Doctor Who Logo 'The Keys of Marinus'
(6 Parts)
Story Code 'E'

by Terry Nation
Jacket Illustration

The TARDIS materialises on the planet Marinus, on an island of glass surrounded by a sea of acid. The ship is captured, and the crew are forced by the elderly Arbitan to retrieve four of the five operating keys for the machine known as The Conscience of Marinus, of which he is the keeper. The keys have been hidden in different locations across the planet, in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of the evil Yartek, leader of the warrior Voord, who plans to seize the machine and use its originally benevolent mind-influencing powers for his own terrible purposes. To aid them in their quest, the travellers are given travel dials to transport them from location to location. The Doctor travels on to the location of the last key, while Ian, Susan and Barbara travel to the city of Morphoton, where giant brain creatures have hypnotised and enslaved the inhabitants. Ian, Barbara and Susan manage to retrieve the key with the aid of Arbitan's daughter, Sabetha, and her friend Altos. They then arrive in a ruined citadel, where Arbitan's friend, Darius is trapped in a building besieged by moving plants. Finding the key in a jar in Darius's laboratory, they escape from the vicious plants just in time, and arrive in the snowy wastes of Marinus. Here they encounter Vasor, a lecherous and murderous trapper, and killer soldiers encased in blocks of ice. They key is also frozen; the three travellers are able to thaw it out, only just managing to flee from the awakened soldiers. Finally arriving in the city of Millenius, Ian is falsely accused of murder. The legal rule is guilty until proven innocent, and it takes all the travellers' ingenuity to uncover the true killer and free Ian. The final key is found, and the travellers return to the island, only to find that Arbitan has been killed by Yartek, who tricks Ian into handing over the final key. However, Ian gives Yartek a fake key instead, and when he uses it, the Conscience machine explodes, killing both Yartek and the Voords.

William Hartnell (Dr Who), William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright), Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman), George Coulouris (Arbitan); Martin Cort, Peter Stenson, Gordon Wales (Voords); Robin Phillips (Altos), Katherina Scholfield (Sabetha), Heron Carvic (Voice of Morpho), Martin Cort (Warrior), Edmund Warwick (Darrius) , Francis de Wolff (Vasor); Michael Allaby, Alan James, Peter Stenson, Anthony Verner (Ice Soldiers); Henley Thomas (Tarron), Michael Allaby (Larn) , Raf de la Torre (Senior Judge), Alan James (First Judge), Peter Stenson (Second Judge), Fiona Walker (Kala), Martin Cort (Aydan), Donald Pickering (Eyesen), Alan James (Guard), Stephen Dartnell (Yartek) Note: William Hartnell is credited for 'The Velvet Web' and 'The Screaming Jungle' but does not appear

Produced by Verity Lambert
Directed by John Gorrie

TX:
'The Sea of Death' - 11th April, 1964 @ 5.30pm - 5.55pm
'The Velvet Web' - 18th April, 1964 @ 5.30pm - 5.55pm
'The Screaming Jungle' - 25th April, 1964 @ 5.30pm - 5.55pm
'The Snows of Terror' - 2nd May, 1964 @ 5.30pm - 5.55pm
'Sentence of Death' - 9th May, 1964 @ 5.15pm - 5.40pm
'The Keys of Marinus' - 16th May, 1964 @ 5.15pm - 5.40pm

Notes:
*Featuring the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan