Serial: 6D  Episode Nos. 590, 591, 592, and 593.  Title: Snakedance

The Mara returns in a dream in Tegan's mind and causes the TARDIS to return to it's home

planet on the 500th anniversary of it's supposed destruction.  There, it plans to turn the

commemorating ceremony into it's rebecoming as a physical entity, and with the Doctor locked

away and his warnings ignored, it would seem the Legend of the Return of the Mara is destined

to come true...

starring Peter Davison as the Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, and Janet Fielding as Tegan.

Written by Christopher Bailey, Produced by John Nathan-Turner, and Directed by Fiona Cumming.

Originally transmitted from 18 January 1983 to 26 January 1983 on BBC1.

DVD Features:

- All 4 episodes of the story, digitally remastered and restored.

- Graphical menus, episode and scene selection features, and subtitles for

the hearing impaired.

- Optional commentary track by actors Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, and Sarah Sutton.

- Information Text subtitles option. Displays pop-up production trivia throughout

the story.

- Isolated Music option. Selecting this will play the story with only the music soundtrack

playing.

- “Snake Charmer” A 25-minute behind-the-scenes making-of featurette with interviews

with writer Christopher Bailey, script editor Eric Saward, new series writer Robert

Shearman, director Fiona Cumming, production designer Jan Spoczynski, and

actors Peter Davison and Janet Fielding.

- Deleted Scenes. A 3-minute section showing what would’ve been the concluding two

scenes of the story if it hadn’t run over for time.

- In-Studio. A 7-minute featurette showing “wild” footage from the studio during the

recording sessions, particularly of the death of the giant snake at the end.

- Saturday Superstore. A 14-minute segment of a 1983 BBC program where Peter Davison

appeared and answered children’s questions phoned in live to the studio.

- Photo Gallery. 5 minutes of still photos taken during the production.

- PDF Materials: the Radio Times listings

- 1 Easter Egg. Highlight the area of blank text below to see what it is and how to find it.

(and you really, really want to find and watch this one)

Go into the second page of the Special Features menu and select the Audio Options.

In the Audio Options, actually select “Isolated Score,” then scroll to the top selection

and press the left arrow. The Doctor Who logo in the top corner will become

highlighted. Select this and you will see a 14-minute discussion between new series

writer Robert Shearman and Kinda/Snakedance writer Christopher Bailey about how

much these two stories meant to him and the other new series writers.