‘Nero, the Trojan wars, the Daleks… but all that happened in the first segment of time.’ A far-future parable set aboard a generation starship, Paul Erickson and Lesley Scott’s The Ark (1966) makes full use of the possibilities of contemporary television to interpret ideas drawn from literary science fiction. Exploring the power imbalances of colonialism and its aftermath, it considers the long-term survival of humanity – both the species and its values – while creating one of the strangest monsters, and most vivid settings, in early Doctor Who.