Frontios Part 1
The Doctor and his companions Tegan and Turlough crash-land on Frontios, a planet where a human colony is under attack by an unknown enemy, and must navigate the colony's politics and technology to help the inhabitants survive.
The screenplay 'Frontios - Part One' opens with Captain Revere's death in a mining accident, which sets off a chain of events. The Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough arrive in the TARDIS, which has drifted into the future. They find themselves in the Veruna system, specifically on the planet Frontios, where a human colony from Earth has settled. The colony is facing attacks by an unknown enemy and is struggling with resource shortages and inadequate shelters. The Doctor and his companions get involved in the colony's affairs, helping with medical care and trying to find a solution to the colony's problems. They uncover a complex situation involving the colony's leadership, a sealed research room, and a massive colony ship. The Doctor's efforts to help the colony are met with suspicion and hostility by some, who view him as an outsider and a potential threat. The screenplay explores themes of survival, cooperation, and the challenges faced by a vulnerable community under attack.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
The human colony on Frontios faces constant attacks from an unknown enemy. Captain Revere dies in a mining collapse, and Brazen, a military officer, immediately covers up the circumstances, closing the research room against the wishes of Chief Science Officer Range. This event establishes the colony's internal strife and the military's control. Meanwhile, the TARDIS, carrying the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough, drifts far into the future, landing in the Veruna system near Frontios. The Doctor initially resists interfering with the developing colony, citing the Laws of Time and the fragility of their future. However, a sudden, intense meteorite storm, which the TARDIS cannot resist, forces an emergency landing on Frontios. The TARDIS is damaged, compelling the Doctor and his companions to leave its safety. Their arrival coincides with an ongoing external attack, thrusting them directly into the colony's desperate struggle for survival. This forced arrival acts as the inciting incident, making the Doctor's involvement unavoidable despite his initial reluctance to interfere with the timeline.
The Doctor and his companions Tegan and Turlough burst into the colony’s medical centre, a cramped and poorly lit stone room, to find wounded colonists lying on basic metal bunks. …
The Doctor takes command of the beleaguered medical centre after crash-landing on Frontios, imposing order where panic reigns. He strips off his jacket, assumes the role of chief medic, and …
The Doctor refuses to treat the wounded colony officer without improved medical conditions, insisting on proper lighting via a phosphor lamp. His demands reveal the colony’s dwindling resources and strained …
The Doctor begins treating wounded colonists despite the medical center’s primitive conditions, immediately asserting control over the situation. He orders supplies from Turlough including a portable mu-field activator and argon …
The Doctor examines Frontios’ stagnant medical centre while Tegan and Turlough discover the TARDIS doors jammed shut. After ruling out simple landing damage, the Time Lord investigates risky voltage solutions …
Range explains the colony’s energy crisis after their ship’s systems failed on impact, leaving them without power. The Doctor calculates that the jammed TARDIS door blocks access to critical equipment …
Range explains the colony's failed energy systems and the impossibility of repairs without fuel. Norna proposes a radical solution—a wind-powered acid jar stored in the medical research room—as an alternative …
Landing amidst the aftermath of the meteorite storm, the Doctor immediately begins treating the wounded in the rudimentary medical center, demonstrating his compassionate nature and medical expertise. He quickly identifies the colony's dire conditions, including inadequate lighting and medical supplies. Range, the Chief Science Officer, welcomes the Doctor's help, but the TARDIS interior door jams, preventing access to essential equipment, including the portable mu-field activator needed for proper lighting. This creates a new, urgent objective: finding a local power source to repair the TARDIS and aid the colony. Norna, Range's daughter, suggests retrieving an 'acid jar' battery from the sealed research room. Concurrently, Plantagenet, Captain Revere's son and the new leader, views the Doctor's arrival with deep suspicion, believing him to be an invader or an accomplice to the attacks. Brazen supports Plantagenet's distrust, escalating the internal conflict and placing the Doctor under intense scrutiny. Tegan, Turlough, and Norna embark on the dangerous mission to retrieve the battery from the restricted colony ship, navigating the colony's rigid security and resource scarcity.
Range confesses the colony’s early denial of attack when she recounts Captain Revere’s fatal assumption that the initial explosions were merely enemy preparation rather than the start of a thirty-year …
Plantagenet seizes on Range’s admission of Frontios’ thirty-year bombardment to publicly accuse the Doctor of being an invader in disguise. The Doctor’s neutral presence skews toward suspect under Plantagenet’s glare, …
Norna announces the research room’s sealing is the critical barrier facing the Doctor and his companions after their forced landing on Frontios. Instead of capitulating, she pivots to resourcefulness, offering …
The Doctor bluntly assesses Frontios’s failing infrastructure while medical supplies and morale both collapse under repeated attacks. His clinical dissection of Plantagenet’s leadership—shelter design, warning systems, demographic data—lays bare the …
Plantagenet
Range directly challenges Plantagenet’s refusal to accept the Doctor’s help by citing concrete contributions he has made. She openly praises the Doctor’s medical care and his practical problem-solving, notably his …
Tegan, Turlough, and Norna infiltrate the colony ship and the sealed research room, navigating the guarded areas to retrieve the heavy, dangerous acid jar battery. During their extraction, the jar spills corrosive acid, creating a hole in the floor and attracting the attention of guards, forcing the companions into a tense escape. Simultaneously, the external bombardment intensifies dramatically, plunging the colony into chaos and further exacerbating the immediate danger. Plantagenet and Brazen's suspicions of the Doctor solidify into open accusations, with Plantagenet directly linking the Doctor to the escalating attacks and the incapacitated Warnsman. The Doctor attempts to de-escalate the situation and demonstrate the TARDIS's harmlessness, but the overwhelming external threat and internal distrust prevent any resolution. The Doctor retrieves the battery from the companions, recognizing its importance. The act culminates with a direct meteorite strike near the TARDIS, scattering everyone and leaving the Doctor and his companions in extreme peril, with their ship damaged and their motives questioned by the very people they are trying to help, setting a precarious stage for future events.
Plantagenet confronts the Doctor about the size and purpose of his craft, dismissing Time Lord capabilities as irrelevant while Brazen shares a private warning with the new colony leader. The …
The Doctor and Plantagenet’s escalating clash is disrupted by Brazen’s urgent arrival with news of another assault on the colony. The horizon blackens as if summoned by the bombardment, forcing …
Under weakening meteor fire the Doctor and his companions hijack an acid jar battery from the sealed research room guarded by Brazen’s military faction. Tegan and Norna haul the retrieved …
Plantagenet and Brazen orchestrate a public interrogation of the Doctor moments after his companions deliver a hard-won acid jar battery to the medical center. Their agenda shifts abruptly when an …
The Doctor arrives outside the colony ship just as Turlough helps an injured guard. Plantagenet and Brazen escort a wounded man they accuse of being the missing Warnsman, immediately blaming …