The Pirate Planet

099 – The Pirate Planet
Doctor Who serial
Cast
Others
Production
Directed byPennant Roberts
Written byDouglas Adams
Script editorAnthony Read
Produced byGraham Williams
Executive producer(s)None
Music byDudley Simpson
Production code5B
SeriesSeason 16
Running time4 episodes, 25 minutes each
First broadcast30 September 1978 (1978-09-30)
Last broadcast21 October 1978 (1978-10-21)
Chronology
← Preceded by
The Ribos Operation
Followed by →
The Stones of Blood
List of episodes (1963–1989)

The Pirate Planet is the second serial of the 16th season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on 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.