The Space Museum

This article is about the Doctor Who serial. For other uses, see Space Museum.

015 – The Space Museum
Doctor Who serial
Copies of Barbara, the Doctor, Vicki, and Ian stand upright, emotionless, inside glass boxes. The Doctor's shoulder can be seen overlooking them.
Barbara, the Doctor, Vicki, and Ian on display at the Space Museum. This first episode was praised by critics and its cliffhanger is considered among the show's best.[1][2][3]
Cast
Others
  • Richard Shaw – Lobos
  • Ivor Salter – Morok Commander
  • Salvin Stewart – Morok Messenger
  • Peter Diamond – Morok Technician, Morok
  • Lawrence Dean, Ken Norris, Salvin Stewart, Billy Cornelius – Moroks
  • Peter Sanders – Sita
  • Peter Craze – Dako
  • Jeremy Bulloch – Tor
  • Bill Starkey – Third Xeron
  • Michael Gordon, Edward Granville, Bill Starkey, David Wolliscroft – Xerons
  • Peter Hawkins – Dalek voice
  • Murphy Grumbar – Dalek Operator
Production
Directed byMervyn Pinfield
Written byGlyn Jones
Script editorDennis Spooner
Produced byVerity Lambert
Music byNone[a]
Production codeQ
SeriesSeason 2
Running time4 episodes, 25 minutes each
First broadcast24 April 1965 (1965-04-24)
Last broadcast15 May 1965 (1965-05-15)
Chronology
← Preceded by
The Crusade 		Followed by →
The Chase
List of episodes (1963–1989)

The Space Museum is the seventh serial of the second season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Glyn Jones and directed by Mervyn Pinfield, it was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 24 April to 15 May 1965. In the serial, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) arrive in a Space Museum on the planet Xeros, where they seek to change their fate after seeing themselves turned into museum exhibits in the future. They also become entangled in a conflict between the militaristic Moroks who run the museum, and the servile indigenous Xerons who work for them.

Jones was not familiar with the show or science fiction when asked to develop the storyline. Story editor Dennis Spooner edited out much of the humour from the original script as he felt that it was more intellectual; Jones was unhappy with the changes. Pinfield and the production crew hoped that The Space Museum could be made cheaply to offset more expensive serials, using a small cast and limited sets. Pinfield also used stock music recordings for the incidental score.[a] The Space Museum received mixed reviews, with praise directed at its opening episode and the performances of Hartnell and O'Brien, but criticism of the remaining episodes, the formulaic nature of the story, and the performances of the supporting cast. The story was later novelised and released on VHS and DVD.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference io9 Cliffhanger was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Ainsworth 2016, p. 56–57.
  3. ^ Howe & Walker 1998, pp. 85–86.


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