{{Doctorwhobox|
|number=003
|image=275px<!-- FAIR USE of The Edge of Destruction.jpg: see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:The Edge of Destruction.jpg for rationale -->
|caption=Barbara, Ian, the Doctor and Susan observe the broken clock inside the TARDIS.
|serial_name= The Edge of Destruction
|show=DW
|type=serial
|doctor=William Hartnell (First Doctor)
|companion=Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman)
|companion2=Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright)
|companion3=William Russell (Ian Chesterton)
|writer=David Whitaker
|director=Richard Martin (episode 1)<br>Frank Cox (episode 2)
|script_editor=David Whitaker
|producer=Verity Lambert<br>Mervyn Pinfield (associate producer)
|executive_producer=None
|production_code=C
|series=Season 1
|length=2 episodes, 25 minutes each
|date=February 8&ndash;February 15, 1964
|preceding=''The Daleks''
|following=''Marco Polo''
|imdb_id=0756850
|}}
'''''The Edge of Destruction''''' (also known as '''''Inside the Spaceship''''', among other titles, see below) is a serial in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in 2 weekly parts on February 8 and February 15, 1964.

==Plot==
===Synopsis===
The Barbara, Ian and Susan are all temporarily rendered unconscious.  After they awake, Ian and Susan appear to have slight cases of amnesia and everyone begins to act strangely. Unexpected events are happening on the TARDIS, the travellers are becoming suspicious of each other's motives, and the Doctor even accuses Ian and Barbara of sabotage. Fearing that they have been taken over by some alien force &mdash; or that they have intentionally sabotaged the TARDIS in order to force the Doctor to return them to 1963 &mdash; he drugs Barbara and Ian unknowing that Ian is also suspicious and has not taken the drink given to him. The Doctor attempts to explore the problem without interference.

Gradually it becomes clear that the strange events are an attempt by the TARDIS itself to warn the crew that something is wrong. Thanks to Barbara's clue-gathering, the Doctor traces the problem to a broken spring in the Fast Return Switch.  The malfunction is causing the TARDIS to head back to the beginning of time; the strange events were just the TARDIS's attempts to warn its passengers before the ship is destroyed.  Fixing the switch brings all back to normal. Although the day is saved, Barbara is still affected by the Doctor's harsh words earlier. The Doctor is forced to do what he least enjoys &mdash; apologise, and admit that he was wrong about Barbara and Ian.

The story closes with the TARDIS materialising on a snowy landscape, where Susan spots a giant footprint in the snow.

===Continuity===
*This serial introduces the ideas that the TARDIS console and time column directly harness the energies which drive the ship, and that the TARDIS is "alive" and somewhat self-aware. These ideas would come up again on occasion as the original series progressed, but would become major plot points during the 2005 series, in particular in the episodes "Boom Town" and "The Parting of the Ways".<ref name=over />

*When Ian examines the injured Doctor, he remarks that "his heart seems fine." However, the fan lore) that the Doctor did not grow his second heart until his regeneration into the Second Doctor. An alternative explanation can be found in "The Christmas Invasion" and "The Shakespeare Code", in which one of the Doctor's hearts stops, due to severe trauma.

*This story explicitly states that the Doctor and Susan had visited other worlds before 1963 Earth. Susan mentions that four or five journeys back they had visited the planet Quinnis where the TARDIS had almost been lost &ndash; a foreshadowing of the next story ''Marco Polo''.

*The Doctor's extensive wardrobe is first mentioned at the end of the story, with Ian showing off an ulster that the Doctor had received from Gilbert and Sullivan.

*The "Chesterfield" running-gag started in the last story, ''The Daleks'', is used in this episode to signify that everything has returned to normal after the climax. Here the Doctor calls Ian "Charterhouse".

==Production==
{{DoctorWhoEpisodeHead
|Archive=Y
|
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This story was written by story editor bottle show"). In fact it was the cheapness of this serial that producer ''SFX'' #152, the 2007 Tenth Doctor episode, ''The Shakespeare Code.'')

The "fast return" switch label on the TARDIS console appears to be written in felt-tip pen. Exactly why this was done is uncertain; on the DVD, documentary designer Raymond Cusick guesses that it was written during rehearsals as a guide, and producer Verity Lambert surmises that it may have been written so that Hartnell could find the switch. Both agree, however, that the label was probably never intended to be seen. Carole Ann Ford states the she and William Hartnell labeled controls on the TARDIS control panel during rehearsal, and assumed they would be blotted out before production.<ref name=over>{{cite video
 | people=Levine, Ian (Producer)
 | title=Over the Edge: the making of "The Edge of Destruction"
 | medium=DVD documentary
}}</ref>

{{Doctorwhoboks|
|historienavn= 003 &ndash; The Edge of Destruction
|doktor= Den første Doktoren
|forf= David Whitaker
|regissør= Richard Martin (episode 1)</br>Frank Cox (episode 2)
|manred= David Whitaker
|prod= Verity Lambert</br>Mervyn Pinfield (associate producer)
|prodkode= C
|sesong= 1
|lengde= 2 episoder à 25 minutter
|dato= 8.&ndash;15. februar 1964
|forhis= The Daleks
|neshis= Marco Polo
|skuesp= Dr. Who &ndash; William Hartnell<br>
Ian Chesterton &ndash; William Russell<br>
Barbara Wright &ndash; Jacqueline Hill<br>
Susan Foreman &ndash; Carole Ann Ford
}}
'''''The Edge of Destruction''''' er en ''8. og 15. februar 1964.

Doktoren og de andre blir fanget i tardisen etter at doktoren prøver å gjennvinne kontroll over skipets defekte kontrollsystem.

==Episodenavn==

#The Edge of Destruction
#The Brink of Disaster

==Sammendrag==

Doktoren, mens han prøver å reparere tardisens defekte kontrollsystem, forårsaker en liten eksplosjon. Alle fire besvimer og når de våkner opp så begynner de å oppføre seg rart. Uforklarlige hendelser begynner å skje inne i tardisen og de blir mistenksomme overfor hverandre. Doktoren beskylder Ian og Barbara for å ha sabotert tardisen. Han er redd for at de har blitt tatt over av ukjente krefter og doper de ned slik at han kan utforske problemet uten innblandinger.

Etter hvert så blir det klart at de mystiske hendelsene er tardisens forsøk på å advare mannskapet om at noe er galt. Doktoren finner endelig feilen som viser seg å være en ødelagt fjær i "Fast Return Switch". Feilen fikk tardisen til å dra helt tilbake til begynnelsen av tiden, noe som gjør at den kan bli tilintetgjort. Doktoren fikser problemet og ender opp med å be om unnskyldning for at han tok feil av Ian og Barbara.