The Production Guide
Script To Screen: Seed Of Destruction
by Martin Willey

Script To Screen

• Script p1
• Hall of mirrors
• Cold as ice
• Shoot it down
• One of us is real
• A second chance
• Shooting schedule

The final shooting script of Seed Of Destruction by John Goldsmith was dated Tuesday 25th May 1976. A month later, the pink page amendments appeared on Monday 28th June, followed by a shooting schedule dated Thursday 1 July, for filming beginning Monday 5th July. The two episodes being filmed (Catacombs of the Moon and The AB Chrysalis) were over-running, so, on the projected start date of Monday 5th, a second shooting schedule was published, pushing the start date back two days to Wednesday 7th July.

Additional blue and green page amendments were issued the day before filming, on Tuesday 6th, with a yellow page replacement on the 7th. To catch up the schedule, the crew had to work their first Saturday of the year (17th July; they would also have to work a Saturday for The Seance Spectre in September). The episode finished on Monday 19th July after 10 days filming.

This is the first page of the script, from the 25th May script and the pink replacement page from 28th June. Most of the dialogue and script direction is identical, but the shot of Helena doing the narration in Medical is cut (we see such scenes in the first few episodes, but most episodes keep the narration off-camera). The date has been changed (from 508 days to 1608) and the line about "Something is draining Alpha of energy." has gone (that will be an explicit action of the replica Koenig, later in the plot).

Brian Johnson has added a hand-written remark in his copy of the script: "Star filter?" A star filter is a grooved lens that gives light sources radiant lines, like pointed stars (it will be used extensively for set photography, but is not visible on model shots).

Copyright Martin Willey.