Terror of the Autons (TV story)

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Katy Manning makes her debut as companion Jo Grant and this story is the first to feature Roger Delgado as the arch nemesis of the Doctor, the Master. The Autons return as well.

Synopsis

The Master arrives on Earth at a circus run by a man named Rossini and steals a dormant Nestene energy unit from a museum. He reactivates it using a radio telescope and uses his hypnotic abilities to take control of a small plastics firm run by the Farrel family, where he organises the production of deadly Auton dolls, chairs and daffodils.

Humanoid Auton dummies distribute the daffodils - designed to spray a suffocating plastic film over their victim's mouth and nose - by giving them away free to members of the public in a fake promotional campaign.

The Master plans to activate the flowers with a signal from the radio telescope, which he will then use to bring the main Nestene Consciousness to Earth. The Doctor manages to persuade the Master that the Nestenes will have no further use for him once they arrive. The two Time Lords then work together to send the Consciousness back into space.

Plot

to be added

The Doctor with Jo Grant and Captain Yates.

Cast

Crew

References

  • This is the first story to feature Mike Yates, Jo Grant, and the Master.
  • First appearance of the Tissue Compression Eliminator (as it would come to be called).
  • The Doctor says he regards military intelligence a contradiction in terms. He boils away the contents of weapon of the Master's so that the military cannot get a hold of it and try to duplicate it.
  • This is Jo Grant's first appearance. An uncle pulled some strings to get her a job at UNIT.
  • This is the Master's first appearance. The Time Lord who appears to the Doctor informs him that he now call himself this, implying that he has gone by other names. He has special abilities including hypnosis that can make people act against their usual nature. (He hypnotises Jo)
  • The Master's TARDIS is disguised as a horsebox, and uses a Mark Two dematerialization circuit, as opposed to the Doctor's Mark One, they are not compatible.
  • The Lamadines are a species with nine opposable digits who pioneered steady state micro welding.

Story Notes

  • This story had a working title of; The Spray of Death.

Ratings

  • Episode 1 - 7.3 million viewers
  • Episode 2 - 8.0 million viewers
  • Episode 3 - 8.1 million viewers
  • Episode 4 - 8.4 million viewers

Myths

  • The production team had initially envisioned the new regular villain for the series as a female character, possibly called the Controller, to be played by Susan Jameson. (The role was always envisioned as a male character called the Master, and Roger Delgado was the only actor considered for it.)

Filming Locations

  • St. Peter's Court, Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire
  • Hodgemoor Woods, Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire
  • Lee Valley Ice Centre, Leyton, London (Location of Rossini's circus)
  • Zouches Farm Relay Station, Caddington, Bedfordshire (Location used for exterior of Beacon Hill Research Establishment)
  • Church Lane car park, Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire
  • Queen's Wharf, Hammersmith, London (Exterior location of the Master's bomb exploding outside UNIT lab, in water)
  • Totternhoe Lime and Stone Co Ltd, Totternhoe, Dunstable (The quarry the Doctor and Jo are taken to)
  • Ecomold (formerly Thermo Plastics Ltd), Luton Road, Dunstable (Farrell's Plastics Factory)
  • BBC Television Centre (Studio 8 and 6), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • All elements of CSO have a lot of flaring/fuzzing around the edges of the CSOed image (a museum, the outside of a radio telescope, a lunchbox interior, a lab, the interior of two cars, a phonebox, a kitchen, a quarry and everywhere the killer doll goes).
  • In episode one the Doctor could have got to the volatizer by hopping in through the open window (which is how the Master must have got out having set the trap).

Continuity

DVD, Video and Other Releases

VHS Release

  • Released as a recolourised addition based on black and white and colour source material in the UK April 1993 and Australia/New Zealand June 1993 (BBC catalog #4957), US/Canada June 1995 (WHV catalog #E1276) in episodic format.
  • This release was part of the 30th Anniversary celebrations releases.

Target Novelisations

External Links

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