The Faceless Ones (TV story)
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Cast
- Dr. Who - Patrick Troughton
- Ben Jackson - Michael Craze
- Polly - Anneke Wills
- Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines
- Samantha Briggs - Pauline Collins
- Policeman - James Appleby
- Commandant - Colin Gordon
- Meadows - George Selway
- Jean Rock - Wanda Ventham
- Spencer - Victor Winding
- Inspector Gascoigne - Peter Whitaker
- Blade - Donald Pickering
- Jenkins - Christopher Tranchell
- Nurse Pinto - Madalena Nicol
- Crossland - Bernard Kay
- Ann Davidson - Gilly Fraser
- Announcer - Brigit Paul
- Heslington - Barry Wilsher
- RAF Pilot - Michael Ladkin
- Supt. Reynolds - Leonard Trolley
Uncredited cast
- Workmen - Robin Burns, Charles Erskine
- Air Traffic Controllers - Vic Taylor, Roger Jacombs, Roy Curtis
- Passengers - Basil Tang, Barry Noble, Don Simons, Donald Sinclair, James Holbrook
- Chameleons - Barry Dupres, Roy Pearce, Robin Dawson
- Airport Policemen - Crawford Lyle, Geoffrey Witherick, Peter Blair Stewart, Robin Dawson, Roy Pearce
- Chameleon Airport Personnel on Plane - Steve Pokol, John Evans, Tony Lang
- Double for Blade - Terence Denville
- Ambulance Man - Donald Sinclair
- Airport Police Sergeant - Peter Roy
- Chauffeur - Peter Roy (all DWM 212)
Crew
- Assistant Floor Manager - Sue Marlborough
- Associate Producer - Peter Bryant
- Costumes - Daphne Dare, Sandra Reid
- Designer - Geoffrey Kirkland
- Film Cameraman - Tony Imi
- Film Editor - Chris Hayden
- Make-Up - Gillian James
- Producer - Innes Lloyd
- Production Assistant - Richard Brooks
- Script Editor - Gerry Davis
- Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
- Studio Lighting - Howard King
- Studio Sound - Gordon Mackie
- Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
References
Food and beverages
- The Chameleon hostess Ann Davidson offers barley sugar to the kidnapped passengers.
The Doctor
- The Doctor is referred to as "human" by the Chameleons.
- When Polly says that present England is their world, the Doctor shows sorrow about never going back to his world.
- The Doctor pretends that he is a physician and that Jamie has a tropical disease, to be cured with "somnalin".
- The Doctor belittles passports as "mumbo jumbo".
Places
- Chameleon Tours are settled in cities such as Zurich, Rome, Athens, Dubrovnik, and Freiburg, along with Spain and the Black Forest.
- The Chameleon Polly pretends to be a woman named Michelle Leupi from Zurich.
Real world references
- RAF is involved in the conflict with the Chameleons.
- Ben, Jamie and the Doctor hide in a photo booth.
Technology
- The Chameleons show their achievement of some kind of teleportation technology while moving their hostages from the plane to their satellite.
- The Chameleons are able to miniaturise living beings.
Time
- The adventure takes place on 20 July 1966, the same day Ben and Polly left present Earth for the first time.
Vehicles
- The Chameleons use common planes as mean of abduction. Jamie calls them "beasties".
- The Chameleons have an artificial satellite orbiting beyond Earth atmosphere.
Weapons
- The Chameleons use ray guns able to electrocute their victims.
- The Chameleons use a paralysing beam and a laser beam to freeze and threaten to kill the Doctor and Samantha.
Story notes
- This story had a working title of The Chameleons.
- The conclusion of this story leads straight into The Evil of the Daleks.
- Only episodes one and three of this six-part story exist as 16mm black & white film telerecordings in the BBC Archives.
- 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 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 remained in use (with some variations) until The Horns of Nimon in 1979/80, after which it was replaced by a new arrangement by Peter Howell. (It was also to have been used in the then uncompleted Shada.)
- As well as the complete 16mm black & white film telerecording of episode one, the BBC Archives also hold an incomplete print returned from ABC in Australia in 1981. In that print, the censors down under had removed the following scenes: "Spencer" killing Inspector Gascoigne with a Chameleon ray-gun; the alien arm emerging from the cupboard; and panning shots of the alien figure — seen only from behind — at the end of the episode. A copy of the Australian-censored 16mm black & white film telerecording of episode one also exists in a private collection.
- Ben Jackson and Polly depart in this story after having appeared only in episodes one, two and six.
- Samantha Briggs was originally intended to be a companion, but Pauline Collins turned down the offer of a regular role with the series. She would later appear as Queen Victoria in TV: Tooth and Claw roughly forty years later.
- Chameleon Tours was originally called Pied Piper Tours
- Nurse Pinto was originally named O'Brien.
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 one is a print edited by the censors in Australia. (The copy of this episode in the BBC Archives is complete and unedited. However, the BBC Archives do also hold an Australian-censored print of episode one as well as the complete version – 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.
- In episode one, Inspector Gascoigne has his back to Polly when he is shot by "Spencer", yet he manages to fall with his face on the ground.
- When, in episode one, "Spencer" enters the control room, the door handle comes off in his hand.
Continuity
- Ben is glad to have not met the Cybermen again. (TV: The Tenth Planet, The Moonbase)
- The Sixth Doctor encounters the Chameleons on Krennos. (PROSE: Face Value)
- The Doctor again pretends to be a medical doctor. (TV: The Highlanders et al.)
- In his investigation of reports of a series of agent provocateurs known as "the Doctor" who had been involved in numerous unusual incidents, the journalist James Stevens interviewed Samantha Briggs about the Gatwick Incident. She described the Doctor as "a short man with a mournful face and dishevelled clothing". She also noted that he had a "blurred" English accent which defied description and seemed to be extremely knowledgeable on a wide variety of subjects. Stevens dubbed him "the Gatwick Doctor" due to his involvement in the investigation of holiday fraud. He found it bizarre that it occurred on the same day as the C-Day fiasco, namely 20 July 1966, when Sir Charles Summer claimed to have been in the company of an elderly white-haired man who also called himself "the Doctor" in Central London. Stevens also found evidence that the Gatwick Doctor was later heavily involved in the London Event, an infamous nerve gas scare on the London Underground, during which the population of Central London was evacuated. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)
Home video and audio releases
DVD Release
- The surviving episodes (episodes one and three) were released in digitally re-mastered form as part of the Lost in Time 3-disc DVD set.
Released:
- Region 2 - 1 November 2004
- PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1353
- Region 4 - 2 December 2004
- Region 1 - 2 November 2004
- 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
Region 4 Lost in Time Re Release
VHS releases
- The surviving episodes (episodes one and three) were released alongside The Web of Fear episode one and the remaining first, second, third and sixth 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. The events of the missing fourth and fifth episodes of The Reign of Terror were summarised on-screen by Carole Ann Ford.
Released:
- PAL - BBC Video BBCV7335
- NTSC - Warner Video E1853
Notes: The US release was also located in The End of the Universe Collection.
- Editing of surviving episodes for the VHS and DVD releases was completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
UK PAL VHS Reign of Terror boxed set cover
UK PAL VHS Web of Fear/The Faceless Ones cover
US NTSC VHS cover
AUS VHS Cover
Audio releases
- The soundtrack to this story was released on CD with linking narration by Frazer Hines on 4 February 2002.
- It was re-released on 2 February 2012 as part of the box set Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes - Collection Four.
CD release
The Lost TV Episodes - Collection Four
External links
- The Faceless Ones at the BBC's official site
- The Faceless Ones at BroaDWcast
- BBC - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Photonovel - The Faceless Ones
- The Faceless Ones at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- The Faceless Ones at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
- The Faceless Ones at The Locations Guide
