The Ark in Space
The Ark in Space is the second serial of the 12th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 25 January to 15 February 1975.
In the serial, the insectoid aliens the Wirrn intend to absorb the humans along with their knowledge on board Space Station Nerva.
While Harry and the Fourth Doctor explore, Sarah is transported away and placed into cryonic suspension by the station computer.
The Doctor tells Vira that Nerva's inhabitants have overslept by several millennia, thanks to the insect visitor that sabotaged the control systems.
Noah kills a crewmate, but recovers enough to order Vira to revive the remaining crew and evacuate, but the Doctor realises the alien pupae will mature too quickly for this.
Sarah volunteers to crawl through a narrow conduit carrying the power cable from the ship, and the Doctor succeeds in electrifying the cryogenic chamber.
Noah transmits one final good-bye to Vira before the transport explodes with the entire Wirrn swarm on board.
[1][2] Barry Letts had planned the story, originally called Space Station, before Philip Hinchcliffe took over as producer.
Letts had also planned to produce the four-part serial alongside the two-part Sontaran Experiment, so it was treated as a single six-part story to save money; The Ark in Space was filmed entirely in-studio, while The Sontaran Experiment was filmed entirely on location.
[11] Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping gave the serial a favourable review in The Discontinuity Guide (1995), writing, "The Ark in Space rises above the dodginess of the effects by treating its themes so seriously it's a possible influence on Alien (1979)".
[13] In The Television Companion (1998), David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker wrote that the story "contains some of the most horrific material to have been featured in the series up to this point".
[14] In 2010, Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times was positive towards the series' turn towards horror, writing that the poor effects were successful in conveying what they intended.
[6] DVD Talk's J Doyle Wallis gave the serial three and a half out of five stars, calling it "a neat little slice of science fiction adventure".
[15] Reviewing the 2013 rerelease for the same site, Ian Jane gave it four stars, saying that it was "a lot of fun" despite the production values being a "mixed bag".
[17] In an analysis of apocalyptic themes in Doctor Who, academic Andrew Crome highlighted the explicit religious influences on the writing of The Ark in Space.
