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
Full video
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Doctor Who: The Collection mini-episodes
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Return of the Autons was a promotional mini-episode created as an extra for the release of Doctor Who: The Collection — Season 8. 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.

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
• Auton Performer - John Hogg

Crew

• Writer and Director - Pete McTighe
• Camera - Jeremy Bishop
• Sound Recordist - Jasmine Allodi
• Make-up - Sarah Burrows
• Special Effects - Niel Bushnell
• 3D Title Sequence - Rob Ritchie
• Dubbing Mixer - Mark Ayres
• Producers - Jo Larmer and Russell Minton

Thanks to Nic and Anna Baker, Harriet Frost, Derek Handley and Paul Vanezis

Worldbuilding

• 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

• This was the first of Pete McTighe's minisodes released in conjunction with The Collection to have its title included in the credits, but only on the Version included on the Season 8 Blu-ray.
• 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.
• This was Stewart Bevan's last appearance as Clifford Jones and the final performance of his career.

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 in their home, it is clearly raining outside, most clearly seen on the patio with splashes from raindrops being visible. Exterior shots of the home, however, show that it was not raining.

Continuity

• Jo and Cliff are living together in their home. Jo later died in her home. (PROSE: Carpenter/Butterfly/Baronet, AUDIO: The Mists of Time)
• The carnival mask wearing Autons previously appeared in TV: Terror of the Autons.
• Jo and Cliff are a happily married couple. (TV: The Green Death, etc.)