View source for The Pirate Planet

{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox Doctor Who episode
| number             = 099
| serial_name        = The Pirate Planet
| show               = DW
| type               = serial
| image              = 
| image_size         = 
| caption            = 
| doctor             = [[Tom Baker]] – [[Fourth Doctor]]
| companions         = 
* [[Mary Tamm]] – [[Romana (Doctor Who)|Romana]]
* [[John Leeson]] (Voice of [[K9 (Doctor Who)|K9]])
| guests             = 
*[[Bruce Purchase]] – [[List of Doctor Who villains#The Captain|The Pirate Captain]]
*[[Andrew Robertson (actor)|Andrew Robertson]] – Mr. Fibuli
*[[Rosalind Lloyd]] – Nurse
*[[David Warwick]] – Kimus
*[[David Sibley (actor)|David Sibley]] – Pralix
*[[Ralph Michael]] – Balaton
*[[Primi Townsend]] – Mula
*[[Clive Bennett]] – Citizen
*[[Bernard Finch]] – Mentiad
*[[Adam Kurakin]] – Guard
| director           = [[Pennant Roberts]]
| writer             = [[Douglas Adams]]
| script_editor      = [[Anthony Read]]
| producer           = [[Graham Williams (television producer)|Graham Williams]]
| executive_producer = None
| composer           = [[Dudley Simpson]]
| production_code    = 5B
| series             = [[The Key to Time|Season 16]]
| length             = 4 episodes, 25 minutes each
| started            = {{Start date|1978|9|30|df=y}}
| ended              = {{End date|1978|10|21|df=y}}
| preceding          = ''[[The Ribos Operation]]''
| following          = ''[[The Stones of Blood]]''
}}
'''''The Pirate Planet''''' is the second serial of the [[Doctor Who (season 16)|16th season]] in the British [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on [[BBC One|BBC1]] from 30 September to 21 October 1978. It forms the second serial of the ''Key to Time'' [[story arc]]. It was written by [[Douglas Adams]] and features some of his humour.

The tyrant Queen Xanxia (a dual role played by Vi Delmar and [[Rosalind Lloyd]]) and the Captain ([[Bruce Purchase]]) use the hollow planet Zanak as a spaceship that surrounds smaller planets, including Calufrax, the second segment of the powerful Key to Time in disguise, to plunder the planets' resources that help keep Xanxia alive.

==Plot==
The Key to Time tracer points the [[Fourth Doctor]] and [[Romana (Doctor Who)|Romana]] to the cold and boring planet of Calufrax, but when they arrive they find an unusual civilisation living in perpetual prosperity. Although a strange band of people with mysterious powers known as the Mentiads are feared by the society, the Doctor discovers that they are good people but with an unknown purpose. He instead fears the Captain, the planet's leader and benefactor. After meeting the Captain on the [[bridge (nautical)|bridge]] he learns that they are actually on a hollowed-out planet named Zanak, which has been materialising around other planets to plunder their resources.

After repairing Zanak's engines, which were damaged when the planet materialised in the same place as the [[TARDIS]], the Captain plans to take Zanak to Earth. The Doctor finds the true menace controlling the Captain is the ancient tyrant Queen Xanxia, disguised as the Captain's nurse, who uses the resources mined from planets in an attempt to gain immortality. Her physical body sits between Time Dams, devices that hold back the ravages of time, as she is old and near death, and a younger version of her is projected via a solid 3D device. Despite the Captain's apparent insanity, he is a calculating person who plans to destroy Xanxia. The Mentiads learn that their [[parapsychology|psychic powers]] are strengthened by the destruction of entire worlds beneath their feet:  As the people on the planets die, their combined psychic force boosts the Mentiad's power.

Throughout Zanak, the Key to Time locator has been giving odd signals that seem to indicate that the segment is everywhere. Once the Doctor and Romana see the Captain's trophy room of planets, they conclude that Calufrax itself is the segment that they are looking for. The Captain's intends to use the gravitational power of all the crushed worlds to essentially drill a hole through the time dams, bypass its fail-safe mechanism, and let time move forward so the queen dies. They use the TARDIS to once again disrupt Zanak's materialisation around Earth while the Mentiads sabotage the engines. Xanxia kills the Captain when he finally turns against her and his plan fails. As Calufrax is not a real world, its mass is different and Zanak is unable to consume it. The Doctor, Romana, and the Mentiads destroy the bridge and Xanxia, ending the devastation caused by Zanak's travels. The Doctor rigs the system to drop the crushed worlds into the centre of Zanak where they'll expand and fill it, except for Calufrax which he sends it off into the time/space continuum where they pick it up later.

==Production==
The original draft for this story was extremely complex, centred on a [[Time Lord]] trapped in a giant aggression-absorbing machine and several [[paradox]]es, it had to be heavily simplified by the script editor, [[Anthony Read]].

According to the DVD commentary, the Doctor's accident with the console early in the story was staged to explain Baker's real-life cut lip, which was due to a dog bite. The scenes in the engine room were filmed at the [[Berkeley nuclear power station]], which made many of the cast and crew rather nervous.

The 16mm location work for this story is still held in the BBC archive.<ref>Richard Molesworth's Wiped! Doctor Who's Missing Episodes</ref>

===Cast notes===
Vi Delmar, who played the old Queen Xanxia (uncredited), asked for extra payment to remove her false teeth in her scenes. David Warwick later played the police commissioner in "[[Army of Ghosts]]" (2006) and David Garnier in the audio play ''[[The Harvest (audio drama)|The Harvest]]''.

==Broadcast and reception==
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{{Episode list/sublist|The Pirate Planet
 |EpisodeNumber      = 1
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{{Episode list/sublist|The Pirate Planet
 |EpisodeNumber      = 4
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 |RTitle             = 
 |OriginalAirDate    = {{Start date|1978|10|21|df=y}}
 |Viewers            = 8.4
 |Aux1               = 25:16
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It was repeated on BBC1 on four consecutive Thursdays from 12 July – 2 August 1979, achieving viewing figures of 2.8, 4.0, 3.3 and 2.9 million respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/story.php?story=ThePiratePlanet&detail=broadcast|title=Doctor Who Guide: broadcasting for The Pirate Planet|last=doctorwhonews.net}}</ref>

[[Paul Cornell]], [[Martin Day (writer)|Martin Day]], and [[Keith Topping]] wrote of the serial in ''The Discontinuity Guide'' (1995), "An inventive story, The Pirate Planet has matured into a satisfying mixture of the clever and the absurd."<ref name="disctoninuity">{{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 Pirate Planet|chapter-url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/pirateplanet/detail.shtml }}</ref> In ''The Television Companion'' (1998), [[David J. Howe]] and [[Stephen James Walker]] described it as "enjoyable", especially due to Baker and Tamm's performances as well as the Captain and Mr Fibuli. However, they wrote that the other supporting characters were "simply awful".<ref name="television companion">{{cite book | author1 = Howe, David J | author-link = David J. Howe | author2 = Walker, Stephen James | author2-link = Stephen James Walker | year = 1998 | title = Doctor Who: The Television Companion | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/pirateplanet/detail.shtml | edition = 1st | location = London | publisher = [[BBC Books]] | isbn = 978-0-563-40588-7 | access-date = 25 December 2019 | archive-date = 29 December 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201229003338/http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/pirateplanet/detail.shtml | url-status = dead }}</ref> In 2011, Mark Braxton of ''[[Radio Times]]'' noted a few plot holes and that the budget could not convey the scope of ideas, but he praised the performances and the story's playful tone.<ref name="Radio Times">{{cite web|first=Mark|last=Braxton|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-01-07/the-pirate-planet|title=Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet|work=[[Radio Times]]|date=7 January 2011|access-date=20 March 2013|archive-date=29 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229003417/https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/scifi/doctor-who-guide/2011-01-06/the-pirate-planet/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[DVD Talk]]'s Justin Felix gave ''The Pirate Planet'' three and a half out of four stars, describing the story as "quite clever" and "fun", but felt that it was let down by over-the-top acting.<ref name="DVD Talk">{{cite web|first=Justin|last=Felix|url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/36709/doctor-who-the-pirate-planet/|title=Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet|publisher=[[DVD Talk]]|date=22 March 2009|access-date=20 March 2013|archive-date=29 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229003428/https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/36709/doctor-who-the-pirate-planet/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2010, [[Charlie Anders|Charlie Jane Anders]] of [[io9]] listed the cliffhanger of the third episode as one of the best cliffhangers in ''Doctor Who'' history.<ref>{{cite web|first=Charlie Jane|last=Anders|url=http://io9.com/5625151/greatest-doctor-who-cliffhangers-of-all-time|title=Greatest Doctor Who cliffhangers of all time!|publisher=[[io9]]|date=31 August 2010|access-date=20 March 2013|archive-date=14 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514031149/http://io9.com/5625151/greatest-doctor-who-cliffhangers-of-all-time|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Commercial releases==

===In print===
{{Infobox book
|name = Doctor Who – The Pirate Planet
|image =
|caption =
| exclude_cover     = yes
|author = James Goss
|series = [[List of Doctor Who novelisations|''Doctor Who'' novelisations]]
|release_date = 5 January 2017
|publisher = [[BBC Books]]
|pages = 416
|isbn = 978-1-849-90677-7
}}

This is one of five ''Doctor Who'' serials that were never novelised by [[Target Books]] (the others being ''[[City of Death]]'', ''[[Shada (Doctor Who)|Shada]]'', ''[[Resurrection of the Daleks]]'', and ''[[Revelation of the Daleks]]''), in this case because they were unable to come to an agreement with Douglas Adams that would have allowed him or another writer to adapt the script. BBC Books published a novelised version of the serial, written by [[James Goss (producer)|James Goss]], on 5 January 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KWKAJS0/|title=Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet|first1=Douglas|last1=Adams|first2=James|last2=Goss|date=5 January 2017|publisher=BBC Digital|access-date=25 August 2016|via=Amazon|archive-date=29 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229003413/https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KWKAJS0/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Gallifrey Guardian |journal=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |issue=486 |page=7 |location=[[Tunbridge Wells]] |publisher=Panini UK Ltd |date=April 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamesradar.com/pirate-planet-novelisation-announced/|title=Doctor Who Pirate Planet Novelisation Announced|first=Dave|last=Golder|date=30 April 2015|work=GamesRadar+|access-date=2 May 2015|archive-date=29 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229003454/https://www.gamesradar.com/pirate-planet-novelisation-announced/|url-status=live}}</ref> An abridged [[Target Books]] edition titled ''Doctor Who and the Pirate Planet'' was published in paperback 11 March 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?article=five-adventures-new-doctor-who-target-book|title=New Target novel collection in July 2020|website=Doctor Who.tv|access-date=11 December 2019|archive-date=22 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322143408/https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?article=five-adventures-new-doctor-who-target-book|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet (Target Collection): Amazon.co.uk: Douglas Adams, James Goss: 9781785945304: Books|id={{ASIN|1785945300|country=uk}}}}</ref>

===Home media===
It was released on VHS on 3 April 1995. Along with the rest of season sixteen, it was released in North America as part of the ''Key to Time'' box set, and as an individually available title, on 1 October 2002; the remastered Key To Time Boxset was released in Region 1 on 3 March 2009. A Limited Edition of the ''Key to Time'' box set (with additional clean-up and extras over the North American release) containing this serial, was released in Region 2 on 24 September 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/05/18/44552.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524094900/http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/05/18/44552.shtml|archive-date=24 May 2007|title = DVD News|publisher=BBC|date=18 May 2007|access-date=20 March 2013}}</ref> The same set, though not in Limited Edition guise was released in Region 4 on 7 November 2007. The serial is not available separately on DVD in Regions 2 or 4. This serial was also released as part of the [[Doctor Who DVD Files]] in Issue 112 on 17 April 2013.

==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 |archive-date=11 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911235252/https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/info.php?detail=ratings&type=date |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote|Fourth Doctor}}
*{{BBCCDW|id=pirateplanet|title=The Pirate Planet}}
*{{ISFDB title|id=2099354|title=The Pirate Planet}}

===Fan novelisation===
*{{ISFDB title|id=1724586|title=The Pirate Planet}}

{{Doctor Who episodes|C16}}
{{Douglas Adams}}
{{Fourth Doctor stories|selected=Television}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirate Planet, The}}
[[Category:Fourth Doctor serials]]
[[Category:Space pirates]]
[[Category:1978 British television episodes]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Douglas Adams]]
[[Category:Television episodes set in the 1970s]]