Return of the Autons (webcast)

Return of the Autons
Main character(s):	Jo, Cliff
Main enemy:	Autons
Key crew
Writer:	Pete McTighe
Director:	Pete McTighe
Release details
Premiere broadcast:	25 November 2020
Premiere network:	YouTube

Return of the Autons was a short created as an extra for the the Blu-ray release of season 8 of Doctor Who. It was originally released over the Internet within a longer webcast titled Jo Grant vs the Autons... Again?!, which also included a trailer for said volume of The Collection, but the minisode (specifically defined as such in the booklet by the story's author Pete McTighe) was included without the commercial material in a definitive form and under its own title in the actual Blu-ray.

Synopsis

In Jo and Cliff's home, they're accosted by Autons - but Jo saves the day.

Plot

Cliff returns to his and Jo's home with a plastic daffodil, and upon entering the kitchen, Jo tells Cliff that the twins, who have formed an electro hip-hop band, are going to be showing a demo over Zoom. Cliff tells Jo about the daffodil, and while he is more concerned about its impact on the planet, Jo knows the darker secret. Jo has a flashback to a previous attack by the Autons, and she races outside, Cliff following. On the road, they see a squad of Autons menacing fowards. Cliff asks if they're aliens, and Jo confirms. One Auton opens fire, and Jo and Cliff run.

As Jo stands outside, pleased with herself, Cliff tells her that UNIT put him on hold. She tells him not to worry, as she's sorted them out. Cliff looks and all of the incapacitated Autons, and he asks her how she did it. Clutching an iPhone, Jo tells him that she "jammed the Nestene radio signal with a concentrated blast of music on the exact same wavelength".

Cast

• Jo Jones - Katy Manning
• Clifford Jones - Stewart Bevan

Crew

• Writer - Pete McTighe
• Director - Pete McTighe

References

• Jo is using an ASUS VivoBook laptop.
• There is a picture of Jo and the Third Doctor hung on the wall.
• There is a box of Quality Street chocolates on the table.
• Cliff mentions that the Autons are wearing carnival masks.
• Jo and Cliff have iPhones.

Notes

• The story is a sequel to Terror of the Autons.
• This is the second webcast for the promotion of The Collection to feature Katy Manning as Jo Jones and Stewart Bevan as Clifford Jones. The first was Jo Grant Returns.
• Pete McTighe confirmed he wrote and directed the trailer via his Twitter feed.

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.

• During the scene with Cliff and Jo in the kitchen on the home, it is clearly raining outside, most clearly seen on the patio with splashes from raindrops being visible.

Continuity

to be added