'Classic' Telly

THIS PAGE LAST UPDATED 07/12/99

DOOMWATCH

(episodes c.50min colour)

S1	13 episodes		09/02/70 - 11/05/70	8 episodes currently exist
S2	13 episodes		14/12/70 - 22/03/71	ALL episodes currently exist
S3	12 episodes ( inc. 1 unbroadcast)		05/06/97 - 14/08/72	3 episodes exist ( inc. 1 unbroadcast)
.	38 episodes ( inc. 1 unbroadcast)	.	BBC Production	ALL existing episodes are in colour

	Series based on science-fact, with the premise of a government department set up to question the ethics and validity of the days technological innovations and scientific advances. Often at odds with big business and those who had instigated the department, Dr. Spencer Quist the bureau chief was almost always able to prove a point. The cast varied slightly in each of the three seasons, with dramatic departures, new recruits and semi-resident characters; but Quist stuck it out to the last.	TOMORROW, THE RAT
	When viewed today (aside from the fashions) the stories hold up extremely well, with many themes that have been recurrent over the past 25 years as valid now as they were then. The production values are excellent for the time and provide a very good example of the style of early '70s television drama. Suffering from the BBC archive purges of the '70s (like the better documented Dr Who) a very representative range of episodes survive today, including the dramatic depature of Robert Powell's character (which is retained only in a brief reprise in the pre-credit sequence of the following story).
	BOOKS RELATED TO THE SERIES by Kit Pedler & Gerry Davis	UK
	VIDEO RELEASE INFORMATION AT THE BASE OF THIS PAGE	UK
	By the third season a few implausible themes had crept in; probably with the intention of grabbing ratings. With the use of footage of a Nigerian firing squad carrying out an actual execution in the episode "Sex and Violence"(never transmitted in the UK) the programme finished on a low, with another episode not even completing production. At least it had given it's audience three years of intelligent and thought provoking drama. The series spawned a feature film of the same name (1972, Tigon) starring Ian Bannen and Judy Geeson; with John Paul and Simon Oates reprising their characters, albeit with secondary billing. An often overlooked series today - it's well worth a look if you ever get the opportunity.	WITHOUT RIDGE OR WREN
NEW EPISODE	A feature length pilot for a proposed 'NEW' series was aired by Channel 5 in the UK on Tuesday 7th December 1999 at 9pm. This 2 hour feature had Trevor Eve as the lead character in an update, with actor Philip Stone portraying an elderly Spencer Quist.

UK Gold

last known UK transmission

*although all episodes (except 'Sex an Violence') have been transmitted by UK gold not all were reshown during the last run on this channel.

season1	exist?	story title	info	availability
01		The Plastic Eaters	an aeroplane melts in the air	PRV
02		Friday's Child	a test tube baby causes a storm	n/a
03		Burial at Sea	the dangers of dumping waste in the oceans	n/a
04		Tomorrow, the Rat	super rats, with a liking for humans	PRV
05		Project Sahara	big brother's watching you	UKGold
06		Re-entry Forbidden	error on a spaceflight, was it a human factor?	UKGold
07		The Devil's Sweets	advertising and chocolate don't mix	UKGold
08		The Red Sky	aircraft sound waves, causing suicides	PRV
09		Spectre at the Feast	scientists at a conference are falling ill	n/a
10		Train and De-Train	the connection between AC3051 and wildlife extermination.	UKGold
11		The Battery People	marital upsets for a group of factory workers	UKGold
12		Hear No Evil	a company in dispute with its workforce	n/a
13	*	Survival Code	bomb disposal at a busy resort ending exists as reprise in next episode	n/a