Terror of the Autons (TV story)

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Terror of the Autons was the first story of Season 8. It was notable for being a "gentle reboot" of the Pertwee era, offering a number of elements which would remain prevalent for the next three seasons. It marked the debut of three new recurring characters, Jo Grant, Mike Yates and the Master. Furthermore, it was the first story in which Sgt. Benton's portrayer, John Levene, was given an annual contract, rather than employment as a day player. It also introduced what became UNIT's standard, green uniforms — the replacements for what Barry Letts disparagingly called the "chocolates" of Season 7 — and a new UNIT laboratory which would be used by the Third Doctor until the end of his exile.

It also featured the first return of the Autons since their debut in Season 7, and the first direct contact between the Doctor and his people since the end of Season 6. It was one of very few stories — and the first since The Tomb of the Cybermen — in which each new episode drew more viewers than the one that had preceded it. Finally, it was also the only televised Doctor Who story to be at least partially adapted as a non-parodic comic strip.

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

Cast

Crew

References

The Doctor gets to know Jo and Mike.
  • 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.
  • Although credited, Bill McGuirk (Policeman) does not actually appear in the story; his scenes having been cut prior to broadcast.

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 and the coach, a phone box, 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.

Novelisation

File:1TerrorAutons.jpg
Main article: Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons

External Links

Template:Season 8

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According to one account, the Master had the appearance of Roger Delgado while on Gallifrey. According to another, he had Anthony Ainley's likeness. According to another one, the one with James Dreyfus's appearance was the incarnation who ran away from Gallifrey.

Divided Loyalties, A Brief History of Time Lords and The Legions of Death feature, or otherwise acknowledge, the War Chief, but in the process contradicted the notion put forward by other stories that he was an incarnation of the Master.

One account suggests that the incarnation portrayed by Roger Delgado may be the same as the one portrayed by Peter Pratt while some others distinguish them.

According to one account, the incarnation portrayed by Gordon Tipple is the one portrayed by Anthony Ainley, while some others state that the Ainley one was already lost by then.

While fighting to extend his life at the end of his regeneration cycle, many bodies were possessed by the Beevers incarnation, but all kept somehow reverting to his real being until he finally regenerated into the MacQueen one. Hence, these sections cannot be strictly chronological
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