The Little Black Bag
Disgraced and discredited, Dr. Fulbright was once a medical doctor, but is now an alcoholic shambling from one menial job to another. After an argument with his wife Angie, he is sold a mysterious medical bag by the local pawnbroker. A chance encounter with an Italian woman and her dying child gives Fulbright a chance to try out his lucky find. But he discovers it’s no ordinary medical bag: it’s from the year 2450, and its instruments seem to provide their own treatment, miraculously curing the girl. The rush of resuming his calling as a healer thrills Dr. Fulbright…but Angie sees only dollar signs, even over Fulbright’s dead body.
written by C.M. Kornbluth
additional dialogue by Mann Rubin
directed by Charles S. Dubin
music not credits
Cast: Vicki Cummings (Angie), Joseph Anthony (Doctor Full), Florence Anglin (Mrs. Colucci), John Shellie (Pawnbroker)
Notes: Despite the credits (and the original short story by Cyril Kornbluth) naming the character Dr. Full, he is clearly referred to as Dr. Fulbright throughout this episode. Despite the plaque inside the bag clearly stating that it is from the year 2450, Fulbright declares “the entire world will know of the revolutionary medical power transported to us from the twenty-first century!” This story was adapted twice more for television – once by the BBC for Out Of The Unknown, and again with a Rod Serling-penned adaptation for NBC’s Night Gallery in the early 1970s – but this was the only one that Kornbluth was still alive to witness for himself.
LogBook entry by Earl Green
The Doctor and Leela arrive in rural England in 1979, finding a village dominated by fears of a legendary white worm who consumes animals and people alike. A man-sized trail of mucus makes it look like the legend isn’t purely superstition, and the time travelers follow the trail. The Doctor encounters the suspicious locals, while Leela finds herself on the grounds belonging to Colonel Singleton. Both of them meet Demesne Furze, who is able to help the Doctor solve the mystery of a missing girl whose disappearance sparked local fears of the white worm. But Demesne isn’t who she seems, and neither is the hooded, disfigured man who hides at Colonel Singleton’s estate. He reveals himself to be the Master, and he has enslaved the white worm to do his bidding, creating a path for even more unearthly allies to follow and conquer Earth.
Notes: Guest star Colin Baker was the sixth Doctor to star in the BBC’s venerable time-traveling sci-fi series