The Androzani Caves

Episode of the Doctor Who series
title	The Androzani Caves
Original title	The Caves of Androzani
Country of production	United Kingdom
original language	English
length	4x25 minutes
classification	Season 21, episodes 17-20 619th - 622nd episode overall ( list )
First broadcast	March 8, 1984 to March 16, 1984 on BBC One
German-language first broadcast	August 25, 2017 (DVD)
Rod
Director	Graeme Harper
script	Robert Holmes
production	John Nathan-Turner
occupation
Peter Davison : The fifth doctor Colin Baker : The sixth doctor Nicola Bryant : Peri Christopher Gable : Sharaz Jek John Normington : Morgus Barbara Kinghorn : Timmin David Neal : President Maurice Roëves : Stotz Roy Holder : Krelper Martin Cochrane : Chellak Robert Glenister : Salads Ian Staples : Soldier Anthony Ainley : Master Matthew Waterhouse : Adric Sarah Sutton : Nyssa Janet Fielding : Tegan Jovanka Mark Strickson : Turlough Gerald Flood : Voice of Kamelion
chronology
←  Predecessor Fire Planet Successor  → Einstein twice

The caves of Androzani (The Caves of Androzani) is the 135th plotline of the British science fiction - television series Doctor Who . It consists of 4 episodes that aired between March 8, 1984 and March 16, 1984.

action

The doctor and his companion, Peri, land on the planet Androzani Minor , where they immediately begin to explore the underground network of mines. After coming into contact with a sticky mass in the caves, the two are captured by General Chellak, who believes the two are spies of the arms smugglers who have been in the caves for a long time and who meet regularly with Sharaz Jek.

In the mines, the drug Spectrox is broken down, which ensures that the lifespan of anyone who takes it is extended. Chellak is the leader of a group of miners who want to mine the drug, but they are regularly stopped by Sharaz Jek's android warriors, who want to sell the drug himself on the black market at high prices, or weapons.

Since neither the doctor nor Peri can prove their innocence, the two are to be executed, but the two were exchanged for android copies before the execution and taken to Sharaz Jek's hiding place. Once there, the two notice that their health is slowly waning, which is due to poisoning when the two came into contact with unprocessed Spectrox (the sticky mass) and both will eventually die from it. The only antidote is the milk of a bat queen living in the mines, which, however, has retreated into the deepest areas of the network due to the mine work and can hardly be found.

The doctor and Peri manage to escape with the help of the prisoner Saladen, but are separated from each other in the mines. While Peri and Salateen find it back to Chellak's base, the doctor is captured by arms smugglers who trade weapons for Spectrox on behalf of Morgus, the greatest industrialist on the planet Androzani Major , and is supposed to be brought to Morgus. But the doctor can free himself from his captivity and escape into the deepest caves of the mine network and secure the milk of a bat queen.

At the same time, Peri's health deteriorates and is again kidnapped by Sharaz Jek through a secret passage in Chellak's base and brought to his lair. Salateen and Chellak meanwhile carry out an attack on Sharaz Jek's base, but are almost completely wiped out by his android army. Before the doctor can come to Peri's rescue, Sharaz Jek, in a severely weakened condition, is attacked and mortally wounded by the arms smugglers and Morgus.

The doctor manages to save Peri from Sharaz Jek's base and flees with her into his TARDIS , infuses her with the antidote and now has to fight the effects of the poisoning himself before he finally regenerates.

production

The working title of the story was Chain Reaction (to German chain reaction ) and was after 6 years, the first story, the former script editor Robert Holmes series wrote as producer John Nathan-Turner wanted to hold them by new authors.
During the doctor's regeneration, all of his former companions of the fifth doctor as well as the serial villains of the masters appear again. Janet Fielding (Tegan), Mark Strickson (Turlought), Gerald Flood (voice of Kamelion) and Anthony Ainley (Master) were all contracted to appear in the story as they appeared in other episodes of Season 21. However, the appearance of Matthew Waterhouse and Sarah Sutton had to be renegotiated as they left the series in the 19th and 20th seasons respectively.

Audience ratings

1. The Caves of Androzani - Part 1 - 6.9 million viewers
2. The Caves of Androzani - Part 2 - 6.6 million viewers
3. The Caves of Androzani - Part 3 - 7.8 million viewers
4. The Caves of Androzani - Part 4 - 7.8 million viewers

publication

In England, a novel version of the story , written by Terrance Dicks , was published by Target Books in November 1984. The 4 episodes did not appear on DVD for the first time in England on June 18, 2001, but apart from an audio commentary by Graeme Harper, Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant, there was no bonus material. A special edition DVD with a second disc with additional documentation on the creation of the story, extended scenes and much more was only released on October 4, 2010. in England.
In Germany, the story was first released on DVD on August 25, 2017. A German dubbed version was produced especially for this, as the 4 episodes were never broadcast on German television.

synchronization

The synchronization of the story was done by Metz-Neun Synchron Studio- und Verlags GmbH. Manuel Karakas was responsible for the dialogue book and also directed the dialogue.

role	actor	Voice actor
The (5th) doctor	Peter Davison	Michael Schwarzmaier
The (6th) doctor	Colin Baker
Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown	Nicola Bryant	Maria Boehme
Sharaz Jek	Christopher Gable	Wolff von Lindenau
Morgus	John Normington	Gordon Piedesack
Major salads	Robert Glenister	Peter Lehn
Stotz	Maurice Roëves	Michael-Che cook
General Chellak	Martin Cochrane	Dirk Hardegen
Body	Roy Holder	Sasha Nathan
Timmin	Barbara Kinghorn	Monika Müller Heusch
president	David Neal	Aart Veder

Web links

• The Androzani Caves on the BBC's official website with photonovel with telesnaps to illustrate the episode
• The Androzani Caves - Detailed Recap in the Doctor Who Reference Guide. (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated August 28, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ https://www.synchronkartei.de/serie/17557