The Seeds of Death

048 – The Seeds of Death
Doctor Who serial
The Doctor is menaced by the fungus emitted by the seeds of death
Cast
Doctor Patrick Troughton (Second Doctor)
Companions Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon) Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot)
Others Ronald Leigh-Hunt — Commander Radnor Louise Pajo — Gia Kelly Philip Ray — Professor Eldred Terry Scully — Fewsham Ric Felgate — Brent Harry Towb — Osgood Christopher Coll — Phipps Martin Cort — Locke Hugh Morton — Sir James Gregson Derrick Slater — Security Guard John Witty — Computer Voice Alan Bennion — Slaar Graham Leaman — Grand Marshal Steve Peters, Tony Harwood, Sonny Caldinez — Ice Warriors
Production
Directed by	Michael Ferguson
Written by	Brian Hayles Terrance Dicks (episodes 3-6, uncredited)
Script editor	Terrance Dicks
Produced by	Peter Bryant
Executive producer(s)	None
Incidental music composer	Dudley Simpson
Production code	XX
Series	Season 6
Length	6 episodes, 25 minutes each
Date started	25 January 1969
Date ended	1 March 1969
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → The Krotons The Space Pirates

The Seeds of Death

Author	Terrance Dicks
Cover artist	Tony Masero
Series	Doctor Who book: Target novelisations
Release number	112
Publisher	Target Books
Publication date	July 1986 (Hardback) 4 December 1986 (Paperback)
ISBN

The Seeds of Death is the fifth serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Brian Hayles and an uncredited Terrance Dicks and directed by Michael Ferguson, it originally aired in six weekly parts from 25 January to 1 March 1969. It sees the return of the Ice Warriors, previously introduced by Hayles in his fifth season serial, The Ice Warriors.

In the story, late-21st century Earth is dependent on its T-Mat teleportation system. When it malfunctions, the Doctor (Patrick Troughton), along with his companions Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury), travel to the moonbase to investigate. They discover the Ice Warriors are planning an invasion of Earth, using T-Mat to transport deadly seedpods to the planet.

At the end of the twenty-first century, a teleportation technology called "T-Mat" has replaced all traditional forms of transport, allowing people and objects to travel instantly anywhere on Earth. Manned space exploration has ceased due to the ease of life on Earth. The Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Herriot arrive in a museum on Earth run by Professor Daniel Eldred dedicated to the obsolete technology of rockets. However, something goes amiss at the T-Mat vital relay station on the Moon and the system breaks down. With communications out, and no way to reach the Moon without T-Mat, those responsible for the system, Commander Radnor and his assistant Gia Kelly, turn to Professor Eldred to help. He has been privately building a rocket in hopes of re-igniting interest in space travel. In the absence of a space program to provide trained astronauts, the Doctor and his companions volunteer to crew the rocket. The Doctor also comments that the TARDIS is not suitable for short range use after Zoe informs Jamie that the TARDIS would most likely overshoot by a couple of million years.