Arc of Infinity is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from January 3 to January 12, 1983. Janet Fielding returned as companion Tegan Jovanka in this serial, rejoining the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa on their travels.

Synopsis

Shielded by a collapsed star lurks a malevolent presence, an alien consisting of pure anti-matter. Its intention? To bond with a Time Lord and so cross over into this dimension through the Arc of Infinity — the gateway to all dimensions. The chosen Time Lord is the Doctor. To avert disaster, he is recalled to Gallifrey before the collision of matter and anti-matter leads to the destruction of all dimensions.

Plot

Part One

On Gallifrey a Time Lord traitor is at work stealing the bio-data code of another Time Lord and killing a technician who stumbles across the crime. The traitor provides the bio-data to a creature known as the Renegade, which is composed of anti-matter and uses the bio-data to invade the TARDIS and then the Doctor's metabolism. His companion, Nyssa, helps him recover. The Renegade is shielded in this attempt by the Arc of Infinity, a curious curve between the dimensions containing quad radiation, which can shield anti-matter. The Doctor decides to head to Gallifrey to track down the supplier of his bio-data, conscious that unless the creature trying to cross universes is stopped that its incursion could cause a fatal chain reaction to our universe.

The High Council of the Time Lords is also taking the matter seriously and has decreed that the Doctor’s TARDIS should be recalled for the same reason. The Chancellery Guard under the over-zealous Commander Maxil seizes the Doctor and Nyssa. He stuns the Doctor to ensure his delivery to the High Council.

Part Two

When the Doctor is brought before the High Council the new Lord President, Borusa, is inscrutable while Chancellor Thalia and Cardinal Zorac are openly hostile; only his old friend Councillor Hedin seems pleased to see him. The President stresses the gravity of the situation since the Renegade poses such a threat to the Universe, and the High Council has had no alternative but to issue a Warrant of Termination on the Doctor to ensure the Renegade can no longer bond with him. The Doctor is taken away protesting, sure his bio-data has been compromised and stolen from within the High Council. Fortunately an old friend, Damon, who is another technician in the records section, provides him with the proof he needs that a member of the High Council did indeed steal his bio-data extract. The Doctor is soon taken for execution, despite Nyssa’s attempts to save him, and placed in a dispersal chamber. Sentence is carried out.

Part Three

The supposed death of the Doctor, however, has not solved the situation. Unbeknownst to the High Council, his mind has been taken into the Time Lord living repository of knowledge, the Matrix, while his body is hidden behind a force shield in the termination cubicle. The Renegade, who demands an opportunity to return to the Universe it once inhabited, contacts him. The truth of the aborted execution is discovered by the wily Castellan, who tells first Nyssa and Damon that the Doctor is alive; and then the High Council.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam, Netherlands the Doctor’s former companion Tegan Jovanka arrives looking for her cousin Colin Frazer. She is greeted by his friend Robin Stuart who explains that Colin has disappeared while they were crashing in the crypt of the Frankendael mansion. When neither of them can persuade the police to take an interest they decide to investigate the crypt themselves. They find a hypnotised Colin working for a curious birdlike creature, which is armed with a deadly weapon. They are rendered unconscious and their minds scanned, revealing to the Renegade, who has established its base in a TARDIS hidden at the Frankendael, that Tegan knows the Doctor. The Renegade uses Tegan as bait to force the Doctor to obey him, also releasing Colin from his slavery as a reward. The Doctor is returned to normal space on Gallifrey where he makes for the High Council Chamber. Lord President Borusa has fallen under suspicion of being a traitor because the Castellan reveals it was his codes that were used to transmit the bio-data. The truth, however, is that Councillor Hedin is the Time Lord in league with the Renegade. He is in awe of his master - the mighty Omega, first of the Time Lords and pioneer of time travel (see The Three Doctors). Hedin wishes to release Omega from his exile in a universe of anti-matter, not realising the great Time Lord has been driven mad by his years of solitary confinement. The Castellan kills Hedin, but this does not prevent Omega using the Arc of Infinity to seize total control of the Matrix and, therefore, the organisation of Gallifrey.

Part Four

Fortunately the Doctor and Nyssa manage to slip away and return to the TARDIS. They use scant knowledge provided by Tegan to determine that Omega has established its base in Amsterdam on Earth, and head there immediately, desperately trying to find the Frankendael crypt she described. After a lengthy hunt they find the lair defended by the birdlike creature, the Ergon, and Nyssa disposes of it with its own matter-converter gun. They reach Omega’s TARDIS at the point at which both the ship is destroyed and Omega makes full transference to Earth using the Arc of Infinity. When he peels his decayed mask away he reveals the features of the Doctor (whom he now perfectly resembles). Omega heads off into Amsterdam with the Doctor and Nyssa in hot pursuit. Within a short time the Doctor’s prediction of an unstable transfer begins to come true: Omega’s flesh decays and it his clear his new body is not permanent. When the Doctor and Nyssa catch up with him it is a painful task for the Doctor to use the Ergon’s anti-matter converter on Omega, expelling him back to his own universe of anti-matter. The Time Lord High Council on Gallifrey detects the end of the threat.

Once Tegan has checked on her cousin’s progress in hospital, she decides to rejoin the TARDIS crew - this time as a willing traveler. Nyssa is delighted to have Tegan back again, although the Doctor's smile appears to be a little strained, (to put it mildly).

Cast notes

• Features a guest appearance by Michael Gough (who had previously played the malevolent Celestial Toymaker in the story of the same name). See also Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who.
• Colin Baker (who would later succeed Peter Davison as the Sixth Doctor) appeared in the serial as Commander Maxil. It was his performance in this role (which, according to Baker, producer John Nathan-Turner repeatedly told him to "tone down") that first brought him to the attention of the production office. Baker reprised the role of Maxil as an uncredited cameo in the 2006 Big Finish Productions audio play Gallifrey: Appropriation.
• Shortly after the production, the Assistant Floor Manager on the serial, Lynn Richards, invited Colin Baker to her wedding reception. Amongst the other guests were Ron Jones, Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Eric Saward, John Nathan-Turner and Gary Downie. Baker has said in a number of interviews, that his entertaining form at the party directly led to his being cast as the sixth Doctor the following year.
• Alastair Cumming, who played Colin Frazer, is the son of Fiona Cumming, who directed the Fifth Doctor serials Castrovalva, Snakedance, Enlightenment and Planet of Fire.

Continuity

• Every story during Season 20 featured an adversary from the past. For this serial, it was Omega, who last faced the first three incarnations of the Doctor in the 10th anniversary story The Three Doctors (1973).
• Tegan is the first companion to have rejoined the Doctor on his travels after having departed, a feat later repeated by Sarah Jane Smith, Captain Jack Harkness, Mickey Smith, Donna Noble, Martha Jones and Rose Tyler.
• This episode's Castellan, played by Paul Jerrico, would return in The Five Doctors.
• It is stated that the Doctor's execution in this story is only the second time in Time Lord history that the race has sentenced one of its own to death, the first being Morbius from The Brain of Morbius.
• The Doctor's failure to return Romana to Gallifrey as seen in Warriors' Gate and Leela's decision to remain behind at the end of The Invasion of Time are briefly mentioned.
• The Doctor isn't quite finished with Omega, as heard in the audio Omega, which takes place shortly after this TV story.

Production

• The working titles for this story were The Time Of Neman and The Time Of Omega.
• For Parts One and Two, the character of Omega was credited as "The Renegade" on the end credits.
• Substantial portions of the story were filmed on location in Amsterdam. This was only the second time the show had filmed outside of Britain. John Nathan-Turner hoped to repeat the success of the first story filmed overseas, "City of Death". Amsterdam was chosen both because the BBC had recently developed contacts there and because it was cheap to arrange travel and hotel accommodations there.
• Colin Baker stated on Doctor Who: The Colin Baker years video that John Nathan-Turner believed his performance was a little arch, and therefore gave him the nickname of Archie.

In print

A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in July 1983.

Broadcast, VHS and DVD releases

• This story was released on VHS in March 1994.
• A double-pack DVD featuring both Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity was released on 6 August 2007. The DVD contains an option to view the story containing CGI enhanced special effects sequences and features a commentary with Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Janet Fielding, and Sarah Sutton. It is the only commentary to date that features two actors who have played the Doctor.

References

External links

Reviews

Target novelisation

• On Target — Arc of Infinity