The Faceless Ones (TV story)

The Faceless Ones was the eighth story of Season 4 of Doctor Who. Companions Ben Jackson and Polly, played by Michael Craze and Anneke Wills respectively, left the series at the end of this story.

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives on Earth in July, 1966 on a runway at Gatwick airport. Polly witnesses a murder in a nearby hangar and is then kidnapped by the perpetrator, Spencer of Chameleon Tours. Subsequently, Ben also vanishes. The Doctor and Jamie are left to try to convince the sceptical airport Commandant that there has been foul play.

It transpires that a great many other young people have also vanished, all of them while on Chameleon Tours holidays. With the help of Samantha Briggs, the sister of one of the missing youths, the Doctor and Jamie uncover a plot by the alien Chameleons to kidnap human youngsters in order to take their identities, for the Chameleons have lost their own identities in an accident on their home planet.

The Doctor offers to help the Chameleons find another solution to their problem and the kidnapped humans are released.

Plot

Episode 1

The TARDIS lands on a runway at Gatwick Airport, and the Doctor, Ben, Polly, and Jamie are forced to run for their lives as a jet airplane tries to land on that same runway. The jet avoids collision, but the four intruders are spotted by a police officer and they split up. The airport's Commandant is informed by an air traffic controller of the reason given by the jet's pilot and incredulously orders the obstruction investigated. The police box is quickly hauled away.

The police officer pursuing Ben has lost him, and Jamie meets up with the Doctor underneath a parked airplane. Polly, meanwhile, has hidden in the hangar for Chameleon Tours, and witnesses a man holding an envelope killed by another man in pilot's uniform, with some kind of futuristic weapon. The pilot enters a hidden control chamber filled with high-tech equipment and reports via a monitor to another pilot what has happened. An alarm sounds, and a monitor shows Polly examining the body. The man goes out to catch her but she escapes.

The Commandant is even more incredulous to hear that the obstruction actually was a police box. Polly finds tThe Doctor and Jamie, and tells them what she saw; the Doctor insists she show them. The two pilots in the hangar discover they have killed Detective Inspector Gascoigne and are concerned a parent may have sent him. They dispose of the man's effects, as well as two suitcases. An alarm sounds and they see the Doctor, Jamie, and Polly in the hangar. The second pilot is furious at the first pilot, Spencer, when Polly says she could recognize him anywhere. The Doctor is surprised to find that the man who Polly said was killed by a gun, has been electrocuted. The time travellers leave to find someone in charge. As they go, Polly lags behind and is knocked unconscious by Spencer, using a pen-shaped device. Back inside the hidden chamber, Polly is questioned, and when the Doctor and Jamie cannot find her in the hangar they resume their quest to find help from the authorities. The pilots say they must do something to stop Polly's friends from worrying.

The Doctor and Jamie arrive at the Immigration & Customs desk, but cannot get past the officer, Jenkins, without a passport. The officer is finally moved to action when Jamie mentions the TARDIS and, suspecting they may be involved with the police-box affair, asks them to wait while he contacts the Commandant. Meanwhile, Ben finds the Chameleon hangar and is drawn inside by sounds of hammering. Captain Blade, the second pilot, is securing a packing case, and before he can draw his weapon at Ben's arrival, Jean Rock (the Commandant's assistant) arrives to give Blade flight schedules. Blade shows Ben the way out.

The Commandant is extremely dubious at the Doctor's story and is disturbed by their lack of passports, but he eventually relents and follows the Doctor and Jamie to the hangar. In the hangar's hidden chamber, Blade is affixing stamps to postcards. Spencer tells him that Polly has been "processed" and can be taken on the next flight. Blade then opens a refrigerated cabinet and a scaly, humanoid arm is seen. He injects the arm with something. The Pilots are alerted to the presence of the Doctor, Jamie, and the Commandant in the hangar. The body is gone, but the Doctor reveals an unused Spanish postage stamp, the only thing found on the body. Jamie and the Doctor find burnt fibers and a burn mark and move to open a packing case as Blade emerges from the back. Blade opens the case, revealing... plastic cups. The Commandant takes the two suspects away. Spencer is ordered to bring out the creature from the compartment, and he and Blade help it out of the hangar.

Back at Immigration & Customs, The Doctor and Jamie spot a familiar young lady arriving. The woman looks exactly like Polly, but she claims not to know either of them. The two pilots guide the disguised creature through the airport concourse to the medical centre. Breathing heavily, the creature has a featureless face on a misshapen head.

Episode 2

As the creature waits, Meadows, an air traffic controller, lies on a bed unconscious. At the I&C desk, the woman says that she is from Zurich, that this is her first visit to England, and that she is here on work permit. She leaves, as Jamie forlornly calls after her. As the Commandant calls for the police, the Doctor and Jamie make a dash for it.

Nurse Pinto arrives, and armbands are attached to both the creature and Meadows. Headsets are attached, and as the real Meadows twitches, the creature transforms into a duplicate of him. As the Doctor and Jamie hide behind newspapers, the Doctor spots an advertisement for Chameleon Tours, catering to people ages 18-25. Ben finds them and they go off. At the medical centre, they adjust the new Meadows's senses and test his knowledge of himself.

Ben spots the woman who looks like Polly working at the Chameleon Tours desk. The Doctor tries to get through to her, but in denying everything she mentions "someone shot" without prompting. The Doctor and his friends leave, and Polly reports behind the kiosk to Blade. Blade orders her to leave on the next flight back to base and intends to deal with the Doctor.

The duplicate Meadows takes his place at air traffic control. DI Crossland has arrived and is investigating Chameleon. Meanwhile, the Doctor, Ben, and Jamie hide in a photo booth and decide that Ben should investigate the hangar, Jamie will keep an eye on the kiosk, and the Doctor will see the Commandant. As Jamie watches, Samantha Briggs arrives and interrogates Polly about her brother Brian, supposedly in Rome on a Chameleon Tour: the hotel he's at doesn't exist, he can't be found, yet they've received a postcard from Rome, from him. Polly says she'll make inquiries, and goes back to contact Blade, but reaches Spencer; Polly tries to stall, as Jamie meets Samantha.

The Commandant absolutely refuses to listen to the Doctor so he is forced to run. Samantha gets very little out of Polly as she closes the kiosk. Ben arrives in the hangar and opens a packing case to find the real Polly, sitting in a trance, and tries to call the Commandant. The Doctor is introduced to Samantha and investigates the rear of the kiosk. He sees Ben on the monitor, then sees Spencer attack Ben with the pen-shaped freezing device. Blade and Spencer prepare for the Doctor's approach. DI Crossland speaks to Jenkins about Brian Briggs and DI Gascoigne, and hears about the Doctor and Jamie.

Samantha is flirting with Jamie as the Chameleon kiosk is reopened by a different woman. A Chameleon flight to Zurich is announced, and Jamie worries about where Polly is. The Doctor reaches the hangar and, with no sign of Ben, searches the office and pockets the pen-like device. The new kiosk attendant, Ann Davidson, hands out stamped postcards to the Zurich passengers. Samantha realizes the implications. She and Jamie head off to find the Doctor, but are stopped by DI Crossland.

The Doctor is opening a packing case to discover the trance-like body of Meadows, when suddenly a pleading voice is heard over a loudspeaker. The Doctor is drawn into the office, where he is sealed inside, with a freezing vapor seeping in through grilles in the walls.

Episode 3

Spencer watches from inside the hidden chamber as the Doctor tries to block one grille; Spencer opens another. The Doctor notices a closed-circuit camera watching him and blocks that too. Spencer comes out to find the Doctor huddled on the ground, but as he bends down to check on him, the Doctor fires the freezing device at him and escapes.

The Doctor finds Jamie and Samantha with DI Crossland, and the Doctor identifies a picture of DI Gascoigne. Blade finds Spencer and orders him to kill the Doctor, as Blade departs to pilot the Zurich flight. Crossland insists on taking the Doctor's story to the Commandant, one more time. The Doctor doubtfully agrees and leaves Jamie and Samantha to watch the kiosk. Samantha decides to investigate the hangar herself and goads Jamie into going with her.

The Doctor, with Crossland's encouragement, tells the Commandant about the stupefied man he found in the packing case, and the Doctor locates Meadows working at air traffic control. He explains his conviction that Gascoigne was murdered by a ray gun—a weapon unknown on Earth, and that Chameleon Tours is a front for the mass abduction of young men and women. The Doctor shows them the pen-like freezing device and demonstrates it with "Meadows's" reticent help: Meadows runs off as the Doctor fires the device at a china cup Meadows is holding.

Samantha finds an envelope full of signed postcards in the Chameleon office, and they head for the Commandant's office. Sam shows that the envelope is addressed to a Chameleon Tours office in Germany and explains the ramifications to all assembled. The Commandant gives the Doctor the freedom of the airport for 12 hours. Meadows reports back to Spencer, and he orders Meadows to attach a button-like device to the Doctor. Meadows returns to air traffic control.

Captain Blade's flight is returning, and the Doctor questions another controller about the range of their radar. Meadows bumps into the Doctor, planting the device. The Doctor playfully wonders if Meadows has a double. Crossland is given permission to meet Blade aboard his next flight. Searching the Chameleon office, the grilles are hidden, but the Doctor suspects there is a secret chamber and he and Jamie tear apart the room. Crossland confronts Blade and forces his way on to the flight deck: an alien control room. Blade and Ann Davidson clamp him in a chair, and the flight takes off.

The Doctor and Jamie find the opening mechanism and discover the high-tech contents of the room, including the cabinet "for someone who's not used to the Earth's atmosphere." They see on a monitor the inside of the medical centre and go in search of it; Spencer watches this from the kiosk and activates the device on the Doctor's back, causing him to fall in pain. Ann passes out refreshments to the passengers on the plane, and returns to the flight deck, where Blade activates a device. As Crossland watches on a monitor, the passengers disappear.

Episode 4

Spencer threatens Jamie with his ray gun, but Samantha knocks the gun away and a fight ensues. Spencer has another freezing device and they are soon frozen by it. Laid out on the floor, they are powerless to evade a slowly arcing laser beam which will soon cut them in two. Blade reports that he has an "original" for the Director; he will deliver him and return to Gatwick. Nurse Pinto transfers I&C officer Jenkins into a Chameleon body.

With enormous effort, Sam is able to pull a mirror from her handbag, hand it to Jamie, and he reflects the laser light back onto itself, destroying the machine. The three finally recover, and Sam is dispatched to spy on the Chameleon kiosk while the Doctor and Jamie head to the medical centre. Jamie feigns sickness as the Doctor helps him into the centre whilst trying to bluff Nurse Pinto, who will not allow them into the x-ray room. Spencer and "Jenkins" see via the kiosk monitor that their quarry has escaped death, and Jenkins promises to deal with them.

Jean Rock is placing calls to Chameleon Tours destinations and is awaiting replies. She tells the Doctor, upon his return, that no one can find DI Crossland, and the Doctor sends Jamie to keep an eye on Sam. As the Doctor talks to the Commandant about Crossland, Jean breathlessly reports that all the airports she's contacted say the same thing: Chameleon picks up passengers, but none have been delivered to any airport. The Commandant thinks they've been taken to some private airfield, but the Doctor is thinking out of the box—and outside of the Earth. The Doctor asks Jean Rock to call Nurse Pinto away from the medical centre so he can have a proper look around.

Jamie cannot talk Sam out of buying a ticket for the next Chameleon flight to Rome, but with a clever flirtation manages to steal the ticket from her handbag. The Commandant is able to get an RAF fighter to follow the Rome flight. Jean Rock feigns sickness, and Pinto, much to her chagrin, is ordered by the Commandant to come to air traffic control to help her. The Doctor makes his way into the medical centre after she leaves and investigates the x-ray room. He is unaware that one of the electrical switches he tries reveals the real Nurse Pinto behind a screen, complete with white armband. As he picks the lock of a cupboard, Jenkins peeks through the outer door and aims a ray gun at him. A passenger enters the centre, forcing Jenkins to hide the gun, as the Doctor leaves carrying two armbands, one black, another white.

As Nurse Pinto watches over her, Jean makes a miraculous recovery when she spots the Doctor returning. The Doctor hopes to ask the fake Meadows about the armbands, but he is off duty. As Ann passes out postcards for the Rome passengers, Sam desperately looks for her ticket, only to hear from Ann that "S. Briggs" has already checked in. Spencer intercedes and has Sam sent behind the kiosk to see him; he pulls a ray gun on her. Jamie boards the plane and it takes off. The Doctor is unimpressed that the fighter plane can go "only" 10 miles up.

Ann hands out refreshments to the passengers, but Jamie feels very ill and is suddenly running to the back of the plane. The Commandant monitors the situation with the fighter closely. As Ann reports to Blade, he announces they're being followed. He gets coordinates of the fighter, and fires a laser beam directly into the cockpit. Air traffic control sees the fighter go off course and the Commandant is horrified when it disappears from the screen. Suddenly they notice the Chameleon flight appears to be standing still; the Commandant believes it too must be crashing.

In fact, the plane slowly transforms into something resembling a rocket ship. As Ann collects tiny objects from each seat into a tray, she is called back to the flight deck before noticing that Jamie's seat has no object to collect. The Commandant tells the Doctor that when a radar signal appears stationary it is in fact going straight down; the Doctor suggests it might be going straight up. In outer space, the transformed plane docks with a vast orbiting satellite.

Episode 5

Ann Davidson, carrying the tray, and Blade disembark. Questioning the wisdom of destroying the fighter, Ann is corrected by Blade, reminding her of their Director's teachings: the intelligence of humans is comparable only to animals from their planet. Jamie begins to emerge from hiding in the galley, but must wait until after two raw-state Chameleons arrive to remove luggage. Jamie watches Ann deliver the tray to a stockroom, then hides there himself. Opening a file drawer, he discovers miniaturized humans. Ann finds him, ray gun in hand, and Jamie is seized by two Chameleons.

Jean Rock reports there's been no sign of remains of the Chameleon flight, but the RAF reports finding wreckage of their plane; the pilot was electrocuted. The Commandant wants to believe the Doctor, but needs proof; providentially, Meadows returns to duty. The Doctor confronts him with the armbands, claiming staff have been systematically replaced, and asks him to roll up his sleeve; the Commandant agrees but Meadows resists. He attempts to escape but is foiled when Jean rolls a chair in his way and he crashes to the floor. They forcibly reveal the black armband around his left arm.

Meadows relents, telling of the satellite in space, and explains that a catastrophe on their planet has robbed them of their identities. The armbands are part of a process by which they can take on the identity of another. They hope to collect 50,000 young people on this trip. He denies knowing which other people have been replaced and begs for them not to search for the originals who are hidden somewhere at the airport. He explains how Nurse Pinto is in charge of the transfer process in the medical centre, and that she is the only one who knows where her original is. The Doctor forces Meadows to go with him to the centre under police guard; Meadows says they'll never see those 50,000 people again.

Nurse Pinto has Sam bound and gagged in the x-ray room, and Spencer tells her over a monitor that Sam is to be an original. Suddenly the Doctor and his party arrives outside, and the Doctor quickly confiscates Pinto's freezing pen. He discovers Sam and releases her, and Meadows shows him where the real Pinto is. Outside, Pinto produces a ray gun and kills a policeman. Entering the x-ray room, she is about to kill Meadows when he grabs the real Pinto's armband, and she dissolves into an amoebic mass. The real Pinto begins to revive. The Doctor notices some personnel files, but Sam interrupts to tell about Jamie stealing her ticket.

Jamie is tied up in the satellite's stockroom when Crossland enters, and he releases him while calmly questioning him about the Doctor and the situation on Earth. Jamie becomes suspicious, and Crossland tells him the Doctor is facing a superior mind, the Director. Crossland is the Director. The plane leaves the satellite and begins its return journey to Gatwick. The Doctor shows the Commandant the 25 personnel files from the medical centre; all 25 people have been taken over by Chameleons. When the Doctor hears that Chameleon Tours' last flight of the season is leaving in one hour, he begs that the 25 people not be arrested. The Doctor plans to pretend he is a Chameleon (by saying he was Meadows), and get on that last flight with the help of Nurse Pinto. The Commandant will try to find where the originals are hidden, so they can be used to bargain with the Chameleons.

The Doctor and Nurse Pinto meet Captain Blade at the medical centre. Blade is suspicious but seems to accept the story; the Doctor cannot get out of him where the originals are hidden. They all board the plane and are allowed to take off as normal. Air traffic control observes the disappearance of the plane as the Commandant coordinates search efforts with Airport Police Chief Reynolds. Sam and Jean have searched the kiosk and medical centre respectively for clues, and report to the Commandant together: no luck.

The plane docks at the satellite, and Blade instructs the passengers to report to the Accommodation Centre for reallocation of quarters: owing to the success of their plan, living space is at a minimum. The Director is fitting and testing the armband for a Chameleon Jamie, when Blade reports they have two impostors aboard. Blade wants to have them destroyed, but the Director questions Jamie about the Doctor; Jamie explains (without a Scots accent) the truth about him, and the Director decides he wants the Doctor alive. Blade finds the Doctor and Nurse Pinto and, as they are surrounded by raw-state Chameleons, says they won't need living space.

Episode 6

Blade, Spencer, and the Chameleons surround the Doctor and Nurse Pinto, and Blade explains that they want the Doctor's brain. The Commandant and Reynolds interrogate Meadows, but he is of no help to them and he is removed. The Commandant has the airport closed to traffic and orders the staff to begin searching the airport en masse.

In the Director's office, the Doctor meets the duplicate Jamie. The Director will personally decide which Chameleon gets the Doctor's identity. The Doctor needles the Director about how he's perfectly safe since his original is on board, but what about the others? On Earth, Meadows escapes from his guards.

With the Director away, Blade prepares to process the Doctor, but the Doctor continues his point: you'd better hurry up before you cease to exist. He threatens the Chameleons, claiming the originals have been found, and that Blade is the first to have his armband removed. Blade contacts Gatwick, calling the Doctor's bluff. The Commandant smartly plays along, but worries how much time they have.

Samantha and Jean make a breakthough: they discover a list of 25 car-licence numbers in the office behind the Chameleon kiosk. As the Commandant continues to stall, he receives a call from the ladies. The Chameleons cut off contact, and ignore further attempts. On the satellite, the Director returns; Blade realizes the Doctor was bluffing. As the Doctor carries on he manages to sabotage the processing machine; it explodes. As Sam and Jean scour the car park for the licence numbers, a new processing unit arrives and the Doctor is prepared.

Meadows emerges from hiding and attacks Sam in the car park; she and Jean manage to subdue him as police arrive. Jean spots the prone body of I&C officer Jenkins inside a car. Soon, with the satellite ignoring their calls, the Commandant orders Jenkins's armband removed. The duplicate Jenkins, manning the processing machine, disintegrates. The Doctor delightedly points out that soon they'll all have disintegrated—except for the Director. Blade levels his gun at the Director, and orders contact reestablished with Gatwick. The Director orders Jamie to destroy the transmitter, but Spencer has him covered and contact is made.

The Commandant explains where the originals were found, and demands to speak to the Doctor, or else Blade will be eliminated. The Doctor has Nurse Pinto released, and negotiations begin. The Doctor offers a guarantee of continued existence (in their "faceless state") so long as all humans are released. The Director says the humans cannot be returned to normal, but Blade corrects that lie by explaining the planes are the miniaturization chambers. Spencer and Blade accept, but the Director and "Jamie" try to escape; Blade shoots them down. Spencer takes the Doctor to find Ben, Polly, and the real Jamie and DI Crossland. Gatwick Airport returns to normal.

Blade asks the Doctor about the future of his people, and the Doctor tells him he has a few ideas which may improve it. Back on Earth, goodbyes are said to the Commandant and Jean, and Jamie has an awkward goodbye with Samantha. At last, the four friends are reunited, but alas, Ben and Polly decide to stay on Earth, in London, on the very day they left in the TARDIS: 20 July 1966. The Doctor is envious; he never got back to his world. They all give their heartfelt goodbyes.

The Doctor and Jamie have a pressing problem: the TARDIS was outside the hangar...

Cast

Crew

References

The Chameleons were made faceless by a nuclear accident. In fact, "nuclear" is never specified; Meadows says it was a "gigantic explosion." "Nuclear" does seem reasonable, however.
Ben appreciates his return to England by noting there are no monsters or Cybermen.

Story notes

This story had a working title of The Chameleons.
A new arrangement of the theme tune produced by Delia Derbyshire (with assistance from Dick Mills) to match the new title sequence makes its debut here in episode two. The new title sequence featuring Patrick Troughton's face was first used in the previous story, but with the original theme tune used (as well as on episode one of this story) due to a production mistake. This new arrangement remains in use (with some variations) until 1980.
As well as the complete print of Episode 1, the BBC Archives also hold an incomplete copy returned from ABC in Australia in 1981 after censors had removed the following scenes: 'Spencer' killing Inspector Gascoigne with a Chameleon ray-gun; the alien arm emerging from the cupboard; and panning of the alien figure – seen only from behind – at the end of the episode.
Ben Jackson and Polly depart in this story after having appeared only in Episodes 1, 2 and 6.
Samantha Briggs was originally intended to be a companion, however Pauline Collins turned down the offer.
Pauline Collins, who played Samantha Briggs, would later play Queen Victoria in the Tenth Doctor episode Tooth and Claw.

Ratings

Episode 1 - 8.0 million viewers
Episode 2 - 6.4 million viewers
Episode 3 - 7.9 million viewers
Episode 4 - 6.9 million viewers
Episode 5 - 7.1 million viewers
Episode 6 - 8.0 million viewers

Myths

The only surviving copy of Episode 1 is a print edited by the censors in Australia. (The copy of this episode in the BBC Archives is complete and unedited – see Story notes above.)

Filming locations

Gatwick Airport, Gatwick, Surrey
Ealing Television Film Studios, Ealing Green, Ealing
Lime Grove Studios (Studio D), Lime Grove, London

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

The man shot in episode one had his back to Polly when he was shot, yet manages to fall with his face on the ground.

Continuity

This story takes place contemporaneously with the events of DW: The War Machines.
The conclusion of this story leads straight into DW: The Evil of the Daleks.
The Chameleons appear again in ST: Face Value.

Timeline

This story occurs after CC: Resistance.
This story occurs before DW: The Evil of the Daleks.

Home video and audio releases

DVD Release

The surviving episodes (Episodes 1 & 3) were released in digitally re-mastered form as part of the Lost in Time 3-disc DVD set.

Released:

Region 2 1st November 2005

PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1353

Region 4 2nd December 2005
Region 1 2nd November 2005

NTSC - Warner Video E2082 (Troughton 2 disc set) / E2083 (Box set)

Region 2 Lost in Time DVD cover
Region 1 Lost in Time DVD cover
Region 1 Lost in Time 'Troughton' DVD cover

VHS releases

The surviving episodes (Episodes 1 & 3) were released alongside The Web of Fear Episode 1 and the remaining episodes of The Reign of Terror all in digitally re-mastered form as part of a two-cassette release entitled Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror.