Stories Television Doctor Who Season 13 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Seeds of Doom 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 6 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 1 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, January 31, 1976 Production Code 4L Written by Robert Banks Stewart Directed by Douglas Camfield Runtime 150 minutes Story Type Series Finale Time Travel Present Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Evil Vegetation Location (Potential Spoilers!) Antarctica, Earth, England Synopsis When scientists in the Antarctic uncover a mysterious seed pod, the Doctor is called in to investigate. He soon realises it is extraterrestrial and extremely dangerous. At the same time, however, ruthless millionaire plant-lover Harrison Chase has learned of the find and decides he must have the pod for his collection of rare and beautiful flora. Meanwhile the pod itself harbours intelligent life with sinister plans of its own... Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save 6 Episodes Part One First aired Saturday, January 31, 1976 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Robert Banks Stewart Directed by Douglas Camfield UK Viewers 11.4 million Appreciation Index 59 Synopsis The Antarctic, the near future. A strange seed-pod is unearthed from 20-thousand-year-old ice. The Doctor and Sarah go to investigate, but are too late to prevent the pod infecting a scientist and unleashing a threat to all animal life on Earth... Part Two First aired Saturday, February 7, 1976 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Robert Banks Stewart Directed by Douglas Camfield UK Viewers 11.4 million Synopsis Two employees of the millionaire Harrison Chase arrive at the Antarctic base, and they will stop at nothing to get hold of the second seed-pod. Part Three First aired Saturday, February 14, 1976 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Robert Banks Stewart Directed by Douglas Camfield UK Viewers 10.3 million Synopsis The Doctor and Sarah Jane return to England after their Antarctic ordeal and Chase tries to eliminate them, but they escape and track him down at his estate, where he is preparing to open the Krynoid pod. Part Four First aired Saturday, February 21, 1976 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Robert Banks Stewart Directed by Douglas Camfield UK Viewers 11.1 million Synopsis The Doctor is captured by Chase, who plans to breed the stolen Krynoid pod. He is placed in an automated compost hopper and only Sarah Jane can save him... but will she make it before the Krynoid grows to fruition ? Part Five First aired Saturday, February 28, 1976 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Robert Banks Stewart Directed by Douglas Camfield UK Viewers 9.9 million Synopsis The Krynoid grows to a monstrous size and traps the Doctor and the others in a cottage. The creature demands they turn over the Doctor, while Chase seeks to make an alliance with the alien vegetation. Part Six First aired Saturday, March 6, 1976 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Robert Banks Stewart Directed by Douglas Camfield UK Viewers 11.5 million Synopsis The Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Scorby are trapped in the manor as a possessed Chase stalks them from within, while the gigantic Krynoid prepares to crush them from without. Worse, the alien plant is ready to germinate, spreading its seeds across England. Show All Episodes Characters Fourth Doctor Tom Baker Sarah Jane Smith Elisabeth Sladen Krynoids First Appearance UNIT Show All Characters (4) How to watch The Seeds of Doom: Watch on iPlayer DVD The Seeds of Doom VHS The Seeds of Doom (VHS) Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 6 reviews 3 June 2025 · 320 words Review by Ryebean Spoilers This review contains spoilers! This is an interesting season finale! Tom is killing it as the Doctor! He's always a big kid, but heroic at the same time - You wouldn't think it'd work, but it does, and I think that's down to Tom Baker's iconic acting. Sarah's costume in the first half of the episode kind of reminded me of her outfits in SJA (But I'll get onto that series later!) I kinda wished I'd waited on EDA Series 3, as this is my second encounter with the Krynoids, thanks to Hothouse, and I sort of knew what to expect from it. The concept is very good, and it's a bit disappointing that they haven't returned to the New Series, as there are some great ideas that could be followed up on. However, the giant Krynoid did not look very good, and it was probably something that exceeded their budget... The scenes in Antartica with the Krynoids were really creepy as you didn't know where they were, and they really should've played into that more. Chase and the other baddies' backstories could've been developed a little more as they had the time, but nevertheless, their personalities were well established and that's the most important thing. It's nice to have a split between Antartica and England, but as I've already mentioned, I prefer Antartica just because of how intense the story felt, and I wish that they'd spent more time there. They all looked realistic, however, and I'm really impressed with how they did. UNIT makes a return, but it's a bit anticlimactic as there's no Brig, Benton or Yates. I understand that they needed someone to fight the Krynoids, and those three aren't the only UNIT members, but they were just... eh. I really loved this on the whole! A decent season finale, and I'm impressed with the monsters, the locations, and of course, the iconic duo that is the Doctor and Sarah Jane. Ryebean View profile Like Liked 0 26 May 2025 · 36 words Review by Azurillkirby I have to say, this is EASILY my favorite Classic Who serial so far. Everything about this serial is phenomenal. It feels like the Fourth Doctor has finally clicked for me after watching this. Fantastic. S. Azurillkirby View profile Like Liked 0 26 May 2025 · 27 words Review by Scottybguud Enjoyable story with cool plant based villains called Krynoids. We get UNIT, but not any of the regulars, unfortunately. It's good but over rated in my opinion. Scottybguud View profile Like Liked 0 20 December 2024 · 17 words Review by Rock_Angel Oh that was a story that definitely was six parts and was totally TOTALLY not boring af Rock_Angel View profile Like Liked 0 23 September 2024 · 51 words Review by AndyUK 1 Another classic. The first two episodes in Antarctica are quite possibly my favourite in the classic series and the rest of it is extremely good also with some quite impressive effects. Tony Beckley as Harrison Chase and John Challis as Scorby would be a perfect classic Bond villain and henchman duo. AndyUK View profile Like Liked 1 Show All Reviews (6) Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating451 members 4.20 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 836 Favourited 133 Reviewed 6 Saved 7 Skipped 2 Related Stories BBC Books The Roots of Evil Rating: 2.89 Story Skipped Short Story Reviews(2) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: The Adventures Before Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Short Trips - Rarities Only Connect Rating: 3.45 Story Skipped Audio Book Reviews(1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Short Trips (Audio) Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved The Blogs of Doom Dr Black Rating: 2.36 Story Skipped Short Story More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: The Blogs of Doom Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom Rating: 3.67 Story Skipped Book Reviews(1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite DUNBAR: Since you seem to have it all sewn up, Doctor, perhaps you can tell us where the pod is now? DOCTOR: I'll make a guess. Right here, in this country. Action! Action, that's what we need. If we don't find that pod before it germinates, it'll be the end of everything. Everything, you understand? Even your pension! — The Seeds of Doom Transcript Needs checking Part One [Antarctica] (In the most inhospitable place on Earth, two men are using small pickaxes to gather samples at the base of a glacier face.) MOBERLEY: Come on, Charles. We've got enough samples, surely.WINLETT: This isn't ice. This is something else. Have a look. (He lifts a round object of about six inches diameter out of the snow.) Show Full Transcript Open in new window
