Spearhead from Space (TV story)

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives on Earth in the middle of a meteorite shower and the Doctor is found by UNIT troops and taken to a nearby hospital. The Brigadier is faced with having to cope not only with the mysterious meteorites but also with Ransome, an ex-employee of a local plastics factory, who claims he has seen a walking mannequin.

The meteorites turn out to be hollow globes containing the Nestene consciousness, a disembodied alien intelligence with an affinity for plastic. A Nestene agent, Channing, has infiltrated the plastics factory and is using energy from the globes to animate Autons - mannequin-like figures and realistic replicas of senior establishment figures - with the aim of colonising the Earth.

Aided by newly-recruited UNIT scientist Dr Elizabeth Shaw, the Doctor thwarts this scheme by repelling the Nestene consciousness into space and thereby neutralising the Autons and the monstrous tentacled form that it has been creating for itself in a tank within the factory. Channing, revealed to be no more than a sophisticated Auton, is likewise deactivated.

Plot

to be added

Cast

The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
Liz Shaw - Caroline John
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
Channing - Hugh Burden
Seeley - Neil Wilson
Mullins - Talfryn Thomas
Captain Munro - John Breslin
Dr. Henderson - Antony Webb
Nurse - Helen Dorward
Corporal Forbes - George Lee
UNIT Officer - Tessa Shaw
Technician - Ellis Jones
Wagstaffe - Allan Mitchell
2nd Reporter - Prentis Hancock
Major General Scobie - Hamilton Dyce
Dr. Beavis - Henry McCarthy
Hibbert - John Woodnutt
Ransome - Derek Smee
Meg - Betty Bowden
Sergeant - Clifford Cox
Attendant - Edmund Bailey

Crew

References

The Doctor can communicate with his eyebrows in the language of the planet Delphon.
The Time Lords have changed the dematerialization codes for the TARDIS
UNIT have monitoring stations and a London HQ.
The Doctor uses the alias John Smith

Story Notes

This is the first story featuring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, as well as the first appearance of companion Liz Shaw and villains the Nestene Consciousness and its servants the Autons.
There is a new title sequence designed by Bernard Lodge (who designed the previous title sequence).
There are scenes featuring real waxworks shot at Madame Tussaud's in London.
This story had the working title of; Facsimile.
This story is completely shot on film.

Ratings

Episode 1 - 8.4 million viewers
Episode 2 - 8.1 million viewers
Episode 3 - 8.3 million viewers
Episode 4 - 8.1 million viewers

Myths

to be added

Location Filming

Location filming took pace at the BBC facility of Wood Norton near Evesham and in the nearby pub in Radford.
Madame Tussaud's in London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

During the scene where the Doctor is showering, Jon Pertwee's Navy tattoo is clearly visible on his arm.

(This is explained in a later novel as the mark of an exiled Time Lord)

If UNIT is a top secret organisation, how does the media know about it?

Continuity

The Autons (and the Nestene) reappear in: Terror of the Autons, Rose, PDA: Synthespians™ and Business Unusual
UNIT last appeared in The Invasion.
The Doctor's exile lasts until The Three Doctors.

DVD, Video and Other Releases

DVD Releases

File:3a-dvd.jpg

Released as Doctor Who: Spearhead from Space, this release was slipped into the DVD schedule by BBC Worldwide so that a second DVD could be released in 2000. In the event, the DVD was delayed till the following year.

Released: