Earth Aid was the first serial of Season 27 of Doctor Who. It was written by Ben Aaronovitch, directed by Alan Wareing and starred Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace.
Synopsis[]
Welcome aboard the Space Vessel Vancouver. Its mission: to guard a vast shipment of grain from Earth to the planet Safensthome.
Its Captain is called Ace. She seems a little unsure of herself. In fact, some might almost think she was new to the job...
Its medical officer is called simply "the Doctor", and he's perhaps not all he seems.
When mysterious ships target the Vancouver, Ace and the Doctor are pushed to the limit. Meanwhile, there's something nasty in the grain containers. And it's not very happy....
Plot[]
Part one[]
Ace captains the Vancouver but, barely able to conceal her ignorance of what the job entails, tells the Doctor that she does not believe that she can maintain the ruse. The Doctor says, however, that the ship has almost reached its destination and that, if there is to be any trouble, it will happen soon. Yanikov reports that they have company and that Ace should return to the bridge. Upon returning, Shepstay informs Ace of an approaching vessel. Ace attempts to make contact with the ship, but there's no response.
A dozen similar looking ships suddenly appear; forming what appears to be an attack formation. Ace attempts to make contact again, and this time she gets a response. The pilots of the ship are known as the Metatraxi and they wish to capture the Vancouver. Ace orders the crew to put the ship into defence mode.
Ace informs the Doctor of the current situation. The duo join Lt. Baraki and her team in order to ensure that all crew members are where they need to be.
The Doctor and Ace find a freshly-served meal laid and investigate Baraki's report of detecting a running shower, but nobody is inside. The two groups reconvene on the bridge before going to the gym and finding Victor Espinosa using a rowing machine, apparently suffering from post-traumatic stress. Victor leads them to the armoury and starts shooting at them, asking to be left alone, until Ace shoots his gun from his hands. From the Vancouver, Yanikov reports that they have company and that Ace should return. On the Vancouver, Shepstay informs Ace of an approaching vessel.
The Vancouver is due to deliver five containers of grain and machinery to Safenesthome, but Victor came aboard with six containers. The Doctor and Baraki cut their way into the sixth container with a cutting torch and find it empty. The Doctor detects non-human proteins, however, and the Doctor discovers scratch marks on the walls and half-eaten food; meaning that something was in the container.
Part two[]
Baraki recives a call informing her that Victor has barricaded himself inside the sick bay. To get Victor out of the sick bay, the Doctor asks for him to allow him inside due to him apparently having a headache, after which Baraki holds him at gunpoint.
The Doctor tells Ace about the current situation. Baraki is suspicious of the Doctor and orders him to return to the sick bay, but he ignores her and suggests that they go to investigate the grain silo. When the approaching spaceship accelerates and changes course, Ace contacts the Doctor for advice. The Doctor, Baraki and Victor find several Metatraxi hanging upside down and trapped by organic secretion. It's discovered that the Metatraxi enjoy trying to goad people into fighting them.
At the Doctor's suggestion, Baraki stands guard with the Metatraxi whilst reinforcements to take them to the holding cells arrive. The Doctor heads to the grain silo to find out who hanged the Metatraxi up. Meanwhile, the approaching ship sets itself on a collision course with the Vancouver's grain silo.
Baraki updates Ace and gets permission to bring the Metatraxi to the holding cells. The Metatraxi ship, attaches lines to the Vancouver and Ace has Shepstay detonate missiles in view of the ship as provocation, causing them to detatch and instead engage with the Vancouver.
The Doctor enters the grain silo and finds the Grubs eating the cargo; their spores having found their way into the grain, and learn that they trapped the crew and Metatraxi when they tried to stop them. When the Grubs state that they will have to similarly detain the Doctor, he tricks them by convincing them that a particular area of the grain is especially delicious. He plans to escape the container and lock the Grubs inside, but the door shuts on them before they can leave.
Part three[]
The Doctor determines that it was Victor who locked the door and Baraki confronts him, forcing him to open it. The Metatraxi launch missiles into empty space just as the Vancouver did and Ace leaves Shepstay to pilot the Vancouver whilst she goes to find the Doctor and Baraki, planning on having the Vancouver jump to escape the Metatraxi. She is reunited with the Doctor. Shepstay performs the jump and the Vancouver escapes the Metatraxi ship. Doctor gathers a resin which will release the trapped crew members. He suggests that Baraki distract the Grubs with rice, fruits, nuts and seeds.
Victor is uncuffed by Baraki and starts unloading the equipment; after the Doctor finds him with a device capable of communicating with a sentient planet, he frees the Metatraxi and uses the device on Baraki. Shepstay and Yanikov depose Ace as captain, locking her in the brig before a Metatraxi warfleet arrives. The Great Mother, through Baraki, tells the Doctor that she birthed the Metatraxi to rid her of the Grubs after they devoured her forests and poisoned her waters. The Doctor is taken to the Arena of Death to face death by taunting and is accused of putting others in peril and letting them die.
Ace escapes, and after convincing Shepstay and Yanikov to let her help, challenges the Metatraxi ship to single combat, but they leave after finding out that she is a girl. The Great Mother welcomes the return of the Grubs, ordering the Metatraxi to make peace with them, and Baraki arrests Victor once more. Ace hopes that the Doctor's lie that he knew what he was doing the whole time will be the first of many.
Cast[]
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Victor Espinosa - Paterson Joseph
- Shepstay - Sabina Franklyn
- Yanikov- Michael Keating
- Lt. Baraki - Sasha Mitchell
- The Metatraxi - Peter Tuddenham
- The Grub - Simon Coady
Crew[]
- Writer - Ben Aaronovitch
- Producer - John Nathan-Turner
- Script Editor - Ben Aaronovitch
- Director - Alan Wareing
- Lighting - Ian Dow
- Designer - Nick Sommerville
- 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 - Dinah Long
- Original Theme Music - Ron Grainer
- Title Music Keff McCulloch
- Title Sequence by CAL Video
Worldbuilding[]
- The Doctor and Ace have tea and scones with jam. They both pronounce the word "scone" differently.
- The Doctor has heard rumours that the Metatraxi have developed a rudimentary form of time travel.
Notes[]
- A working title for this story was Bad Destination.
- In an early draft of the script, it would have been revealed that the Doctor built stonehenge so that he could send a signal into space and contact Safensthome. This early draft also contained something known as a 'Data Vampire', which would have been used by Victor to steal info from the Vancouver. This draft featured a spaceship known as the Liliput, which was where, Victor, the Metatraxi and the Grub were.
- This story was almost never produced due to Ben Aaronovitch's concerns about budget, but John Nathan-Turner felt that it would make for a great opening story and so convinced him that it should be produced.
- This was the first story for Ben Aaronovitch as Script Editor.
Continuity[]
- Ace, is once again angered at being called small. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
- Ace wishes that she still had her original Tape deck. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
- Ace mentions that she almost became a cheetah on one occasion. (TV: Survival)
Home video and audio releases[]
VHS[]
- This story was first released on VHS in 1991.
DVD[]
- This story along with the other stories in Season 27 were released as Doctor Who: The Complete Twenty-Seventh Season in 2004.
Blu-ray[]
- This story along with the other stories in Season 27 were upscaled in 1080i50 high definition and were released as Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 27 in the UK.
Streaming[]
This story was included on Itunes and Britbox in the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Australia.