110-550: City of Death is the second serial of the seventeenth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who , which depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor . It was produced by the BBC and first broadcast in four weekly parts between 29 September 1979 and 20 October 1979 on BBC1 . The serial was written by " David Agnew " – a pseudonym for
220-525: A 100,000-franc prize offered by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe for the first person to make a flight from St. Cloud to the Eiffel Tower and back in less than half an hour. In 1910, Father Theodor Wulf measured radiant energy at the top and bottom of the tower. He found more at the top than expected, incidentally discovering what are known today as cosmic rays . Two years later, on 4 February 1912, Austrian tailor Franz Reichelt died after jumping from
330-410: A 600 step climb. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift. On this top, third level is a private apartment built for Gustave Eiffel's personal use. He decorated it with furniture by Jean Lachaise and invited friends such as Thomas Edison . The design of the Eiffel Tower is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier , two senior engineers working for
440-457: A best-selling author". Target, concerned that their regular authors would seek better terms, refused to increase their offer. Several years later, Target editor Nigel Robinson offered an advance of £4,000 – double what was the standard advance at the time – but Adams again declined. Adams was unwilling to allow another author to write the novelisation. However, after Adams' death his estate allowed Gareth Roberts to write an adaptation of
550-417: A block of limestone with an inclined top to bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork. Each shoe was anchored to the stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft) long. The foundations were completed on 30 June, and the erection of the ironwork began. The visible work on-site was complemented by the enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that took place behind
660-578: A cover by Andrew Skilleter. It was re-issued in 2001. A DVD was released in 2005 with special features including commentary by actors Julian Glover and Tom Chadbon, as well as director Michael Hayes, and the behind-the-scenes documentary "Paris in the Springtime". It was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files in Issue 37 on 2 June 2010. On 1 January 2013, AudioGO released a two-hour soundtrack of
770-571: A crucial role in intercepting enemy communications from Berlin. In 1914, French forces successfully launched a counter-attack during the Battle of the Marne after gaining critical intelligence on the German Army's movements. In 1917, the station intercepted a coded message between Germany and Spain that referenced 'Operative H-21.' This information contributed to the arrest, conviction, and execution of Mata Hari ,
880-420: A factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, with the bolts being replaced with rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping was done on site: if any part did not fit, it was sent back to the factory for alteration. In all, 18,038 pieces were joined using 2.5 million rivets. At first, the legs were constructed as cantilevers , but about halfway to
990-504: A few days, and there was the script". The revised script, now titled The Curse of the Sephiroth , was credited to "David Agnew", a standard pseudonym used by the BBC and which had been previously used on Doctor Who for the season fifteen serial The Invasion of Time . The serial was subsequently retitled City of Death on 8 May 1979. Adams would later reuse elements of City of Death , along with
1100-441: A force of 800 tonnes, and the legs were intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold. Although construction involved 300 on-site employees, due to Eiffel's safety precautions and the use of movable gangways, guardrails and screens, only one person died. The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and, on 31 March, Eiffel celebrated by leading
1210-480: A global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The tower received 5,889,000 visitors in 2022. The Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument with an entrance fee in the world: 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015. It was designated a monument historique in 1964, and was named part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site ("Paris, Banks of the Seine") in 1991. The tower
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#17328527083941320-418: A group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Because the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, with Eiffel stopping frequently to explain various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including the structural engineer, Émile Nouguier, the head of construction, Jean Compagnon,
1430-542: A height of 300 m, or even 200 m for that matter, and many people believed it was impossible. These objections were an expression of a long-standing debate in France about the relationship between architecture and engineering. It came to a head as work began at the Champ de Mars: a "Committee of Three Hundred" (one member for each metre of the tower's height) was formed, led by the prominent architect Charles Garnier and including some of
1540-416: A letter of support written to Alphand, sardonically saying, "Judging by the stately swell of the rhythms, the beauty of the metaphors, the elegance of its delicate and precise style, one can tell this protest is the result of collaboration of the most famous writers and poets of our time", and he explained that the protest was irrelevant since the project had been decided upon months before, and construction on
1650-436: A nationalist poem in the shape of the tower (a calligram ) to express his feelings about the war against Germany. Today, it is widely considered to be a remarkable piece of structural art , and is often featured in films and literature. Work on the foundations started on 28 January 1887. Those for the east and south legs were straightforward, with each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft) concrete slabs, one for each of
1760-529: A result of the Haitian Revolution , and required Haiti to pay the CIC and its partner nearly half of all taxes collected on exports, "effectively choking off the nation's primary source of income". According to The New York Times , "[at] a time when the [CIC] was helping finance one of the world's best-known landmarks, the Eiffel Tower, as a monument to French liberty, it was choking Haiti's economy, taking much of
1870-509: A veteran of Thunderbirds . Following rehearsals, production moved to BBC Television Centre where the remaining scenes were recorded in two blocks; the first between 21 May 1979 and 22 May 1979 and second between 3 June 1979 and 5 June 1979. Tom Baker found filming in Paris to be very different from what he was used to in the UK where crowds would gather to watch the filming and meet the stars. Doctor Who
1980-455: A year, and in 1957, the present radio aerial was added to the top. In 1964, the Eiffel Tower was officially declared to be a historical monument by the Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux . A year later, an additional lift system was installed in the north pillar. According to interviews, in 1967, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau negotiated a secret agreement with Charles de Gaulle for
2090-580: Is 330 metres (1,083 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris . Its base is square, measuring 125 metres (410 ft) on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest human-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City
2200-661: Is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris , France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel , whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed " La dame de fer " (French for "Iron Lady"), it was constructed as the centerpiece of the 1889 World's Fair , and to crown the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution . Although initially criticised by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, it has since become
2310-410: Is discovered in his alien form by his bodyguard Hermann, and they get into a fight which damages the equipment and sets the mansion on fire. Hermann escapes, but Scaroth burns to death. By the time the Doctor, Romana, and Duggan arrive, the original Mona Lisa and 5 of the 6 copies have been burned in the fire, but the last copy remains safe. Duggan argues that they've lost an invaluable piece of art, but
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#17328527083942420-523: Is happening in our world... with people just getting on with their business and two Time Lords walking through it. I don't think I've ever experienced that with Doctor Who up till now... it's the tiny touches of mundanity amid the fantastical that lift the story even higher". Charlie Jane Anders and Javier Grillo-Marxuach of io9 included it on their list of "10 TV Episodes that Changed Television", citing "the sharp dialogue and clever use of time travel [that] prefigure everything Steven Moffat has done with
2530-462: Is one of five Doctor Who serials from the series' original run (1963–1989) not to have been novelised by Target Books ; the others are The Pirate Planet , Shada , Resurrection of the Daleks , and Revelation of the Daleks . Target approached Douglas Adams to write a novelisation, offering their standard advance of £600; Adams replied, "I don't want to be embarrassing but I do have a tendency to be
2640-501: Is really Scaroth, a member of the Jagaroth race. They had arrived on Earth 400 million years ago, but due to an explosion in their craft, all of the others died and his own body was fragmented across time. Collectively, the fragments of Scaroth have manipulated humanity so that by the 20th century, they will have technology that will enable him to go back in time to stop the explosion. Tancredi is currently employing Leonardo to create copies of
2750-660: The Bernice Summerfield series of novels and audio dramas and in the Gallifrey series of audio dramas which starred Ward as Romana. Julian Glover was a well-established character actor who had previously appeared as Richard the Lionheart in The Crusade (1965). He was reluctant to don the Jagaroth mask as he felt the mask would impede his performance. As a result, he is doubled by Richard Sheekey in those scenes. Tom Chadbon
2860-560: The Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC), helped finance the construction of the Eiffel Tower. During the period of the tower's construction, the CIC was acquiring funds from predatory loans to the National Bank of Haiti , some of which went towards the financing of the tower. These loans were connected to an indemnity controversy that saw France force Haiti's government to financially compensate French slaveowners for lost income as
2970-488: The Encyclopedia Galactica will provide an erratum". Another viewer wrote that the atmosphere of the primordial Earth would have been poisonous to the Doctor and his companions; Douglas Adams responded to this criticism, citing artistic licence . City of Death was voted seventh in a 1998 poll of the readers of Doctor Who Magazine to find the best Doctor Who story; the magazine commented that it "represented
3080-520: The 1900 Exposition Universelle , the lifts in the east and west legs were replaced by lifts running as far as the second level constructed by the French firm Fives-Lille. These had a compensating mechanism to keep the floor level as the angle of ascent changed at the first level, and were driven by a similar hydraulic mechanism as the Otis lifts, although this was situated at the base of the tower. Hydraulic pressure
3190-524: The City of Paris . The city had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it should be easy to dismantle) but as the tower proved to be valuable for many innovations in the early 20th century, particularly radio telegraphy , it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit, and from 1910 it also became part of the International Time Service. For
3300-467: The Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel . It was envisioned after discussion about a suitable centerpiece for the proposed 1889 Exposition Universelle , a world's fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution . In May 1884, working at home, Koechlin made a sketch of their idea, described by him as "a great pylon, consisting of four lattice girders standing apart at the base and coming together at
3410-524: The Mona Lisa in order to finance Scarlioni's work. After Tancredi leaves, the Doctor knocks out his captor, marks the blank canvases with a felt-tip pen with the phrase, "This is a fake", and leaves a message to Leonardo to paint over his writing before returning to the present. The Doctor learns Scaroth threatens to destroy Paris if Romana does not continue the work. He tries to gain the Countess' help by showing
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3520-560: The TARDIS to visit Leonardo, a good friend of his. After the Doctor leaves, the Count returns after successfully stealing the Mona Lisa and captures Romana and Duggan. Learning that Romana is familiar with time, he kills Dr. Kerensky and forces Romana to continue the tests. In the past, the Doctor arrives at Leonardo's home but is captured by Captain Tancredi, who is Count Scarlioni. Tancredi reveals he
3630-481: The ambient temperature , the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7 in) due to thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun. When it was built, Eiffel was accused of trying to create something artistic with no regard to the principles of engineering. However, Eiffel and his team were experienced bridge builders. In an interview with the newspaper Le Temps published on 14 February 1887, Eiffel said: Is it not true that
3740-472: The BBC Christmas tape . City of Death director Michael Hayes had previously directed The Androids of Tara (1978) and The Armageddon Factor (1979). He also had experience filming in Paris, having worked there on adaptations of Maigret (1960–63) and other Georges Simenon stories for the BBC. Location filming took place in Paris between 30 April 1979 and 3 May 1979. It proved a difficult shoot as
3850-483: The BBC's technicians; while the location filming and the first studio recording session were completed, strike action by staff meant that the planned second studio session had to be cancelled. Although the dispute was resolved and plans were put in place to continue work on the story, it was eventually shelved, as the BBC was concerned that its Christmas productions might be affected. A BBC historian has suggested that by cancelling completely instead of finishing what little
3960-445: The Champ de Mars. (A 300-metre tower was then considered a herculean engineering effort.) On 12 May, a commission was set up to examine Eiffel's scheme and its rivals, which, a month later, decided that all the proposals except Eiffel's were either impractical or lacking in details. After some debate about the exact location of the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. Eiffel signed it acting in his own capacity rather than as
4070-491: The Count's true form, but he kills her. Romana completes the work and Scaroth uses it to travel to the past. The Doctor ushers Romana and Duggan into the TARDIS, fearing that the ship's explosion was the spark that started the development of life on Earth, and if Scaroth should prevent it, humanity would not exist. They arrive in time for Duggan to knock Scaroth out before he can reach the ship. Scaroth returns to present Earth, where he
4180-460: The Countess to be involved in an ongoing art theft scheme with her husband, Count Scarlioni. Duggan joins the Doctor and Romana in investigating the Scarlioni mansion. There, they find equipment used by Dr. Kerensky to experiment in time, the source of the time distortions, as well as six exact copies of the Mona Lisa . The Doctor instructs Romana and Duggan to continue investigating while he returns to
4290-538: The Doctor assures him that the copy, still done by Leonardo's hand, will go unnoticed, and that art is worthless if its monetary value is all that matters. The Doctor and Romana say goodbye to Duggan at the Eiffel Tower . Writer David Fisher had contributed two scripts to Doctor Who ' s sixteenth season – The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara – and was asked by producer Graham Williams for further story ideas. Fisher submitted two proposals;
4400-427: The Eiffel Tower began hosting a seasonal ice rink on the first level. A glass floor was installed on the first level during the 2014 refurbishment. The puddle iron (wrought iron) of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes , and the addition of lifts, shops and antennae have brought the total weight to approximately 10,100 tonnes. As a demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7,300 tonnes of metal in
4510-853: The Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years ... we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal. Gustave Eiffel responded to these criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids : "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris?" These criticisms were also dealt with by Édouard Lockroy in
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4620-535: The President of the City Council, and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré , completed the ascent. At 2:35 pm, Eiffel hoisted a large Tricolour to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired at the first level. There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and facilities, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the exposition on 6 May; even then,
4730-461: The aesthetic argument for the tower: "Do not the laws of natural forces always conform to the secret laws of harmony?" Some of the protesters changed their minds when the tower was built; others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant every day because it was the one place in Paris where the tower was not visible. By 1918, it had become a symbol of Paris and of France after Guillaume Apollinaire wrote
4840-521: The combined work of David Fisher , Douglas Adams , and Graham Williams – and directed by Michael Hayes . City of Death features the Fourth Doctor ( Tom Baker ) and his companion Romana ( Lalla Ward ). Set mainly in Paris in 1979, the plot concerns a scheme by Count Scarlioni ( Julian Glover ), in reality an alien called Scaroth, to steal the Mona Lisa to finance experiments in time travel in
4950-435: The criticisms about the levels of comedy, that "it's precisely these things that make it seem so special". Reviewing the serial in 2011, Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times awarded it three stars out of five, stating he disliked the smug tone to the humour and Ward's "snooty" portrayal of Romana. Despite this, he noted that the serial had good production values and direction, as well as a few jokes that he enjoyed. City of Death
5060-461: The dates coincided with the May Day holiday period, which meant that many of the locations chosen for filming were closed, necessitating considerable improvisation on the part of the cast and crew. Model filming was conducted at Bray Studios between 8 May 1979 and 10 May 1979. These concentrated on the shots of the Jagaroth spacecraft taking off from the prehistoric Earth and were overseen by Ian Scoones,
5170-476: The day the art gallery scenes were to be recorded, he persuaded them to make a cameo appearance in a short scene written for "two Englishmen". Cleese and Bron agreed on the condition that there be no pre-publicity regarding their appearance; Cleese wanted them to be credited as "Helen Swanetsky" and "Kim Bread" but the BBC declined. Cleese liked the name "Kim Bread" and used it in later projects. During recording, Cleese and Baker also recorded two short comedy skits for
5280-399: The eyes of the observer the boldness of the design as a whole. He used graphical methods to determine the strength of the tower and empirical evidence to account for the effects of wind, rather than a mathematical formula. Close examination of the tower reveals a basically exponential shape. All parts of the tower were overdesigned to ensure maximum resistance to wind forces. The top half
5390-400: The famous spy accused of working for Germany. From 1925 to 1934, illuminated signs for Citroën adorned three of the tower's sides, making it the tallest advertising space in the world at the time. In April 1935, the tower was used to make experimental low-resolution television transmissions, using a shortwave transmitter of 200 watts power. On 17 November, an improved 180-line transmitter
5500-471: The first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground—the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union . Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second, making the entire ascent
5610-399: The first level construction was paused to create a substantial timber scaffold . This renewed concerns about the structural integrity of the tower, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel Has Gone Mad: He Has Been Confined in an Asylum" appeared in the tabloid press. Multiple famous artists of that time, Charles Garnier and Alexander Dumas , thought poorly of
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#17328527083945720-504: The first level of the tower (a height of 57 m) to demonstrate his parachute design. In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I , a radio transmitter located in the tower jammed German radio communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne . During World War I , the Eiffel Tower's wireless station played
5830-547: The first of these became The Creature from the Pit while the other, The Gamble with Time , concerned a plot to rig the casinos in Las Vegas to finance time travel experiments. Williams asked Fisher to rework The Gamble With Time as a spoof of Bulldog Drummond , a fictional adventurer from the 1920s. Fisher's draft script centered around Scarlioni, a member of the Sephiroth race, who had accidentally become fractured in time. The script
5940-401: The first two parts of City of Death were a respectable score of 64%. Radio Times published two letters from viewers regarding City of Death . Les Rogers of Hastings praised the serial's cast and the location filming; less impressed, however, was Paul R. Maskew of Exeter who felt the show was being played for laughs. Responding to similar criticisms from viewers, Douglas Adams wrote, "If
6050-547: The greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu, Thomas Edison. Eiffel made use of his apartment at the top of the tower to carry out meteorological observations , and also used the tower to perform experiments on the action of air resistance on falling bodies. Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years. It was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to
6160-417: The guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in the four legs. The critical stage of joining the legs at the first level was completed by the end of March 1888. Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost attention to detail, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments to precisely align the legs; hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, capable of exerting
6270-480: The height of Doctor Who as popular light entertainment for all the family". In 2009, Doctor Who Magazine readers voted it in eighth place. In a more recent 2014 poll, the magazine's readers voted it fifth best Doctor Who story of all time. A 2008 article in The Daily Telegraph named City of Death one of the ten greatest episodes of Doctor Who . John Condor, writing in the fanzine DWB in 1991, hailed
6380-476: The hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection ... of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower ... To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques,
6490-511: The hope of averting the accident that killed the remainder of his race four hundred million years previously , which began the existence of life on the planet as well. The original storyline devised by Fisher was heavily re-written by script editor Adams, aided by producer Williams. It was the first Doctor Who serial to film on location outside of the United Kingdom; the production team worked in Paris during April and May 1979; studio work
6600-485: The hour. The lights sparkled blue for several nights to herald the new millennium on 31 December 2000. The sparkly lighting continued for 18 months until July 2001. The sparkling lights were turned on again on 21 June 2003, and the display was planned to last for 10 years before they needed replacing. The tower received its 200,000,000th guest on 28 November 2002. The tower has operated at its maximum capacity of about 7 million visitors per year since 2003. In 2004,
6710-573: The humorous tone. In September 2009, it was ranked as readers' eighth favourite story (of 200-to-that-date) in Doctor Who Magazine issue 413. While in Paris, the Doctor and Romana sense a time distortion. They observe the Countess Scarlioni using an alien device to scan the security systems housing Leonardo da Vinci 's Mona Lisa at the Louvre . The pair meet Inspector Duggan, who suspects
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#17328527083946820-404: The lifts had not been completed. The tower was an instant success with the public, and nearly 30,000 visitors made the 1,710-step climb to the top before the lifts entered service on 26 May. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second, and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays, and by the end of the exhibition there had been 1,896,987 visitors. After dark, the tower
6930-465: The most important figures of the arts, such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau , Guy de Maupassant , Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet . A petition called "Artists against the Eiffel Tower" was sent to the Minister of Works and Commissioner for the Exposition, Adolphe Alphand , and it was published by Le Temps on 14 February 1887: We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of
7040-433: The newly made tower. Charles Garnier thought it was a "truly tragic street lamp". Alexander Dumas said that it was like "Odius shadow of the odious column built of rivets and iron plates extending like a black blot". There were multiple protests over the style and the reasoning of placing it in the middle of Paris. At this stage, a small "creeper" crane designed to move up the tower was installed in each leg. They made use of
7150-619: The order. On 25 August, before the Germans had been driven out of Paris , the German flag was replaced with a Tricolour by two men from the French Naval Museum , who narrowly beat three men led by Lucien Sarniguet, who had lowered the Tricolour on 13 June 1940 when Paris fell to the Germans. A fire started in the television transmitter on 3 January 1956, damaging the top of the tower. Repairs took
7260-424: The original water hydraulics were retained solely as a counterbalance system. A service lift was added to the south pillar for moving small loads and maintenance personnel three years later. Robert Moriarty flew a Beechcraft Bonanza under the tower on 31 March 1984. In 1987, A. J. Hackett made one of his first bungee jumps from the top of the Eiffel Tower, using a special cord he had helped develop. Hackett
7370-403: The principal girders of each leg. The west and north legs, being closer to the river Seine , were more complicated: each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15 m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m (72 ft) to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. Each of these slabs supported
7480-420: The programme didn't move and take a few risks then it would have died of boredom years ago". Several viewers wrote to point out the discrepancy between the start of life on Earth of 4,000 million years ago and the date given in City of Death of 400 million years ago. Graham Williams replied, "The good Doctor makes the odd mistake or two but I think an error of 3,600 million years is pushing it! His next edition of
7590-404: The public between November and March because the water in the hydraulic drive tended to freeze. The new cars operate in pairs, with one counterbalancing the other, and perform the journey in one stage, reducing the journey time from eight minutes to less than two minutes. At the same time, two new emergency staircases were installed, replacing the original spiral staircases. In 1983, the south pillar
7700-428: The representative of his company, the contract granting him 1.5 million francs toward the construction costs: less than a quarter of the estimated 6.5 million francs. Eiffel was to receive all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition and for the next 20 years. He later established a separate company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself. A French bank,
7810-517: The rights to the patent on the design which Koechlin, Nouguier, and Sauvestre had taken out, and the design was put on display at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in the autumn of 1884 under the company name. On 30 March 1885, Eiffel presented his plans to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils ; after discussing the technical problems and emphasising the practical uses of the tower, he finished his talk by saying
7920-489: The role of Romana, Ward clashed with costume designer Doreen James, rejecting the silver catsuit James had designed for her for the story. Ward came up with the idea for the schoolgirl costume she wore in conjunction with Baker, recalling, "I thought it would be fun to wear something that little girls probably hated wearing because it might cheer them up... I didn't bank on the fact that I'd also get loads of letters from their fathers saying 'Cor! School uniform!'". City of Death
8030-416: The role. After John Leeson declined to return as K9 , David Brierly replaced him in the part for the season's final four serials, including Shada . Season 17 was intended to follow the same format as had every season since Season 13 , with five 4-part serials and a 6-parter closing the season out. However, the planned final serial of the season, Shada , was affected by an industrial dispute involving
8140-497: The scenes: the drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed. The task of drawing the components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was specified to within 1 mm (0.04 in) and angles worked out to one second of arc . The finished components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived on horse-drawn carts from
8250-504: The script as the cost of bringing the robot dog and his operators to Paris was prohibitive. However, Fisher was going through a divorce, and his personal situation meant that he was unable to perform the rewrites. This meant that script editor Douglas Adams , aided by Graham Williams, had to perform a complete rewrite of the story over the course of a weekend. According to Adams, Graham Williams "took me back to his place, locked me in his study and hosed me down with whisky and black coffee for
8360-625: The serial, narrated by Lalla Ward. A vinyl release of the soundtrack was released in 2018 exclusively for Record Store Day . Ian Scoones' storyboards for City of Death 's special effects sequences were published in Peter Haining 's book Doctor Who – 25 Glorious Years in 1988, and a Scaroth figure was released by Harlequin Miniatures in 1999. Doctor Who season 17 The seventeenth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 1 September 1979 with
8470-422: The series in recent years." The A.V. Club reviewer Christopher Bahn described City of Death as the "gem" of the seventeenth season, finding Adams' subtle comedy script "easily the funniest and most quotable the series ever achieved". While he praised Scarlioni's costume and the mask, he felt that more could have been done with using Paris as a filming location. However, Doctor Who fandom 's initial response
8580-522: The stools of good pastiche and bad parody and making fairly unsatisfactory viewing". Vanessa Bishop countered that it was "the Doctor Who story it's alright to laugh at... we must now accept that City of Death is funny — because if we didn't the Crackerjack -style sleuths, scientists and all... would leave it knocking about near the bottom of all the Doctor Who story ranking polls" and, responding to
8690-401: The story Destiny of the Daleks , and ended with The Horns of Nimon . This was Graham Williams ' final series producing Doctor Who. The script editor was Douglas Adams . Tom Baker continued as the Fourth Doctor . Lalla Ward , who played Princess Astra in the season 16 finale The Armageddon Factor , returned to the series as the newly regenerated Romana , replacing Mary Tamm in
8800-486: The story as "the best blend of kitsch, surrealism, fantasy, and comedy-drama seen in our favourite Time Lord's annals". Vanessa Bishop , reviewing the serial's DVD release, described it as "imaginatively written, well-performed and beautifully made, City of Death is a story where pretty much everything works". Reacting to the serial, as part of Doctor Who Magazine ' s ongoing "Time Team" feature, Jacqueline Rayner said "you're suddenly, almost violently, made aware this
8910-426: The structure were melted down, it would fill the square base, 125 metres (410 ft) on each side, to a depth of only 6.25 cm (2.46 in) assuming the density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic metre. Additionally, a cubic box surrounding the tower (324 m × 125 m × 125 m) would contain 6,200 tonnes of air, weighing almost as much as the iron itself. Depending on
9020-457: The top, joined together by metal trusses at regular intervals". Eiffel initially showed little enthusiasm, but he did approve further study, and the two engineers then asked Stephen Sauvestre , the head of the company's architectural department, to contribute to the design. Sauvestre added decorative arches to the base of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments. The new version gained Eiffel's support: he bought
9130-478: The tower lost the title of the world's tallest structure when the Chrysler Building in New York City was completed. In 1938, the decorative arcade around the first level was removed. Upon the German occupation of Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French. The tower was restricted to German visitors during the occupation and the lifts were not repaired until 1946. In 1940, German soldiers had to climb
9240-444: The tower to be dismantled and temporarily relocated to Montreal to serve as a landmark and tourist attraction during Expo 67 . The plan was allegedly vetoed by the company operating the tower out of fear that the French government could refuse permission for the tower to be restored in its original location. In 1982, the original lifts between the second and third levels were replaced after 97 years in service. These had been closed to
9350-525: The tower to hoist a swastika-centered Reichskriegsflagge , but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and was replaced by a smaller one. When visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground. When the Allies were nearing Paris in August 1944, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz , the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed
9460-493: The tower was already under way. Garnier was a member of the Tower Commission that had examined the various proposals, and had raised no objection. Eiffel pointed out to a journalist that it was premature to judge the effect of the tower solely on the basis of the drawings, that the Champ de Mars was distant enough from the monuments mentioned in the protest for there to be little risk of the tower overwhelming them, and putting
9570-452: The tower would symbolise [n]ot only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude. Little progress was made until 1886, when Jules Grévy
9680-430: The tower. During the last three minutes of the year, the lights were turned on starting from the base of the tower and continuing to the top to welcome 2000 with a huge fireworks show. An exhibition above a cafeteria on the first floor commemorates this event. The searchlights on top of the tower made it a beacon in Paris's night sky, and 20,000 flashing bulbs gave the tower a sparkly appearance for five minutes every hour on
9790-526: The unfinished Doctor Who serial Shada (1979; 2003), in his novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (1987). In Part One, Lalla Ward as Romana makes a throwaway reference to a great art gallery called the Braxiatel Collection; the Virgin New Adventures novel series would later expand on this, introducing the character Irving Braxiatel , a Time Lord . Braxiatel also appears in
9900-513: The unfinished serial Shada , which was published by BBC Books in 2012. In 2013, Roberts announced that he was working on a novelisation of City of Death , to be published on 21 May 2015. Roberts later announced that James Goss was working on the book instead. An abridged version was published as part of the Target Collection 5 April 2018. City of Death was released on VHS in April 1991 with
10010-467: The very conditions which give strength also conform to the hidden rules of harmony? ... Now to what phenomenon did I have to give primary concern in designing the Tower? It was wind resistance. Well then! I hold that the curvature of the monument's four outer edges, which is as mathematical calculation dictated it should be ... will give a great impression of strength and beauty, for it will reveal to
10120-400: The year 1508, and prehistoric Earth. At this point, production unit manager John Nathan-Turner had worked out that the production team could afford to film on location in Paris with a stripped-down crew. This necessitated a rewrite to Fisher's scripts to move the action to Paris and, for cost reasons, to drop the 1920s setting. The Doctor's robotic dog companion K9 also had to be removed from
10230-401: The young nation's income back to Paris and impairing its ability to start schools, hospitals and the other building blocks of an independent country." The proposed tower had been a subject of controversy, drawing criticism from those who did not believe it was feasible and those who objected on artistic grounds. Prior to the Eiffel Tower's construction, no structure had ever been constructed to
10340-479: Was an attraction at the exposition) and Thomas Edison . Eiffel invited Edison to his private apartment at the top of the tower, where Edison presented him with one of his phonographs , a new invention and one of the many highlights of the exposition. Edison signed the guestbook with this message: To M Eiffel the Engineer the brave builder of so gigantic and original specimen of modern Engineering from one who has
10450-552: Was arrested by the police. On 27 October 1991, Thierry Devaux, along with mountain guide Hervé Calvayrac, performed a series of acrobatic figures while bungee jumping from the second floor of the tower. Facing the Champ de Mars, Devaux used an electric winch between figures to go back up to the second floor. When firemen arrived, he stopped after the sixth jump. For its "Countdown to the Year 2000" celebration on 31 December 1999, flashing lights and high-powered searchlights were installed on
10560-468: Was assumed to have no gaps in the latticework. After it was completed, some have put forward various mathematical hypotheses in an attempt to explain the success of the design. A one devised in 2004 after letters sent by Eiffel to the French Society of Civil Engineers in 1885 were translated into English described it as a non-linear integral equation based on counteracting the wind pressure on any point of
10670-602: Was broadcast on BBC1 over four consecutive Saturdays beginning on 29 September 1979. At this time, industrial action had blacked out rival broadcaster ITV and as a result, the serial scored very high ratings, averaging 14.5 million viewers over the four episodes; 16.1 million watched the fourth episode, the largest audience ever recorded for an episode of Doctor Who . The story was repeated on BBC1 across four consecutive evenings from Tuesday to Friday, 12 – 15 August 1980, achieving viewing figures of 6.3, 5.5, 5.6 and 5.9 million viewers respectively. Audience appreciation ratings for
10780-646: Was cast as Duggan on account of his resemblance to the Franco-Belgian comics hero Tintin . Peter Halliday had previously appeared in several Doctor Who serials including The Invasion and Doctor Who and the Silurians . Douglas Adams knew John Cleese and Eleanor Bron through his connections with Monty Python and the Footlights . On learning that both would be working in BBC Television Centre on
10890-477: Was completed in June. Broadcast during a strike that took ITV (the BBC's rival) off the air, City of Death scored high ratings. The fourth episode was watched by over sixteen million viewers, the highest UK television audience ever attained by an episode of Doctor Who . Although retrospectively regarded as one of the best serials from the series' classic run, initial reception was not as positive, with criticism of
11000-579: Was finished in 1930. It was the first structure in the world to surpass both the 200-metre and 300-metre mark in height. Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres (17 ft). Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second tallest free-standing structure in France after the Millau Viaduct . The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on
11110-461: Was fitted with an electrically driven Otis lift to serve the Jules Verne restaurant. The Fives-Lille lifts in the east and west legs, fitted in 1899, were extensively refurbished in 1986. The cars were replaced, and a computer system was installed to completely automate the lifts. The motive power was moved from the water hydraulic system to a new electrically driven oil-filled hydraulic system, and
11220-467: Was installed. On two separate but related occasions in 1925, the con artist Victor Lustig "sold" the tower for scrap metal. A year later, in February 1926, pilot Leon Collet was killed trying to fly under the tower. His aircraft became entangled in an aerial belonging to a wireless station. A bust of Gustave Eiffel by Antoine Bourdelle was unveiled at the base of the north leg on 2 May 1929. In 1930,
11330-440: Was lit by hundreds of gas lamps, and a beacon sent out three beams of red, white and blue light. Two searchlights mounted on a circular rail were used to illuminate various buildings of the exposition. The daily opening and closing of the exposition were announced by a cannon at the top. On the second level, the French newspaper Le Figaro had an office and a printing press, where a special souvenir edition, Le Figaro de la Tour ,
11440-515: Was made. At the top, there was a post office where visitors could send letters and postcards as a memento of their visit. Graffitists were also catered for: sheets of paper were mounted on the walls each day for visitors to record their impressions of the tower. Gustave Eiffel described the collection of responses as "truly curious". Famous visitors to the tower included the Prince of Wales , Sarah Bernhardt , "Buffalo Bill" Cody (his Wild West show
11550-476: Was mainly set in the year 1928 with the Doctor and Romana, aided by Drummond-esque detective "Pug" Farquharson, on the trail of the stolen Mona Lisa, pursuing Scarlioni from Paris to Monte Carlo where his partner, the Baroness Heidi, is using time travel technology to cheat at roulette at the casino to fund Scarlioni's time travel experiments. Other settings included Paris in 1979, Leonardo da Vinci's studio in
11660-438: Was not shown in France at the time and so the cast and crew were largely ignored. Lalla Ward found City of Death the most challenging Doctor Who serial she worked on but was pleased with the outcome, saying, "We had to film loads of scenes in the rain and cold... there was no glamour in it at all... it was different from the ordinary stories too and I like the finished result". Seeing her costumes as an important part in creating
11770-449: Was not so positive; John Peel , writing in the fanzine TARDIS in 1979, decried it as "total farce... I simply couldn't believe this was Doctor Who ... the continual buffoonery is getting on my nerves". A similar view was held by Gary Russell who, reviewing the VHS release in 1991, said, " City of Death , like most Douglas Adams material, is overrated and misses the mark for me, falling between
11880-439: Was provided by pressurised accumulators located near this mechanism. At the same time the lift in the north pillar was removed and replaced by a staircase to the first level. The layout of both first and second levels was modified, with the space available for visitors on the second level. The original lift in the south pillar was removed 13 years later. On 19 October 1901, Alberto Santos-Dumont , flying his No.6 airship , won
11990-437: Was re-elected as president of France and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as minister for trade. A budget for the exposition was passed and, on 1 May, Lockroy announced an alteration to the terms of the open competition being held for a centrepiece to the exposition, which effectively made the selection of Eiffel's design a foregone conclusion, as entries had to include a study for a 300 m (980 ft) four-sided metal tower on
12100-646: Was required, the management could demonstrate that the strikes had consequences. Ironically, the viewer ratings of Season 17 were also affected by a strike, with the BBC's main rival, ITV , off air due to a dispute. Part 4 of The Horns of Nimon saw the last appearance of the diamond-shaped logo that had been used since The Time Warrior in 1973. The entire season was broadcast from 1 September 1979 to 12 January 1980. All releases are for DVD unless otherwise indicated: Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( / ˈ aɪ f əl / EYE -fəl ; French : Tour Eiffel [tuʁ ɛfɛl] )
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