City of Death

City of Death is the second serial of the 17th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was made by the BBC and first broadcast in four weekly parts between 29 September 1979 and 20 October 1979 on BBC1. It was written by "David Agnew" a pseudonym for David Fisher, Douglas Adams, and Graham Williams and directed by Michael Hayes.

City of Death features the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana (Lalla Ward). Set mainly in Paris in 1979, the plot concerns a scheme by an alien, Scaroth, to steal the Mona Lisa to finance experiments in time travel in the hope of averting the accident that marooned him on Earth four hundred million years previously, which also began the existence of life on the planet as well.

The serial's storyline was devised by Fisher but 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 filmed in Paris in April and May 1979. Filming was completed in June. Partially due to the strike of BBC's rival ITV, City of Death scored high ratings; the fourth episode was watched by over sixteen million viewers, the highest audience ever attained by an episode of Doctor Who. Though in retrospect it has been regarded as one of the best serials from Doctor Who's classic run, initial reception to it was not as positive, with criticism to its humorous tone.