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Doomwatch Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 1970 - 1970
Episode 1
The Plastic Eaters
A plane dissolves in mid-air, its plastic components eaten away. Doomwatch faces its first challenge: to halt the disastrous spread of a man-made virus with the power to melt all plastic.
Episode 2
Friday's Child
Doctor Quist and Doomwatch become embroiled in an inquiry into the heart-transplanting practices of Doctor Patrick. Several uncomfortable questions are raised: what has he been doing to a newborn baby that has been placed in his care, and should genetic engineering be permitted in society?
Episode 3
Burial at Sea
When a lifeboat crew discover a luxury cruiser adrift in the English Channel, they find on board a group of wealthy pop stars and their girlfriends, one of whom is dead. Doomwatch investigates, and discovers that the death was not from drug abuse as was previously suspected; instead it begins to uncover the facts behind the dumping of a deadly chemical warfare compound in a deep sea trench, which seems to be far from dormant.
Episode 4
Tomorrow, the Rat
Doomwatch are alerted to reports of a number of attacks on humans by rats. Toby and Bradley investigate the house of Mr. and Mrs. Chambers, victims of a recent attack; the two scientists lay traps in the kitchen, but the rodents display unusual intelligence by jamming the traps open using cutlery found on a worktop, and then viciously attack the men. Meanwhile, Ridge becomes involved with Doctor Mary Bryant, who has been conducting experiments on a group of rats in a room in her flat - but the rats have managed to escape, and have now turned carnivorous.
Episode 5
Project Sahara
Doomwatch are joined by Doctor Robson, sent to undertake tests on the new 'Sahara' spray which is apparently capable of destroying all plant-life on the planet. But when Quist receives a phone call from the ministry, he is given orders to immediately suspend both Robson and Toby without any explanation. Closer investigation leads Quist and his team to discover that a new computerised security system run by Commander Keeping and Barker has become far too powerful, and is making its own decisions about government personnel.
Episode 6
Re-Entry Forbidden
The first nuclear-powered rocket, Sunfire One, is sent into space with the first British astronaut, Dick Larch, on board. After the rocket enters Earth orbit, Larch enters an incorrect course alteration, and fails to see the error indicator, which results in Sunfire One splashing down in the sea. Quist is asked by Doctor Goldsworthy to determine whether Larch is suitable for any further missions, as another such mistake could result in the spacecraft becoming a nuclear bomb.
Episode 7
The Devil's Sweets
While on the way to work, secretary Pat Hunnisett takes a free promotional chocolate from a group of girls on the street. Meanwhile, at the Doomwatch office, Quist and his team are investigating the sudden increase in the country's smokers, and are surprised when Pat arrives and lights up a cigarette for the first time in five years. Quist suspects that there could be a link between the promotional chocolates and 'Checker Board' cigarettes, whose recent sales are doing unexpectedly well. Should subliminal advertising be allowed?
Episode 8
The Red Sky
Quist takes a holiday, and stays at the Cornish home of his friend Bernard Colley and his daughter Dana. He learns of the death of Captain Gort, who inexplicably threw himself off of the nearby cliffs after writing the phrase 'the flames of hell' on the walls of his lighthouse home. Colley visits the lighthouse, and he too sees a vision of the sky turned a fiery red. Quist suspects that these strange events are caused by the testing of a prototype jet plane, and that the noise of the engine is being amplified by the structure of the lighthouse, causing sensory damage to anyone caught within its effects.
Episode 9
Spectre at the Feast
In order to decide on new proposals for dealing with the dangers of pollution on the environment, Doctor Quist assembles a conference amongst the world's top scientists. But soon several of the delegates become ill, apparently from food-poisoning. However, Quist becomes suspicious, and suspects that the sickness may have been caused deliberately.
Episode 10
Train and De-Train
When the Doomwatch team investigate the mass-destruction of wildlife in Somerset, Toby is dismayed to learn that the person seemingly responsible is his old tutor, Ellis. But closer examination uncovers the fact that Ellis is being slowly forced out of his job by American 'de-training' methods, and soon the finger of suspicion is pointed squarely at the company he works for, and his boss, Mitchell.
Episode 11
The Battery People
Doomwatch hears that in South Wales, tough ex-miners have taken to drinking gin instead of their usual beer, and are unresponsive to their wives' sexual advances, instead preferring to attend secret cock-fighting tournaments. After Quist is asked by the minister to look into the situation, as it is happening within his constituency, he and his team trace the cause to the local fish-farm, which is using a special chemical to dissolve the bones in the fish. Unfortunately, this has led to the workforce becoming sterile.
Episode 12
Hear No Evil
In an effort to prevent unofficial strikes by its workforce, a company in the North of England decides to use the latest scientific discovery, and attempts to manipulate both the working and the private lives of its employees by bugging them with listening devices. However, when Quist hears of this underhanded practice he is furious and decides that the only way to stop the unethical management is to turn their own method against them.
Episode 13
Survival Code
A military plane ditches into the sea whilst carrying three nuclear weapons on board. While the RAF mounts a search mission, an unidentified object is washed up on the shore near Byfield pier on the south coast of England. It is found by two men, Geoff Harker and Sam Billings, who decide that it must be a weather detecting device, and so begin to strip it down for parts. Toby is sent to investigate the device, but he soon finds himself faced with the terrifying prospect of disarming a very live bomb.
