Nestene duplicate

Nestene duplicate
Biological type:	Plastic automatons
Place of origin:	Earth
Notable individuals:	Scobie, Mickey Smith, Rory Williams
First appearance:	Spearhead from Space
Appearances:	TV: Rose TV: The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

Nestene duplicates were plastic duplicates of humans created by the Nestene Consciousness.

Characteristics

In addition to the basic Auton, more agile and maneuverable models were made as duplicates of humans. The Swarm Leader was able to create the body of a planet's native life-form from scratch; (PROSE: Synthespians™) the first Auton created, Channing's human appearance allowed him to infiltrate Auto Plastics and organise the Nestene invasion. (TV: Spearhead from Space)

More sophisticated Autons could be created to copy and impersonate specific individuals. The originals needed to be kept alive to maintain the copy, although these were sometimes imperfect, looking and acting human except for a slight yellowing sheen or glint to the skin and a flat-sounding voice. When destroyed, the duplicates reverted to the appearance of a basic Auton, sometimes leaking Nestene blood. (TV: Spearhead from Space) One Auton copied Graham Winslet before reverting back to its basic form; however, it later appeared as Winslet with no apparent connection to the real man, although it may have only required a human appearance rather than Winslet's mind. (HOMEVID: Auton, Auton 2: Sentinel, Auton 3: Awakening) Occasionally if a copy wasn't necessary and an Auton simply needed to appear human, it could wear a plastic mask. (TV: Terror of the Autons)

Even more accurate Autons could be made, identical in appearance and actions to the originals. These units were implanted with false memories and actually believed themselves to be the real subjects they duplicated, being indistinguishable. The Auton copy of Rory Williams was even able to remember being erased from existence in the time field. (TV: The Pandorica Opens)

A number of famous figures were duplicated and displayed at Madame Tussauds, including General Scobie whose duplicate was intended to take his place and command the British Army. (TV: Spearhead from Space) Mickey Smith was copied to gather information on the Ninth Doctor. (TV: Rose)

Roman Auton duplicates taken from a memory print of Amy Pond mimicked humans perfectly and were used as sleeper agents until the Nestenes later asserted their influence, although the Rory Auton partially resisted this control. (TV: The Pandorica Opens)