Doctor Who: Galaxy 4

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Galaxy 4 is the first serial of Season 3 of the classic Doctor Who television series. It was originally broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 11 September to 2 October 1965. It was written by William Emms and directed by Derek Martinus. It stars William Hartnell as the Doctor, Maureen O’Brien as Vicki, and Peter Purves as Steven Taylor.

On a desolate planet that will soon explode, the travellers meet two stranded groups: the outwardly attractive Drahvins, led by the harsh Maaga, and the strange, unseen Rills, whose small robot “Chumblies” scout the wastes. As the clock ticks down, the Doctor, Vicki, and Steven must decide whom to trust, learning that appearances can lie and that mercy and cooperation, not fear and force, offer the only real hope of escape.

Most episode were missing from the BBC archives until Episode 3 (“Air Lock”) was recovered in 2011, and a full reconstruction with animation was released in 2021.

Episode 1: Four Hundred Dawns

The TARDIS lands on a hot, empty planet of dust and cracked rock. The Doctor, Vicki, and Steven step out to explore. A small metal machine glides toward them, chirping and flashing. It does not attack. Vicki smiles and names it a “Chumbley.” More of the round robots appear and gently herd the travellers across the plain.

Armed soldiers rush in and drive the Chumblies away. The strangers are taken to a crashed ship and meet Maaga, commander of the Drahvins. She is a hard, disciplined women with cloned soldiers. Maaga says another race, the Rills, shot them down. The Chumblies are Rill servants. She claims the Rills are vicious and must be destroyed.

Maaga explains the planet is breaking up. In only a few dawns it will explode. Her ship is damaged and cannot lift off. She wants the Doctor’s help to seize the Rill craft, or she will take the TARDIS. The Doctor does not trust her story and asks to survey the ground. His readings show deep tremors. Time is short.

A Chumbley slips back and signals without words, trying to lead them somewhere else. Maaga orders her guards to keep the travellers under close watch. Between the Drahvins’ guns, the Chumblies’ warnings, and the unstable planet, the friends must choose their allies fast.

Episode 2: Trap of Steel

The Drahvins march the Doctor, Vicki, and Steven back to their wreck and lock them in a metal bay. Maaga repeats her story: the Rills shot them down, the Chumblies are their servants, and only by seizing the Rill ship can anyone leave before the planet breaks apart. Her cloned soldiers obey without question. The Doctor asks to survey the ground again; Maaga sends him with Steven and a guard and warns Vicki to behave.

A Chumbley glides to the Drahvin hull and is trapped in a steel airlock. The soldiers try to crush it. The little machine beeps and flashes in a pattern. Vicki realises it is signalling, not attacking. She presses the controls and helps it slip free. Grateful, the Chumbley guides her to a ridge and points to a hidden crater where its masters wait.

Out on the plain, the Doctor’s readings show the fault lines widening. The planet will explode soon; there are only a few dawns left. He returns and argues that they must talk to the Rills. Maaga refuses and sets an ambush to steal the Rill power units.

The rescued Chumbley returns for the travellers. They follow it across the dust toward the crater, while Maaga’s squad circles with guns ready. Steel doors open ahead; the Chumbley urges them inside.

Episode 3: Air Lock

The Chumbley leads Vicki into a low, bright chamber inside the Rill ship. A screen glows. A deep voice speaks through a translator. Vicki sees a shadowy shape beyond glass and listens. The Rills say they are not enemies. Their ship collided with the Drahvins when Maaga tried to seize it. The Rills kept the Drahvins alive, but Maaga refused peace. The planet will break apart in two dawns. The Rills need power to lift off.

Back at the Drahvin wreck, Maaga springs a trap. Steven is thrust into an air lock. The pump hisses. Air runs out. Maaga tells the Doctor to bring Rill power units or Steven dies. The Doctor argues, wins a little time, and slips away to seek help.

Vicki begs the Rills to act. A Chumbley rolls to the Drahvin hull, stuns guards with a pulse, and cuts the seal. The door slides, and Steven staggers out, breathing hard. He and Vicki flee with the Chumbley across the dust toward the crater.

The Doctor reaches the Rill ship and compares notes with Vicki. He agrees to help recharge their craft. Outside, Maaga drills her soldiers and prepares an attack to seize the Rill power: then the TARDIS. Fault lines groan underfoot. Two dawns remain, and every side moves fast.

Episode 4: The Exploding Planet

Quakes shake the ground. Only one dawn remains. In the Rill ship, the Doctor finishes linking power lines so the engines can charge. Vicki speaks with the Rill voice on the screen and guides Chumblies to place cables and guard the hatches. Steven checks the route back to the TARDIS in case they must run.

Maaga strikes first. Drahvin soldiers rush the crater rim, trying to seize the Rill power units and capture the travellers. Chumblies roll forward, flash a stun pulse, and drive the attackers back. Maaga orders a second push toward the Rill air lock and shouts that she will take the TARDIS if the Rill ship lifts off without her.

The Doctor offers to take the Drahvins to safety if Maaga agrees to peace. She refuses and fires on the Chumblies. The charge completes. The Rill engines hum. The ground splits wider; gas vents roar.

Vicki and Steven sprint for the TARDIS as Chumblies form a screen. The Rill ship rises on a blast of dust and climbs for space. Maaga races to her wreck and orders launch, but the hull groans and will not lift. The plain erupts. The Drahvin ship sinks and vanishes.

The TARDIS dematerialises ahead of the shock. In flight, the Doctor says they judged by appearance and almost chose wrong. Vicki smiles: the Chumblies were the bravest of all.

Themes

As a season opener, Galaxy 4 is a concise moral fable: plainly told but quietly pointed. Across the four episodes, the Chumblies’ gentle bustle and the Rills’ dignity turn a simple survival plot into a parable about prejudice.

It lacks the wit and invention of The Time Meddler and can’t match the sweep soon to arrive in The Daleks’ Master Plan, yet for clarity of theme and a few striking images it settles into the mid tier of the Hartnell era: steady, sincere, and more thoughtful than flashy.

Its threads link cleanly around it. Coming straight after The Time Meddler, it continues the era’s interest in cause and consequence, then hands the season to the ominous teaser of Mission to the Unknown and the bittersweet pivot of The Myth Makers, where Vicki’s journey concludes. Steven’s scepticism and Vicki’s compassion (tested here against first impressions) lay character rails the team will ride into those stories.

The Doctor’s insistence on listening before judging becomes a touchstone he’ll echo again and again. As a story, it earns its place by turning a sand-and-steel standoff into a reminder that appearances lie, and choices matter.

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This is a chapter from Craig Hill’s book “Doctor Who – The First Doctor”, chronicling every episode featuring the First Doctor. It is available on Amazon.

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To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

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