunch of aliens. Scobie eventually breaks and hugs Willa telling her that she’s right.

Scobie and Willa join the Doctor and Katie in the portacabin as they set to work trying to nullify the plants. Scobie hands over a sample of the plant, which is place in the middle of the table, that Scobie explains he kept in his pocket. Using his knowledge and testing on the plant, they develop a working theory. However, to enact they would need blood genetically modified in a way that regenerates itself fast. The Doctor says that his blood does that already, as he is a Time Lord.

Bambera and Henrick drive to the edge of the University campus in a jeep and then come to the forcefield. Henrick takes out a device from the back of the jeep and activates it which creates a small temporary hole in the forcefield enabling them to leave.

The Numlocks set their ship into flight and hover it above England, before releasing thousands of seeds out of the bottom of the ship and then landing at the university again. Quickly, their plants begin to grow all over the country.

Scobie takes a sample of the Doctor’s blood and adds multiple chemicals to it in a test tube before squirting it over the plant sample on the table. He then asks Katie to touch it. She is nervous and says that maybe it’s better to just test it on a mouse. Scobie shouts out “over my dead body” but Katie says the trouble is that it can’t be his and instead its hers. Nervously, Katie does so and she’s fine. The plant has been nullified. But simultaneously, the Doctor’s face flickers to a skeleton for a moment but then returns to normal. The Doctor says that it’s as he feared and if they use that formula to nullify the plants worldwide, then he will die. Katie tells him that he can’t, but the Doctor says that it’s a worthy sacrifice and explains that he, as a Time Lord, has the ability to do something called regeneration. Katie is incredibly upset but understands.

In London, Bambera and Henrick search some records at MI5, and they notice a pattern in certain names making certain orders. They make a list and issue it to the Head of MI5. He is very concerned to hear of such a conspiracy and agrees to their arrest. They also see evidence that one of these names did order the shooting down of the Numlock ship. The names on the list are arrested and with the information now highly classified, Bambera and Henrick return to Margrave.

In the portacabin, Scobie takes several pints of the Doctor’s blood and treats it with the same chemicals as before. Meanwhile they’re informed of reports coming in that people are starting to be killed by the plants, nationwide. The Doctor tells Scobie that it’s imperative he works fast.

Bambera and Henrick arrive back at the University and speak to the group. They inform them of the situation and show them the antidote. Bambera tells Scobie that he’s done a good job and she’s prepared to drop all charges.

Bambera and Henrick then head to the Numlock ship and speak to them and explain that the people that ordered their ship to be shot down and ordered UNIT to experiment on their plants to be used as a weapon, have been apprehended and beg for them to stop. The Numlocks thank them but say that they won’t stop, not when they are so hungry and have all the food in the world. The lead Numlock then says that it’s time for phase two and to pollenate the world! The ship begins to move, with Bambera and Henrick still onboard, and it rises and rises before dropping the seeds all over the planet.

However, it’s revealed that Bambera and Henrick secretly swapped the seeds out for the antidote and all the plants are to be nullified.

The Doctor screams out in pain as his skin flickers between himself and a skeleton and slowly the life is drained from him. Not long after, however, the Doctor stabilises, looking normal, but he says he’s dying, despite appearances. He looks around and here’s the voices of Ace and Mel thanking him, before looking at Katie who does the same… thanking him for his sacrifices. Then in a slow beam of light the Doctor transforms into another man..

Cast

• The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
• Katie Tollinger - Julia Sawalha
• Brigadier Winifred Bambera - Angela Bruce
• Willa - Julie Graham
• Ray Scobie - Dexter Fletcher
• Henrick - John Banks
• Head of MI5 - Ronnie Corbett
• Soldier - Eddie Webber
• Test Subject - Gary Mavers
• Nazi - Denis Holmes
• Lead Numlock - Marek Anton
• Voice of the Numlocks - Peter Tuddenham

and introducing Richard Griffiths as The Doctor

Crew

• Writer - Andrew Cartmel
• Producer - John Nathan-Turner
• Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
• Director - Graeme Harper
• Lighting -  Ian Dow
• Designer - David Laskey
• Visual Effects Designers - Malcom James, Dave Chapman
• Make-Up Designer - Joan Stribling
• Casting Director - Anne Henderson
• Music - Dominic Glynn
• Costume Designer - Ken Trew
• Edited by - Hugh Parson
• Vision Mixer - Susan Brincat
• Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer
• Title Music - Keff McCulloch
• Title Sequence by CAL Video

Memorable Quotes

To be added

Background Information

Production History

To be added.

Development

• Blood and Iron came about, as a whole, because John Nathan-Turner wanted a grounded Earth-based UNIT story to end his era as Producer. It also came into existence because Andrew Cartmel wanted the opportunity to write a Doctor Who story, of his own, after four years of being script editor and not getting the opportunity, and departing with both McCoy and Nathan-Turner.
• The story was developed out of Cartmel's interest in animal testing activism and the strange and dangerous plant life that's found in the jungle. The script wasn't intended to be a criticism of activism around the issue but instead around morality and the use of terrorism when fighting for a cause. Not all interpreted it that way and many did criticise the stories' politics.
• Cartmel did also have the idea of including the Metatraxi, from Earth Aid, in this story, as well, to fight the Numlocks off however he ultimately decided against it as he wanted the focus of the final part to be on the Doctor, as it was his regeneration episode. Additionally, Nathan-Turner had advised that a battle between the Metatraxi and the Numlocks might have been hard to realise.

Production

• Casting wise, as three of the new characters needed to be university age, several new and upcoming actors were cast in these roles. John Banks, who Graeme Harper cast after a superb audtion, was cast in the role of Sergeant Henrick; Julie Graham was cast as Willa and Dexter Fletcher, the most established of the three, having been a former child actor, was cast in the role of, villain, Ray Scobie.
• John Nathan-Turner, wanting to include one last stunt cast, managed to persaude, comedian, Ronnie Corbett to appear in the final part as the Head of MI5 in a very small but memorable role. Nathan-Turner had been trying to persuade Corbett to appear in Doctor Who for years and he finally had the opportunity here, in his last story.
• The Numlocks were created by the Visual Effects department using many of the same methods used for the Metatraxi in Earth Aid, and the Destroyer in Battlefield. Peter Tuddenham, once again, provided the voices.
• The regeneration scene was originally going to feature Bonnie Langford and Sophie Aldred appearing as visions, but due to budgetary and scheduling constraints, this was altered to be just their ghostly voices. The effect used for the regeneration was simillar to the one employed in Time and the Rani, but needed to cover more of the Doctor's body to convingly make the transformation into Richard Griffiths, who was much larger, believable. Ben Aaronovitch, who was a big fan of the Target novelisation range, suggested using the "golden regeneration glow" that Terrance Dicks had once described, to engulf the Doctor during it. Richard Griffiths had a special, much larger, version of Sylvester McCoy's costume made for him to wear, post regeneration, which caused quite a lot of amusesment on set.

Post-Production

To be added.

Reaction

• Official BARB ratings: 5.4m for Part One, 5.3m for Part Two, 5.8m for Part Three and 6.2m for Part Four.

Story Notes

To be added.

Continuity

To be added.

Home Video Releases

To be added.