Doctor Who: Survival

Survival is the final serial of the 26th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 November to 6 December 1989. It is the final story of the original 26-year run; the show did not return as a series until 2005.

The Seventh Doctor brings Ace back home to Perivale in west London. Ace becomes worried when most of her friends seem to have disappeared, but the Doctor is preoccupied with a black cat he sees skulking about. The cat appears to be selecting people and transporting them to another dimension. Ace finds herself being hunted down by a creature on horseback, which seems to be half-human, half-cheetah, which hunts with the black cat. The Doctor and a fitness instructor called Paterson are teleported to another world, where the Doctor is confronted by the Master.

The Master explains the situation: they are on a sentient planet, which has the power to transform the inhabitants into animals. The originally human inhabitants, which have since evolved into Cheetah People, used the black cats as pets. The Master shows signs of transformation and needs the Doctor’s help to escape from the planet.

Ace finds her friends Shreela and Midge hiding in the woods with a young man called Derek. A Cheetah pack attacks, and during the fight Midge kills one Cheetah while Ace injures another, called Karra. She begins to form an attachment to Karra and treats her injuries, which worries the Doctor greatly. Ace’s eyes change and she begins to transform into a Cheetah.

Midge submits to the power of the planet and begins to transform. The Master uses Midge to teleport both of them back to Earth. Ace helps the Doctor get back to Perivale, enabling Paterson, Derek and Shreela to flee the strange planet. The Doctor and Ace return to Perivale, where they find Midge and the Master have killed Paterson for sport. Midge is killed in the Master’s machinations. Karra’s arrival brings comfort to Ace, whose transformation is continuing, but the Master kills Karra.

The Master transports the Doctor with him back to the Cheetah Planet for a final conflict, but the Doctor resists the pull of the planet, turning away from violence, and is transported away from the dying world. However, the Master is trapped on the planet as it begins to break up. The Doctor has gone back to the TARDIS and Earth, where he finds Ace, whose metamorphosis has reversed.

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

Doctor Who Episode Guides for Sale on Amazon

Step aboard the TARDIS and journey across the universe with every incarnation of The Doctor in this series of unofficial Doctor Who episode companions.

This collection of twelve books explores every televised adventure of the Time Lord’s lives.

Each volume in the series delves into a different Doctor’s era, offering detailed episode guides, behind-the-scenes insights, character profiles, and story synopses.

Once you have clicked the link, choose which book you want, and then whether you want to buy the Kindle (eBook) or Paperback versions.

Previews are available before you buy.

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