Conception and writing Following the success of the
Daleks in their introductory serial
The Daleks (1963–1964) and its sequel
The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964), writer
Terry Nation was quickly commissioned to write a third serial by new
story editor Dennis Spooner, with whom he was old friends due to their history of comedy writing. Nation's original story pitch was scrapped for unknown reasons, and he was instead commissioned to write a six-episode Dalek serial, tentatively titled
Doctor Who and the Daleks (III), around mid-December 1964. Nation submitted a five-page synopsis on 10 January 1965 to producer
Verity Lambert, aware of the fact that it would be a more expensive production than typical. In Nation's synopsis, the story was known as
Dr Who (Segment: Dalek Three) – The Pursuers; a few months later, it became
The Chase. Nation wrote the scripts between writing episodes of
The Saint (1962–1969). In the first episode's script, Nation suggested the footage of the
Gettysburg Address could be borrowed from the 1962 film
How the West Was Won. Nation's scripts required little editing from Spooner, though he was too busy to undertake rewrites regardless. Original alternatives to the planet Aridius included
ancient Egypt, wherein the first
pyramid is built over the location of a destroyed Dalek, and the planet Stygian, where the variable light waves render all living matter invisible. One of the few elements edited by Spooner included the Time-Space Visualiser; gifted by the Xerons to the Doctor at the end of
The Space Museum (1965), the machine was added to
The Chase to maintain continuity between stories—before this rewrite, the device was previously known as a Time Curve Visi-Scope and was invented by the Doctor. Spooner also changed the scene in which Ian and Vicki enter the tunnels in the first episode; in the original draft, they were dragged down by a colony of Mire Beasts. An external model sequence of the haunted house in the fourth episode was cut from the script when the reasoning behind the sequence—taking place in a futuristic theme park attraction as opposed to inside the minds of its occupants—was changed. In a draft script, the city from the fifth episode was referred to as "a real
Frank Lloyd Wright edifice". An early intention was for the first episode to feature
the Beatles, dressed as old men, performing in the studio as part of a fictional 50th anniversary concert; the idea was rejected by the band's manager,
Brian Epstein, who thought it would be poor for the group's image. The production team enquired about obtaining material of the Beatles from
Top of the Pops, but discovered that most episodes had been
wiped after broadcasting; they were offered a November 1964 recording of "
I Feel Fine" at
Riverside Studio. However, after the group performed their new song "
Ticket to Ride" on
Top of the Pops in April, Epstein consented to one minute of its usage on the show. This had the unintended effect of making the first episode of
The Chase the only remaining source of any surviving Beatles footage from
Top of the Pops, as much of the show was wiped.
Directing and music (pictured in 2003), who had become known as the "Dalek director" for his work on previous Dalek serials, was chosen to direct
The Chase.
Richard Martin was chosen to direct the serial; he was reluctant to agree, but Lambert convinced him as he had become known as the "Dalek director", having directed both
The Daleks and
The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Lambert sent the scripts to Martin on 25 February 1965, pleased with their action but concerned about potential production drawbacks; she was primarily concerned with the Mire Beast and Fungoids, having struggled with creatures like the Slyther in
The Dalek Invasion of Earth. She was also unhappy about the existence of Frankenstein's monster in the story, concerned that it did not present the concept in a logical way as in previous stories, and that it showed a lack of imagination to use other fictional characters. Lambert asked Martin to keep expenses to a minimum, but, recalling the overspend on his previous serial
The Web Planet (1965), allocated a larger budget than normal; as a result, the preceding and following serials—
The Space Museum and
The Time Meddler, respectively—were produced with a minimal budget and little pre-filming. Despite this, Martin still believed the show was underfunded, and considered it poor science fiction television. He was frustrated that he was unable to overcome production challenges to his liking;
The Chase would ultimately be his final work on the show. It was also Spooner's final serial as story editor, having been offered the position of co-writer and assistant editor on
The Baron (1966–1967) by Nation; Spooner was eager to work on a high-quality program with expected American viewership. The serial's incidental music was composed by
Dudley Simpson; Martin had originally wanted
Max Harris to compose the score. To detract from the Daleks' scariness, Simpson was asked to compose "light" music; recording took place at
Olympic Sound Studios on 20 April for the first three episodes and 23 April for the last three. The score, performed by five musicians conducted by Simpson, consisted of 52 cues and ran for over 25 minutes. Thirty new sounds were created for the serial by
Brian Hodgson of the
BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The voice of the Mechonoid, performed by the voice of the Daleks
David Graham, was edited by Hodgson and Ray Angel; they sped up the sound, broke it up, and added a continuous note. Nation had suggested producing the Mechonoids' voices akin to
Sparky's Magic Piano.
Sets and design Due to the variety of work required, set designers
Raymond Cusick and John Wood both worked on
The Chase; Cusick focused on the Daleks' time machine, the Mechonoid city, and the haunted house, while Wood concentrated on the Empire State Building and the
Mary Celeste. A substantial part of the serial's budget was allocated to the construction of the Mechonoids, with a total cost of . Cusick was inspired by the designs of
Richard Buckminster Fuller; the expensive models, which used three two-part fibreglass casings, were made by Shawcraft Models and completed in March 1965. Like the Daleks, they were designed to be controlled by a hidden operator inside the casing.
William Hartnell disliked the need to be precise with his movements around the props. The Mechonoids were too large to maintain after production; a Fungoid and the Mire Beast were kept, later appearing in a display at an exhibition in 1967. With production approaching, the crew noted it needed to use the two Dalek props on loan to
Belle Vue Zoo by early March. They also enquired into loaning the two Daleks given to the
Dr. Barnardo's home in
Ilford, Essex; when Dr. Barnardo's indicated the props could only be used for a few days at the end of April, the crew decided to proceed without them. Other Dalek props were sourced from
Ealing Studios, and from original manufacturer Shawcraft Models in Uxbridge; at the time, another prop was on loan to a different BBC production, thought to be an episode of
Hugh and I, "Bun Fight", which aired on 11 April 1965. props that were on loan to various studios and companies. Four of the Daleks owned by the BBC were refurbished, costing ; of this, the Publicity Department, which had been using the props extensively for promotional purposes, paid . Cusick disliked the modifications made on the Dalek casings by Spencer Chapman on
The Dalek Invasion of Earth; Cusick redesigned the casings, removing the fenders and power dishes and adding shoulder slats to the midriff section. The black Dalek Supreme from
The Dalek Invasion of Earth was painted silver for
The Chase. Cusick also designed a lightweight prop, referred to as a "hover Dalek", which could appear to move rapidly over the sands; it was operated by Gerald Taylor. For the final shot of the first episode, Cusick and his team buried a Dalek in the sand and attached it to a
Land Rover vehicle via rope; however, the casing did not rise through the sand, forcing the team to reconsider the effect. Cusick and Shawcraft Models ultimately built an 18-inch Dalek puppet operated from underneath. Cusick designed the Daleks' control room from pieces of sets from
The Daleks and
The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The Dalek ship in the third episode was populated by several Dalek props, including three unoccupied casings from the film
Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965). Martin contacted the film's writer and producer
Milton Subotsky and asked to borrow some of the casings built for the movie, which had recently completed production; Subotsky offered Martin eight Dalek props, but as they were noticeably different from their television counterparts, three were used in the background to populate the shots. The interior TARDIS rooms were designed from material originally designed by Cusick for
The Edge of Destruction (1964), with equipment bay elements from
The Web Planet. The Time-Space Visualiser was constructed by Shawcraft Models and used a television monitor, on which the footage was played. The TARDIS control room set was used for the Visualiser sequence, though the console was not used due to size. The first episode marks the first time in
Doctor Who that the TARDIS was seen in flight; the effect was achieved by mixing a
kaleidoscope shot of stars with a shot of a two-inch TARDIS model. The Mire Beast costume, worn by Jack Pitt, was constructed by freelance specialist props team, father and son John and Jack Lovell; John researched similar creatures at the
Natural History Museum, which led to the final orange costume made of sheet rubber. The Lovells also designed the rubber Fungoid costumes, which were nicknamed Fungoid Fred, Mushroom Malone, and Toadstool Taffy. The establishing shot of the Aridian landscape was a photograph of the
Kalahari Desert in
Bechuanaland from Paul Popper Ltd, while the shot of Mechanus was a photograph of an
Amazonian jungle from Fox Photos. The food being eaten by Barbara and Vicki in the third episode were
Mars bars, twelve of which were purchased for production. The set for the ship in the third episode was large, with several levels. One of Martin's favourite parts of the serial, the ship used much of the budget. The name plate of the ship was erroneously painted as
Marie Celeste before being corrected to
Mary Celeste. Lambert was unsatisfied with the set of the Empire State Building; she complained to the design department's Barry Learoyd on 26 May, and wrote "even bearing in mind the necessary economy because of the budget, this is pretty poor by any standards". Learoyd responded on 9 June, noting the set looked satisfactory in the transmission and clarifying she had likely seen the set before its final tidying; Lambert conceded, but noted the set only appeared satisfactory due to alteration in shots by Martin, who had placed the TARDIS in a different spot than planned to avoid showing too much of the set. The jungle set from the fifth episode, designed by Wood, used hanging
gauzes to provide depth;
ivy, sea fern, and twelve bags of
peat were used to dress the set. The floor was painted to appear marshy, aided by the actors' performances, but was flat to allow movement of the Dalek props; the paint had to be removed immediately after production. The prop used by Ian against the Fungoids was a tube with a battery-operated bulb at the end. The rooftop set in the final episode was raised off the studio floor, with a blown-up aerial shot of a jungle laid atop. The crew decided not to destroy the model of the Mechonoid city as it burns in case of a later Mechonoid story; instead, a
crossfading effect between shots of the model and
stock footage of a volcanic eruption was used. Following the recording of the last episode, Martin wrote to Cusick and Wood to thank them for their work on the serial, crediting them for significantly contributing to any praise that the story would receive.
Casting and characters {{multiple image |total_width=325
The Chase marked the final appearance of series regulars
William Russell and
Jacqueline Hill as Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, respectively. Their departure was announced on 1 April 1965; Russell explained the creativity had gone and he wanted to reenter comedy and theatre performances, and Hill said "It has been great fun, but you can't go on forever". They made their decisions independently and gave extended notice to Lambert. Hartnell was greatly upset, becoming the sole original actor remaining on the series, and both he and Lambert tried to persuade them to stay; Hartnell said to Russell, "What's the matter with you? You've got three kids, you've got a job and we're having a great time—what more do you want?". Lambert eventually decided that Ian and Barbara would depart simultaneously in a mildly romantic manner. Hartnell's lines after their departure were left ambiguous in the script, stating in parentheses that he would say "Something about always fussing and bothering and getting in the way"; in the recording, Hartnell said the brief line "Silly old fusspots". Hartnell was not entirely pleased with Nation's scripts. Throughout production, Martin realised Hartnell struggled to learn his lines, and was largely supported by Russell and Hill. Hartnell consistently wanted to rerecord to perfect his performance. Martin recalled head of drama and
Doctor Who co-creator
Sydney Newman later praised his and Hartnell's work on the serial.
Edmund Warwick, who portrayed the robotic version of the Doctor, said his scenes were a "thank you" written in for him; the previous year, he had replaced Hartnell at short notice after he was injured during recording of
The Dalek Invasion of Earth. During rehearsals for the fourth episode, Hartnell demonstrated his mannerisms for Warwick to imitate. Warwick shaved his moustache for the role. He mimed the scenes to dialogue that was pre-recorded by Hartnell on 27 May 1965. Due to the scene's complexity, Warwick portrayed the real Doctor with his back to the camera in some shots. For the Mechonoids, Martin hired actors who had previously portrayed Daleks and Zarbi;
Robert Jewell and
Kevin Manser had recently completed work on
Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965). David Graham pre-recorded most of his Dalek voices: for the sixth episode on 20 April at
Maida Vale Studios, for the first two episodes on 21 April at
Lime Grove Studios alongside
Peter Hawkins, and for the third and fourth episodes on 12 and 19 May at Lime Grove. Martin cast several actors he had previously worked with in theatre. Arne Gordon, who played the tour guide in the third episode, required special dispensation from the
Ministry of Labour and National Service to appear in the show. Roslyn de Winter was cast as the Grey Lady; she was previously hired to play Vrestin and choreograph the Menoptra in
The Web Planet. Martin retrospectively found the costumes of the Aridians—played by Ian Thompson and
Hywel Bennett—to be "awful" due to the constrained budget; their movement was ballet-like due to the creatures' piscine nature, but Martin felt they could have taken it further to appear more extraterrestrial. The characters of Frankenstein's monster and Dracula were closely modelled on their appearances in the 1931 films
Frankenstein and
Dracula, respectively; the script referred to Frankenstein's monster being dressed in "the traditional Karloff costume", referring to
Boris Karloff who portrayed the monster in the film. Playing Dracula, Malcolm Rogers pre-recorded his speech and mimed on set; Rogers intentionally moved in a stiff manner to emphasise that the character was a robotic exhibit. In the script, the Fungoids were described as "a black, glistening creature of sponge ... shaped like an egg"; Lambert asked Nation to change the shape so a human actor could fit inside. The name "Fungoid" was originally used for the Mire Beast.
Peter Diamond choreographed the fight between the Doctor and his robotic counterpart in the fifth episode.
Peter Purves, who Martin had rejected to cast as a Menoptra in
The Web Planet, was cast in the role of Morton Dill. In the draft script, Morton was described as a "rather gawky young man... cast in the Hollywood mould of the southern hayseed come to the big city". After Purves's performance as Morton, Martin, Hartnell, and O'Brien told Lambert they had enjoyed working with him and recommended he be considered to play the next companion. Martin was hesitant to cast Purves in two roles within the same serial, but Lambert approved. Spooner and Lambert took Purves to a pub and offered him the role of Michael Taylor. The following week, Purves discussed the character with Spooner; they changed his name to Steven Taylor and decided he would be quirky and argumentative. Purves accepted the role within days. Though generally unfamiliar with science fiction, he recalled being impressed by the show's first serial,
An Unearthly Child (1963), and had enjoyed working with Hartnell and O'Brien; he had met Hartnell a few weeks prior while shooting
The World of Wooster (1965–1967) at Ealing Studios. On 21 May 1965, Purves was contracted for three stories (13 episodes), with an option for a further 20 episodes by 10 September and another 26 by 4 February 1966. Purves grew a beard for his role as Steven in the final episode of
The Chase. Nation left the character's final actions ambiguous in the script, allowing Spooner to decide how to onboard him as a companion. His role as a companion on the show was announced on 18 June 1965.
Filming {{Multiple image |align=right |direction=horizontal |total_width=325 |perrow=2 2 While Martin was on
leave in early March 1965, Lambert notified the design department that the serial would not utilise location filming; upon his return, however, Martin decided minimal location shooting was desirable for a better representation of the Aridius surface in the first two episodes. Early
35mm film shooting took place in the second week of April 1965. On 9 April, Martin and a film unit travelled to
Camber Sands; to avoid interrupting rehearsals for
The Space Museum, David Newman and Barbara Joss stood in for Russell and O'Brien, respectively, with the main actors overdubbing their dialogue later. The
East Sussex County Council granted permission for the BBC to pay local resident Laurence Nesbitt to dig two holes at the beach with timber
shoring: one for the buried Dalek, and the other for Ian's trap for a Dalek. Four days of pre-filming took place on Stage 3A/B of Ealing Studios, starting with two sequences for the first episode on 12 April: the first featured actor
Robert Marsden as
Abraham Lincoln, and the second included
Roger Hammond, Vivienne Bennett, and Hugh Walters as
Francis Bacon,
Queen Elizabeth I, and
William Shakespeare, respectively. The third episode's
Mary Celeste evacuation sequence was recorded on 13 April, the programme's first use of a large water tank, with several stunt actors falling into the water. The battle between the Daleks and Mechonoids and shots of the latter's city were filmed from 14–15 April. Rehearsals for the first episode began on 26 April 1965. Weekly recording began on 30 April in Studio 1 at
Riverside Studios. Delays with effects props provided by Shawcraft Models led to the first episode's recording session overrunning by ten minutes. On 6 May, Russell and Hill were released in the afternoon of rehearsals for the second episode to pose for about 20 photographs used to illustrate their return home in the final episode; the shoot was directed by
Douglas Camfield and designed by Barry Newbery as part of the pre-filming work for
The Time Meddler. Locations for the photographs included the
Houses of Parliament,
Hyde Park,
Trafalgar Square,
Westminster Bridge, and
White City tube station. The recording session of the second episode on 7 May overran due to the lack of a fast rewind machine for retakes and issues with cutting the 35mm film sequences. Russell and Hill were again released in the afternoon of the first day of rehearsals for the third episode, 10 May, to film a short insert at Ealing Film Studios outside the maintenance garage for Ian and Barbara's arrival home; the explosion of the Dalek time ship was achieved by a bright flash of light. Their short scene of on a
London bus (with
back projection of London streets) was also filmed, on Stage 3A/B at Ealing Film Studios, reportedly directed by Camfield. The recording session of the third episode on 14 May also overran due to issues with the film inserts. Hartnell's grandson Paul Carney visited the set during recording of the fourth episode on 21 May. Production overran again as some wet paint on scenery had prevented a full rehearsal. For the recording of the fifth episode on 28 May, Lambert suggested the 90-second action sequence—the fight between the Doctor and its robotic counterpart—be recorded first to ensure that Hartnell could regain composure for the remainder of production. The fight scene required precise timing for Hartnell to play both parts; two cameras focused on Hartnell (one on either side) and a third focused on his companions. Martin recalled that Hartnell was dedicated and competent during the fight sequence, having had much experience in similar sequences in his earlier career. The fifth episode recording session overran by 27 minutes. The final episode was recorded on 4 June. Recording for the six episodes cost a total of . == Reception ==