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{{about|the 1975 story featuring Tom Baker|the 1966 story featuring William Hartnell|The Ark (Doctor Who)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Doctor Who episode
| number             = 076
| serial_name        = The Ark in Space
| show               = DW
| type               = serial
| image              = 
| caption            = 
| doctor             = [[Tom Baker]] – [[Fourth Doctor]]
| companions         = 
* [[Elisabeth Sladen]] – [[Sarah Jane Smith]]
* [[Ian Marter]] – [[Harry Sullivan (Doctor Who)|Harry Sullivan]]
| guests             = 
* [[Kenton Moore]] – Noah
* [[Wendy Williams (British actress)|Wendy Williams]] – Vira
* [[Richardson Morgan]] – Rogin
* [[John Gregg (actor)|John Gregg]] – Lycett
* [[Christopher Masters]] – Libri
* [[Stuart Fell]], [[Nick Hobbs]] – The Wirrn
* [[Gladys Spencer]] – High Minister's Voice
* [[Peter Tuddenham]] – Voices
| director           = [[Rodney Bennett]]
| writer             = [[Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)|Robert Holmes]]<br />[[John Lucarotti]] (uncredited)
| producer           = [[Philip Hinchcliffe]]
| composer           = [[Dudley Simpson]]
| production_code    = 4C
| series             = [[Doctor Who (season 12)|Season 12]]
| length             = 4 episodes, 25 minutes each
| started            = {{Start date|1975|1|25|df=y}}
| ended              = {{End date|1975|2|15|df=y}}
| preceding          = ''[[Robot (Doctor Who)|Robot]]''
| following          = ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]''
}}
'''''The Ark in Space''''' is the second serial of the [[Doctor Who (season 12)|12th season]] of the British [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on [[BBC One|BBC1]] from 25 January to 15 February 1975.

The serial is set more than ten thousand years in the future. In the serial, the insectoid aliens the Wirrn intend to absorb the humans along with their knowledge on board Space Station Nerva.

==Plot==
The [[TARDIS]] materialises on an aged space station. [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah]] is overcome by lack of oxygen. While [[Harry Sullivan (Doctor Who)|Harry]] and the [[Fourth Doctor]] explore, Sarah is transported away and placed into cryonic suspension by the station computer. Harry and the Doctor explore and realise the station is a kind of ark. Discovering Sarah, Harry searches for a resuscitation unit but discovers a mummified human-sized insectoid [[extraterrestrial life|lifeform]] instead.

A woman called Vira revives from suspended animation. Vira revives both Sarah and Noah, Space Station Nerva's leader. The Doctor tells Vira that Nerva's inhabitants have overslept by several millennia, thanks to the insect visitor that sabotaged the control systems. Noah and the visitors clash, and Noah accuses them of murdering a missing crewmate.

Noah investigates the power room and is infected by an alien creature. The Doctor realises the alien insect laid eggs inside the missing crewman, who became an alien now inhabiting Nerva. 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. He proposes that they destroy the Wirrn while they are in their dormant, [[pupa]]l stage.

Dissection of the Wirrn corpse reveals the Wirrn are vulnerable to electricity. As he tries to reactivate the station power, the fully transformed Noah attacks him. Noah reveals that the Wirrn were driven from their home by human settlers and now intend to absorb all human knowledge.

The Doctor plans to electrify the cryogenic chamber to prevent the Wirrn from attacking more of the human crew. Because the Wirrn have disabled the station's power supply, the crew decide to use the generators on board a transport ship docked at the space station. Sarah volunteers to crawl through a narrow conduit carrying the power cable from the ship, and the Doctor succeeds in electrifying the cryogenic chamber. Set back, Noah, as the Swarm Leader, offers the others safe passage from Nerva if they leave the sleeping crew for the Wirrn, but the crew declines.

Noah leads the entire swarm in an assault on the transport ship. Vira and the rest of the crew escape the transport ship after setting the autopilot. The transport blasts off carrying the entire swarm away from the station. The Doctor wonders whether this was Noah's plan all along, to save Nerva, and that there was some spark of humanity left in him. Noah transmits one final good-bye to Vira before the transport explodes with the entire Wirrn swarm on board.

In the closing sequence, the TARDIS party [[Teleportation|teleport]] down to Earth to repair the receiver terminal and allow the ark colonists to repopulate the Earth.

==Production==
The script, written by [[Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)|Robert Holmes]], is from a story by [[John Lucarotti]], which was rewritten because it was considered unusable. Holmes rewrote ''The Ark in Space'' as a four-part serial as a lead-in to the two part ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]''. Lucarotti does not receive any on-screen credit.<ref>{{harvnb|Howe|Stammers|Walker|1992|p=57}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cornell |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul Cornell |last2=Day |first2=Martin |author-link2=Martin Day (writer) |last3=Topping |first3=Keith |author-link3=Keith Topping |title=Doctor Who: The Discontinuity Guide |year=1995 |publisher=[[Virgin Books|Doctor Who Books]] |location=London |isbn=0-426-20442-5 |page=168 |chapter=76 'The Ark in Space' |quote=from an uncredited plot by John Lucarotti}}</ref> [[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.<ref name="fact of fiction"/>

''The Ark in Space'' is the first broadcast story from Hinchcliffe as producer.<ref name="fact of fiction"/> Hinchcliffe believed that in order to expand the show's core audience, it was necessary to broaden the show's appeal to adults, and ''Ark in Space'' demonstrates this with its use of horror, particularly the inexorable transformation of Noah into an alien creature. A scene in which the half-transformed Noah begs Vira to kill him was deemed too scary for children and had to be cut.<ref>{{harvnb|Howe|Stammers|Walker|1992|p=58}}</ref>

The title sequence for Part One was tinted green as an experiment, but was not repeated for subsequent episodes. The title sequence would stay constant for the next six years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Richards |first=Justin |author-link=Justin Richards |title=Doctor Who: The Legend Continues – 5 decades of time travel |edition=revised |year=2005 |orig-year=2003 |publisher=[[BBC Books]] |location=London |isbn=0-563-48640-6 |page=199 }}</ref>

''The Ark in Space'' was recorded in-studio in October and November 1974.<ref name="Radio Times"/> The sets for this story were re-used for ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen]]'', partially set on Space Station Nerva at an earlier time.<ref>{{harvnb|Howe|Stammers|Walker|1992|pp=58, 63, 64}}</ref>

==Broadcast and reception==
{{Episode table
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 |series = 6 |title = 20 | aux1=6 | airdate = 10 | viewers = 6 | country = UK
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 |episodes   = 
{{Episode list/sublist|The Ark in Space
 |EpisodeNumber      = 1
 |Title              = Part One
 |RTitle             = 
 |OriginalAirDate    = {{Start date|1975|1|25|df=y}}
 |Viewers            = 9.4
 |Aux1               = 24:58
 |LineColor          = 
}}
{{Episode list/sublist|The Ark in Space
 |EpisodeNumber      = 2
 |Title              = Part Two
 |RTitle             = 
 |OriginalAirDate    = {{Start date|1975|2|1|df=y}}
 |Viewers            = 13.6
 |Aux1               = 24:49
 |LineColor          = 
}}
{{Episode list/sublist|The Ark in Space
 |EpisodeNumber      = 3
 |Title              = Part Three
 |RTitle             = 
 |OriginalAirDate    = {{Start date|1975|2|8|df=y}}
 |Viewers            = 11.2
 |Aux1               = 24:05
 |LineColor          = 
}}
{{Episode list/sublist|The Ark in Space
 |EpisodeNumber      = 4
 |Title              = Part Four
 |RTitle             = 
 |OriginalAirDate    = {{Start date|1975|2|15|df=y}}
 |Viewers            = 10.2
 |Aux1               = 24:37
 |LineColor          = 
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}}

Part Two of this story charted at number five for the most-watched television programmes across the week on all channels.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} This was the highest chart placing ever attained by a single episode of ''Doctor Who'' until 2007's "[[Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)|Voyage of the Damned]]" placed second for both that week and the entire year. The highest rated episode (in terms of viewing audience) is Part Four of ''[[City of Death]]''. The story was edited and condensed into a single omnibus edition, broadcast at 6:35 pm on 20 August 1975<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/7c50fc2e71db4dd1be8cedd8f82a8376|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222225042/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/7c50fc2e71db4dd1be8cedd8f82a8376|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 December 2015|title=Dr Who: The Ark in Space|journal=The Radio Times|date=14 August 1975|issue=2701|pages=34|via=BBC Genome}}</ref> and reached 8.2 million viewers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/story.php?story=TheArkInSpace&detail=broadcast|title=Doctor Who Guide: broadcasting for The Ark In Space|last=doctorwhonews.net}}</ref> The compilation was included on the Special Edition DVD release of the story.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.restoration-team.co.uk/|title=The Doctor Who Restoration Team Website|website=www.restoration-team.co.uk}}</ref>

[[Paul Cornell]], [[Martin Day (writer)|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 (film)|Alien]]'' (1979)".<ref name="discontinuity">{{cite book |title=The Discontinuity Guide |last1=Cornell |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul Cornell |last2=Day |first2=Martin |author-link2=Martin Day (writer) |last3=Topping |first3=Keith |author-link3=Keith Topping |year=1995 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |location=London |isbn=0-426-20442-5 |chapter=The Ark in Space|chapter-url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/arkinspace/detail.shtml |title-link=The Discontinuity Guide }}</ref> This was a view echoed by [[Steven Moffat]], prior to the broadcast of the [[Last Christmas (Doctor Who)|2014 ''Doctor Who'' Christmas Special]]; replying to a question on borrowing material from the ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'' films, he countered with "they never asked ''Doctor Who'' to borrow the plot of ''The Ark in Space''".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Plunkett|first=John|date=19 December 2014|title=Alien v Doctor Who – with a touch of Nick Frost as Santa|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/19/alien-doctor-who-santa-christmas-special|access-date=19 December 2014}}</ref> 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". They praised the set design and the dramatic tension, as well as the effects of the Wirrn.<ref name="television companion">{{cite book | author = [[David J. Howe|Howe, David J]] & [[Stephen James Walker|Walker, Stephen James]] | year = 1998 | title = Doctor Who: The Television Companion | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/arkinspace/detail.shtml| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208045641/http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/arkinspace/detail.shtml| url-status=dead| archive-date=8 December 2006| edition = 1st | location = London | publisher = [[BBC Books]] | isbn = 978-0-563-40588-7 }}</ref> 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. Mulkern also praised the cast.<ref name="Radio Times">{{cite web|first=Patrick|last=Mulkern|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2010-05-14/the-ark-in-space|title=Doctor Who: The Ark in Space|work=[[Radio Times]]|date=14 May 2010|access-date=24 March 2013}}</ref> [[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".<ref name="DVD Talk1">{{cite web|first=J Doyle|last=Wallis|url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/4386/doctor-who-the-ark-in-space/|title=Doctor Who: The Ark in Space|publisher=[[DVD Talk]]|date=14 August 2002|access-date=24 March 2013}}</ref> 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".<ref name="DVD Talk2">{{cite web|first=Ian|last=Jane|url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/60023/doctor-who-the-ark-in-space-special-edition/|title=Doctor Who: The Ark in Space&nbsp;– Special Edition|publisher=[[DVD Talk]]|date=15 March 2013|access-date=24 March 2013}}</ref> Will Salmon of ''[[SFX (magazine)|SFX]]'' rated the serial four and a half out of five stars, calling it "brimming with confidence". Salmon wrote that the concept of the Wirrn were so terrifying that the poor effects did not matter.<ref name="SFX review">{{cite web|first=Will|last=Salmon|url=http://www.sfx.co.uk/2013/02/25/doctor-who-the-ark-in-space-special-edition/|title=Doctor Who: The Ark in Space&nbsp;– Special Edition|work=[[SFX (magazine)|SFX]]|date=25 February 2013|access-date=24 March 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat by Simon de Myle.jpg|thumb|''The Ark in Space'' is considered to have drawn explicitly on the Biblical story of [[Noah's Ark]].]]
In an analysis of [[apocalypse|apocalyptic]] themes in ''Doctor Who'', academic Andrew Crome highlighted the explicit religious influences on the writing of ''The Ark in Space''. He considered the [[eponym]]ous Ark to be an [[Analogue (literature)|analogue]] of the Biblical story of [[Noah's Ark]], the ancient [[flood myth]] related in the [[Book of Genesis]], and that the naming of the Nerva Beacon commander as Noah was an overtly Biblical allusion. Crome also drew parallels between the commandment given by God to Man in {{Bibleverse|Genesis|1:28|KJV}} — "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" — and the High Minister's rousing speech to the humans awakening from cryogenic sleep on Nerva Beacon: 
{{cquote|You will return to an Earth purified by flame... If it be arid, you must make it flourish, if it be stony, you must make it fertile.|the High Minister}}
According to Crome, the catastrophe of solar flares burning the Earth was represented in the ''Ark in Space'' as a purifying event which led to the renewal of human society, drawing heavily on the [[Genesis flood narrative]].<ref name="Crome">{{cite book|last1=Crome|first1=Andrew|editor1-last=Leitch|editor1-first=Gillian I.|title=Doctor Who in time and space : essays on themes, characters, history and fandom, 1963–2012|date=2013|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=9780786465491|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHugbjdJWwwC&q=doctor%20who%20ark%20in%20space%20biblical&pg=PA179|access-date=31 October 2016|chapter=11. "Ready to Outsit Eternity": Human Responses to the Apocalypse}}</ref>

At ''Inside the World of Doctor Who'', a live event hosted by the [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] on 29 November 2008, [[Russell T Davies]], executive producer and lead writer of the 21st century revival of ''Doctor Who'', said that ''The Ark in Space'' was his favourite story from the original run of ''Doctor Who'',<ref>{{cite video |people = [[Russell T Davies]] (Interviewee), [[Kirsten O'Brien]] (Host) |date = 29 November 2008 |title = Inside the World of Doctor Who |url = http://www.bafta.org/learning/webcasts/inside-doctor-who,642,BA.html#overlay=/public-survey.htm |format = [[Flash Video]] |publisher = [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] |location = [[Barbican Centre]], London |access-date = 19 December 2008 |time = – 05:32 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081218215725/http://www.bafta.org/learning/webcasts/inside-doctor-who,642,BA.html#overlay=/public-survey.htm |archive-date = 18 December 2008 }}</ref> as did his successor in the role, Steven Moffat, on a subsequent occasion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://twitter.com/steven_moffat/statuses/19069453421|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717232609/http://twitter.com/steven_moffat/statuses/19069453421|url-status=dead|title=Twitter / steven_moffat: @Chriss_11 Oh, loads of th|archive-date=2012-07-17}}</ref> ''The Ark in Space'' was placed in 28th position in ''Doctor Who Magazine's'' ''Mighty 200'' reader survey in 2009, which ranked every ''Doctor Who'' serial to that point in order of preference.<ref name=mighty200>{{cite journal|journal=Doctor Who Magazine|issue=413|publisher=Panini Magazines|title=The Mighty 200!|last=Griffiths|first=Peter|page=20|date=14 October 2009}}</ref>

==Commercial releases==

===In print===
{{Infobox book
| name              = Doctor Who and the Ark in Space
| image             = Doctor Who and the Ark in Space.jpg
| caption           = 
| author            = [[Ian Marter]]
| cover_artist      = [[Chris Achilleos]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://chrisachilleos.co.uk/achilleos_1976_drwho_ark_space-1171/ |title = Chris Achilléos &#124; the Ark in Space}}</ref>
| series            = ''[[Doctor Who]]'' book:<br />[[List of Doctor Who novelisations|Target novelisations]]
| release_number    = 4
| release_date      = 10 May 1977
| publisher         = [[Target Books]]
| pages             = 
| isbn              = 0-426-11631-3
| exclude_cover     = yes
}}

A novelisation of this serial, written by [[Ian Marter]], was published by [[Target Books]] in 1977. It was subsequently reprinted by [[Virgin Publishing]] in 1991 with a new cover.<ref name="programmeguide">{{cite book|first=Jean-Marc and Randy|last=Lofficier|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-60i_3373McC&q=doctor+who|chapter=Fourth Doctor|title=The Doctor Who Programme Guide|date=1 May 2003|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=0-595-27618-0|page=120}}</ref> BBC Books also reprinted the book in 2012 in an edition featuring an introduction by Steven Moffat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/doctor-who-6-more-glorious-classic-target-books-reprints/|title=Doctor Who: 6 More Glorious Classic Target Books Reprints|date=19 March 2012}}</ref> This was Marter's first novelisation for Target; he would go on to write seven more.<ref name="fact of fiction">{{cite journal|first=David|last=Bryher|title=The Fact of Fiction: The Ark in Space|journal=[[Doctor Who Magazine]]|publisher=[[Panini Comics]]|location=[[Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent]]|issue=463|pages=56–65|date=25 July 2013}}</ref> Marter had wanted to correct some logical problems he had found in the story. He considered writing in first person from Harry's point of view, but abandoned this when he realised that many important plot points took place when Harry was not present.<ref name="fact of fiction"/> Notably, Marter changed the spelling of "Wirrn" to "Wirrrn".<ref name="fact of fiction"/> Marter alters the ending so that the travellers leave in the TARDIS.

===Home media===
''The Ark in Space'' was first released on [[VHS]] in 1989 in an omnibus format. It was then re-released in 1994 in its original episodic format (but the 1999 US release is still in omnibus format). It was released on [[Laserdisc]] in 1996 in its original episodic format. It was released on [[DVD]] in the United Kingdom on 8 April 2002. It was released for sale on [[iTunes]] on 11 August 2008. This serial was also released as part of the [[Doctor Who DVD Files]] in Issue 90 on 13 June 2012. ''The Ark in Space'' was released as a special edition DVD on 25 February 2013.<ref name="SFX review"/>

{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="AllRatings">{{cite web|title=Ratings Guide |url=http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/info.php?detail=ratings&type=date |website=Doctor Who News |access-date=28 May 2017}}</ref>
}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book | last1 = Howe | first1 = David J. | author-link1 = David J. Howe | last2 = Stammers | first2 =Mark | last3 = Walker | first3 = Stephen James | author-link3 = Stephen James Walker | title = The Fourth Doctor Handbook: The Tom Baker Years 1974–1981 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lug9NgAACAAJ | date = 1 November 1992| publisher = [[Virgin Books|Doctor Who Books]] | location = London, England, UK | isbn = 9780426203698 | oclc = 31709926 }}

==External links==
{{wikiquote|Fourth Doctor}}
* {{BBCCDW | id=arkinspace | title=The Ark in Space}}

===Target novelisation===
*{{Isfdb title|id=10580|title=Doctor Who and the Ark in Space}}

{{Doctor Who episodes|C12}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ark In Space, The}}
[[Category:Doctor Who serials novelised by Ian Marter]]
[[Category:Fourth Doctor serials]]
[[Category:1975 British television episodes]]
[[Category:Works about the future]]
[[Category:Television episodes set in outer space]]