The Green Death

Companion Exit, Series Finale

Runtime

150 minutes

Story Type

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

AI gone wrong, Environmental Message, Milkman

Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!)

Working for UNIT, Yates' rebellion

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Earth, Llanfairfach, Wales

Synopsis

When a dead man is found glowing bright green at an abandoned coal mine, UNIT and the Third Doctor travel to the South Wales town of Llanfairfach. Convinced that pollutants from the nearby Global Chemicals are responsible, the Doctor faces opposition from the company director Stevens, the mysterious BOSS and deadly giant maggots...

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6 Episodes

Episode One

First aired

Saturday, May 19, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

9.2 million

Synopsis

While the Doctor plans a holiday to Metebelis Three, Jo and the Brigadier are intrigued by a mysterious death at a coal mine in Llanfairfach, which is being blamed on local company Global Chemicals.

Episode Two

First aired

Saturday, May 26, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.2 million

Synopsis

The Doctor and the Brigadier attempt to rescue Jo and Bert from the mine but Global Chemicals prove distinctly uncooperative.

Episode Three

First aired

Saturday, June 2, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.8 million

Synopsis

The Doctor and Jo manage to escape from the mine with a maggot egg but Stevens is determined to stop them analysing it.

Episode Four

First aired

Saturday, June 9, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6.8 million

Synopsis

The Brigadier calls in a full UNIT force to deal with the giant maggots while the Doctor infiltrates Global Chemicals to find out what is really going on.

Episode Five

First aired

Saturday, June 16, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

8.3 million

Synopsis

The Doctor manages to escape from BOSS with help from Yates and discovers Cliff has been infected by a giant maggot.

Episode Six

First aired

Saturday, June 23, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7 million

Synopsis

The Doctor attempts to destroy the giant maggots and cure Cliff but the real threat is BOSS, who is poised to take over all the world's computers.

Characters

Third Doctor

Jo Grant

How to watch The Green Death:

Watch on iPlayer

Blu-Ray

The Collection – Season 10

DVD

The Third Doctor Collection

DVD

The Green Death

VHS

The Green Death (VHS)

Reviews
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13 reviews

This review contains spoilers!

A great finale to season 9. We get the UNIT regulars, maggots, an insane computer, brainwashed minions and the Doctor acting as a milkman and a cleaning lady. Jo's farewell is one, if not the best companion exits. The Doctor and Jo (seasons 8-10) are, for me, the best duo in classic who.

Scottybguud

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Review last edited on 1-05-25

The cross-cutting to the Doctor fighting the giant birds in the first episode was funny, and it let the Brigadier and Jo have a more active role than what we're used to seeing. This is easily the best Doctor outfit to grace the screen throughout the show's history, and the hot pink acrylic gyroscope was a pretty nifty piece of set dressing; overall the colours in this serial are gorge.

I don't usually like when they palm off a long-running female companion by giving her a man to fawn over (especially if he keeps calling her kid and tells her that they're getting married after a few days), so at least here there's an added factor of adventure, that she wants to go to the Amazon because of her interest in funghi. It's also a bit depressing that this story of anti-pollution, renewable energy, and high-protein meat alternatives was broadcast in 1973, given the current state of affairs. The Brigadier bonding with the science hippies was really fun though; this serial as a whole has good humour.

The self-termination of Ralph Fell was quite striking to me, I think because even the villainous Stevens treated it with solemnity. Because the deaths are one by one, maybe they feel more grounded and drawn out, to the point where I'm rooting for each inflicted person to survive, even if I know that they won't.

goblinikov

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Review last edited on 26-04-25

Pretty standard Third Doctor story, but a great one nonetheless. Jo's exit here definitely felt a lot better than the similar exits of Susan and Dodo. I like how they built her relationship with Cliff.

A. Maybe B.

Azurillkirby

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Review last edited on 24-04-25

This review contains spoilers!

Lovely, lovely, lovely serial. I wouldn’t change a single thing. It really has it all: the maggots are disgusting and frightening, the main villain is silly, but menacing, and all side characters are great. Amazing moments for my dear Mike Yates, a couple of funny moments for Benton as well, and the Brig is a delight, as usual.

I already miss Jo. I liked her immediately, much like everyone else that interacted with her on screen since her first appearance. She folded the Doctor like origami with her immense charm and earnestness, and this serial really shows just how much he came to care for her. We can tell from episode 1 that she’s ready to move on, but the ending is still so bittersweet. She’s happy, Cliff Jones is a good man, but ouch, the look on the Doctor’s face at end… I was very glad he never came across as adversarial towards Cliff, even though we could see he was jealous. Jo knows it’s time to move on with her life, and she’s never been one of the “let’s see the universe and the future and the past” type of companion. The Doctor can see that, but still has a hard time accepting it, because he just enjoys her company so much. Sigh. What a simple but powerful companion exit.

I love you, Jo, and I’ll miss you forever. Thank God I already know the next companion will not disappoint.

mndy

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Review last edited on 18-04-25

The Green Death is everything Doctor Who should be.

The Doctor is on excellent form, working with others - including a great working relationship with Professor Jones, when it would be so easy to write them as competitors. His relationship with the Brigadier has so much depth to it now, compared with Spearhead From Space, and really shows the value in having long-running characters. Their points of view might not be exactly aligned, but they listen to each other and show proper respect.

Jo Grant really is at the centre of the story, and there's no way you could replace her with any other companion, the way you could with so many lesser stories. Her interactions with everyone - as superbly played by Katy Manning - are supremely realistic. Things might seem a bit sudden on first watching, but isn't that a characteristic of Jo herself? Right from her first scene you could see the makings of it. And that ending...

Another great quality is how the story doesn't take itself too seriously. There is some horror with what's happening to affected characters - what great special effects! - but the story knows when to have fun too. Pertwee gets to do some great dressing-up. There some wonderful moments where the editing creates jokes in itself. Even the villain is inspired, and a true step up from similar ones seen previously.

Yes, some of the special effects are a bit rubbish - my only memory from watching a repeat of this when I was a young kid was of the really bad green-screen stuff - but when you're swept up in the story that only adds to the charm. And let's face it, it wouldn't be Classic Who with a bit of naff as well.

I'm not sure I would recommend this as a must-watch for people new to Doctor Who, as the real joy is in the relationship between the Doctor, the Brig and Jo, but my goodness it is an absolute delight.

weebiloobil

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Review last edited on 31-01-25