The TARDIS arrives on an apparently deserted and deactivated space station Nerva, otherwise known as the Ark, orbiting Earth in the far future. There the Doctor, Sarah and Harry discover the last survivors of the human race held in suspended animation, Earth having been evacuated thousands of years earlier when solar flares threatened to destroy all life. The station has been visited by Wirrn, an insect life form, which has laid its eggs in the solar stacks and absorbed the mind and body of one of the sleeping humans. The Doctor’s reactivation of the station’s systems causes the humans to start to revive
Story Order
- Story 76 from Doctor Who
- Story 2 of 5 from Season 12
Episodes
Saturday
25th January 1975
5:35PM
BBC 1 (24 mins)
The survivors of mankind are in cryogenic suspension aboard the Nerva Beacon space station.
Saturday
1st February 1975
5:30PM
BBC 1 (24 mins)
The survivors of the human race start to awaken. But Perhaps not all of them are entirely human.
Saturday
8th February 1975
5:30PM
BBC 1 (24 mins)
Humankind faces total destruction. Can the Doctor defeat the Wirrn?
Saturday
15th February 1975
5:30PM
BBC 1 (24 mins)
Trapped by the Wirrn, The Doctor and his friends are forced into one last terrible gamble.
Credits
- Doctor WhoTom Baker
- Sarah Jane SmithElisabeth Sladen
- Harry SullivanIan Marter
- VoicesGladys Spencer
- VoicesPeter Tuddenham
- ViraWendy Williams
- NoahKenton Moore
- LibriChristopher Masters
- RoginRichardson Morgan
- LycettJohn Gregg
- High Minister's VoiceGladys Spencer
- Wirrn OperatorStuart Fell
- Wirrn OperatorNick Hobbs