The Green Death

Plot[edit]

The Third Doctor, Jo, and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart investigate the mysterious death of a miner in the abandoned coal mine in Llanfairfach in South Wales. The miner was found dead and glowing bright green.


Upon arrival, the Brigadier meets with Stevens of the nearby Global Chemicals plant. Meanwhile, Jo goes down the mineshaft with a miner called Bert to help another man, Dai Evans, who has called for help at the bottom of the mine. They find Dai, who is turning bright green and dying. Bert remembers there is an emergency shaft out of the mine, and he and Jo set off. The Doctor goes down after them and finds Dai dead.


Deeper inside the mine, Jo and Bert find a vast lake of bright green slime, filled with huge maggot creatures. The Doctor collects a huge egg to take back for experimentation. At the top of the natural shaft, they find a large pipe, with the insides covered with traces of crude oil waste—meaning that the pipe leads to the Global Chemicals plant. Bert is infected by the slime and dies that night. The egg hatches out into a giant maggot, which escapes from the house into the dark.


The next morning, the Doctor heads to Global Chemicals to find out who is in charge. On the top floor of the complex, he discovers the BOSS, a supercomputer with its own megalomaniacal personality. It runs the company, controls key staff members, including Stevens, and is responsible for the polluting chemical process.


Local environment scientist Prof. Clifford Jones discovers a cure for the "green death" infection in the form of a local fungus, but is infected with the 'green death' before he can share his knowledge. The Doctor discovers the cure in Jones' lab. The Doctor and Benton drive around the slag heaps, scattering the fungus, which proves deadly to the maggots.


The Doctor returns to Global Chemicals to confront the BOSS. The computer plans to link up with others and effect a corporate takeover of the human race. The Doctor breaks Stevens' hypnotic state, and Stevens, infuriated at what the BOSS has done to him, cross-feeds the generator circuits, causing the whole plant to explode, killing Stevens and destroying the insane computer.


Jo and Jones announce they are getting married. The Doctor gives his blessing, but since this means the end of Jo's travels with the Doctor, he quietly slips away while the party is in full swing.