Spearhead from Space

An odd shower of meteorites lands in England, drawing the attention of UNIT and their newly drafted scientific advisor Liz Shaw. Liz is skeptical of UNIT's mission to deal with the unknown and unusual, but it told by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart of past attempts to invade Earth by alien races, and how each time those forces were repelled thanks to special "help" UNIT received. The Doctor returns to Earth in the TARDIS, having been regenerated by the Time Lords and now serving his sentence of exile. The Brigadier has a hard time swallowing the Doctor's new appearance but had no choice but to ask him for his help with the meteorite mystery, as none of the objects are actually ever found. The Doctor and Liz realize that the meteorites are not what they seem and are made of a form of plastic, and at one point contained something. The reality of the situation is the first attempt by the Nestenes to invade and colonize Earth; creatures with no physical form as such they can manufacture bodies made of plastic and animate them with their own energy, and thus they create an army of Autons, which are no more than shop window dummies awaiting orders to attack. The Nestenes also create facsimilies of important people to use in their invasion to hamper the government's efforts to stop them, but the Doctor comes through by determining that the Autons' major weakness is to destroy the controlling Nestene creature itself. With UNIT's latest crisis solved, the Doctor strikes a deal with the Brigadier to offer his help in exchange for facilities to attempt to repair the TARDIS, and for the help of Liz in his work. The Brigadier agrees, and the Doctor begins his life on Earth.

First thing that strikes one watching this one: IT'S IN COLOUR!!!!!!! Yes, it's 1970 and the BBC have finally made the leap to colour television in their programming, and it adds and entire new level to Doctor Who. Stylistically the entire 4 part serial is shot on location, not in a studio, which gives it an even more impressive look after the black and white finale of The War Games. And then there's the scary faceless Autons, the creepy character Channing, and the Nestene tentacles attacking the Doctor... all impressive and a far cry from the previous days of the show.

When Patrick Troughton took the role of the Doctor the production team knew they were gambling with the future of Doctor Who, but he was well received and when it was time to introduce Jon Pertwee the fans were asked once again to accept a stranger in the guise of their favourite Saturday hero. And it worked. Pertwee's protrayal of the Doctor loaned him a certain element of elegance, making him more of a gentleman than Troughton's hobo-esque version, but bringing with him his own sense of humour and even a slight mischievous edge. The Doctor bridles at the Brigadier's sense of order and control; he wants to be free but is stuck on Earth without the ability to leave. The Doctor also gels immediately with Liz; as they are both scientists he recognizes her intellect and finds he can work well with her. Comparitively, Liz is the female Ian Chesterton when it comes to brains, but whereas the first Doctor enjoyed playing cat and mouse with Chesterton's limited scientific knowledge, the new Doctor takes the time to share his knowledge with Liz and add to her own capabilities as his assistant.

The Auton element of this adventure was borrowed heavily for the 2005 season premiere, recreating the infamous shop-window dummy rampage that was a lot scarier in 1970. My 7 year old nephew found the original version to be far more alarming, but he first saw it spliced with some specially shot footage recreating the scene for the commemorative More Than 30 Years In The TARDIS documentary. Still, though; faceless mannequins busting out of shop windows and striding through the streets shooting people down... yes. There is also an interesting moment of continuity in this episode which may or may not have been intentional; a certain General Scobie is part of the cast, and he was originally seen in the background behind William Hartnell's Doctor back in The War Machines. Nice to see Scobie is still an important figure in the UK military.

Jon Pertwee always said that he found it more frightening to have alien meances come to Earth rather than go off into space to find them, reasoning that the alien meance set against something familiar like, say, Daleks on Westminster Bridge (or as he was oft quoted: "Finding a Yeti sitting on your loo in Tooting Bec,") was a lot more effective. Exiled to Earth, the Doctor would find a lot of new menaces heading his way, most from outer space, but some from Earth itself...

NEXT EPISODE : DOCTOR WHO AND THE SILURIANS