4 episodes
Aired between 3rd January 1970 and 24th January 1970
Written by Robert Holmes
Produced by Derrick Sherwin
Directed by Derek Martinus
Synopsis
A UNIT (see The Invasion) radar tracking station picks up a meteor storm that gives the technician cause for concern - it's flying in formation. They track their descent to Oxley forest in Epping, Essex.
Local poacher, Sam Seeley witnesses the meteors coming down.
He investigates and finds one of them in the ground pulsating but too hot to touch. He buries it until it cools off and marks the spot.
Elsewhere in the woods, the TARDIS lands and the Doctor emerges only to fall to the ground unconscious.
Back over at UNIT, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart has a meeting with successful scientist, Dr Elizabeth Shaw. He tells "Miss Shaw" that she has been seconded to work for UNIT as a scientific adviser to investigate the crashed meteors. She's not too happy about it and quite skeptical. The Brigadier assures her that the human race has encountered alien life forms, but in the past has always had help from the Doctor, but he's nowhere to be seen. As soon as he says that, the Brigadier gets a call from his staff to explain that a strange man with a Police Box has been taken to the local hospital. The Brigadier orders a guards placed on the box, and rushes off with Liz in tow to visit the Doctor.
At the hospital, Dr Henderson looks over his patient and realises that here are some fantastic anomalies in his patient. He thinks its a joke and goes to contact the X-Ray dept. One of the janitors overhears about the strange patient and decides to call the press to cash in.
The Brigadier and Liz arrive at the hospital to see a throng of news reporters asking questions about meteorites and alien patients. The Brigadier bats off the questions and heads off into the hospital to see the Doctor. He and Liz speak to Henderson and find out that the Doctor has two hearts and an unknown blood type. They look at the man in the bed, but the Brigadier cannot identify him. He does wake up though and knows exactly who the Brigadier is, complains about the look of his face and falls asleep again.
Out in Oakley woods, Sam Seeley goes back and digs up the meteorite, finding that it's more like a flashing orb that emits a strange beeping sound. He puts it in his sack but finds that UNIT soldiers are in the area too, searching the ground. He skulks away but comes across one of the soldiers keeping guard on the area.
Seeley is questioned by the soldier but acts as if he's been out poaching. The soldier tells him it's a restricted area and tells him to "push off".
Back at the hospital, the Brigadier and Liz slip out of the back door to avoid giving the press any more statements. One of the reporters goes to ring head office but is frustrated by the odd man who has been stood in the booth doing nothing for the last half hour. The man (Channing) looks wide eyed at the reporter before casually walking off.
Once Dr Henderson has liaised with his colleagues, he returns to the Doctor to find that he is awake but oddly fixated with the whereabouts of his shoes. Dr Henderson can't see any harm in giving him them, so he does. The Doctor snatches them and looks content until Henderson and the nurse have left. He then picks out his spare TARDIS key from his shoe and bides his time. As Henderson's back is turned he is hit over the head and knocked out. The Doctor is then gagged by Channing and a couple of orderlies and taken out of the hospital. As he is wheeled into an ambulance however, he pushes the chair down the ramp and begins riding the wheelchair down the path away from his kidnappers.
The UNIT guards are alerted to the Doctor's absence whilst Channing and his henchmen make a getaway in their ambulance, UNIT soldiers chase the Doctor, discovering that he's making his way back to Oakley woods. They give chase, but one of the guards protecting the area is startled by the Doctor suddenly coming out of the bush and fires at him. The Doctor clutches his head and falls to the ground. Luckily the bullet only grazed him.
Once back at the hospital, Dr Henderson checks him over once more and tells the Brigadier that he seems to be in a self induced coma. He gives the TARDIS key to the Brigadier and says they found it on him.
He's also shown a picture of Channing, the likely culprit of the kidap attempt, and the remains of one of the meteorites that the team have found. The Brigadier doubles the guard at the hospital and orders the TARDIS and meteor remains to be taken back to UNIT HQ.
At Auto Plastics, a local manufacturing firm, John Ransome meets with the manager, George Hibbert.
Ransome is furious as he was away on a business trip selling the premise of a special toy doll to America, and when he comes back he finds that Hibbert has sacked most of the staff and ruled his workshop is out of bounds and top secret. Hibbert (holding his neck) says that things have changed and he's teamed up with Channing. He tells Ransome to stay away from the factory and they'll send his possessions to him.
Ransome leaves and Channing approaches Hibbert, reassuring him that he said all the right things.
Back at his house, Sam Seeley transfers the orb to an old chest under the nose of his suspicious wife.
At UNIT HQ, the Brigadier inspects the TARDIS whilst Liz works on analysing the meteorite fragment. She jokes about the Police Box really being a spaceship and does so openly when Major General Scobie (Lethbridge-Stewarts superior) arrives for an update.
Back at the hospital, the Doctor comes out of his coma. He sneaks off to the hospital staff room, where, after evading capture by having a shower, he steals the flamboyant clothes of a medical consultant and even takes his vintage car!
In the woods, the UNIT search team uncover another meteorite. Its hollow bleeping alerts a strange plastic looking dummy that is searching nearby.
As the meteorite is transported back to HQ, the dummy (Auton) walks out into the road, causing the driver to swerve and hit a tree, killing those on board.
The Auton takes the meteorite and disappears into the woods.
The Doctor takes the vintage car directly to the UNIT HQ, where he arrogantly bluffs his way in. Once inside he locates the TARDIS where he meets the Brigadier and Liz Shaw. He says he found the TARDIS thanks to a trusty homing beacon and explains that the Time Lords have taken part of his memory, changing his face along with it.
He agrees to help the Brigadier in exchange for the TARDIS key.
The Doctor immediately deduces that the meteorites were more like hollow orbs containing some sort of life force. He also deduces that because the meteorites are hard to find (apparently there were fifty of them), they have been taken somewhere. The question is, where?
Upset by his dismissal at Auto Plastics, Ransome returns and jumps the fence. As he's snooping about, Channing and Hibbert are talking to Major General Scobie, showing him the prototype of a dummy made in his image to be displayed at Madame Tusaudes. As they leave, Ransome barely remains undetected, but manages to get access to his previous workshop. Once inside, he finds lots of Auton dummies stood about and a large metal box. As he inspects the box, one of the Autons comes alive, its hand flips open and a gun appears.
The terrified Ransome just ducks out of the way as the Auton fires. He races out of the factory and escapes thanks to the Major General walking past, forcing the Auton to hide. Now outside, Ransome rushes into the woods where he is found by UNIT and taken back to base.
Sam Seeley goes to see UNIT and asks Captain Munroe how much he could get paid if he finds one of the "thunderballs". Captain Munroe is not in the mood for playing games and brow beats Seeley into admitting that he took one.
Back at the factory, Scobie leaves, and Channing tells Hibbert that the swarm leader is missing. As soon as its found, he intends to take it and then kill Ransome using his Auton puppets.
Back at UNIT, Ransome explains to the Brigadier what he saw. Whilst the Brig is distracted, the Doctor convinces Liz to take the TARDIS key. Although he can gain entry to the ship, it refuses to take off. An angry Brigadier turns up and demands to know what's happened to the key. The Doctor emerges from a smoking TARDIS looking sheepish and saying that the Time Lords have changed the dematerialisation codes.
Back at Sam Seeley's house, his wife discovers the missing meteorite. As she opens the trunk, a nearby Auton picks up the signal and starts to ransack the house looking for it. Mrs Seeley is terrified when she looks on the dummy but has enough courage to grab Sams shotgun.
It doesn't do her any good however as the shots don't have any effect. The Auton knocks her unconscious and searches for the meteorite.
Having the confession from Sam Seeley, the UNIT crew race to his house to find the Auton in the act of taking the glowing orb. They open fire, and Channing telepathically commands the Auton to retreat, leaving the meteorite in the hands of UNIT. He switches to plan B and goes after Ransome, cutting a hole in the back of the tent and shooting him with the Auton's "hand-gun". Channing orders "total destruction" and the Auton fires a powerful shot, vapourising Ransome, leaving no trace.
When the Brigadier finds Ransome gone, he presumes he's been kidnapped and taken back to the factory. The Doctor, Liz and the Brigadier go to Auto Plastics and question Hibbert about Ransome's allegations. Hibbert passes it off as Ransome being jealous and making up stories to discredit the company. Whilst they are there though, the Brigadier spots Channing through one of the opaque windows.
He decides to get clearance from Major General Scobie to storm the place. He calls Scobie who agrees to come and meet him, but as he puts the phone down, the doorbell rings. Scobie answers the door to see a shiny plastic version of himself staring back at him,
The Brigadier takes a call from Major General Scobie who tells him that Auto Plastics is catagorically off limits and no action is to be taken.
Knowing that the meteors contain life forms that can inherit bodies, the Doctor figures out with the help of Liz and the Brigadier that it's likely one was used to inhabit the "facsimile" of Scobie that was due to be sent to Madame Tusaudes. They decide that checking out the museum is the logical next step whilst the Brigadier goes over the Generals head to get clearance to storm the factory.
Once at Madame Tusaudes, the Doctor and Liz find that many world leaders have had plastic facsimiles done of them. The tables are turned however when the Doctor finds that Scobie is wearing a watch that is set to the right time. The dummy is in fact the immobilised Scobie himself!
Back at the plastics factory, Hibbert talks to Channing about the plan. Channing reveals that the life force from the meteorites has created a body for the swarm leader to inhabit. The body is sat lifeless within the metal box hidden inside the old workshop.
Hibbert is concerned at the fact that UNIT have the swarm leader. Channing reassures him that they will retrieve it with the help of Major General Scobie's facsimile, and they will activate all the Autons the following day.
As predicted, the Scobie facsimile turns up at UNIT HQ and demands Captain Munroe turns over the meteorite.
As night comes, the exhibits at Madame Tusaudes are closed. When the security guard leaves, the Doctor and Liz come out of hiding. They are forced to hide once more however as Channing and Hibbert enter the exhibit. They activate the dummies and supervise them moving out into the world to take control of their respective offices. Channing leaves but Hibbert finds the Doctor and Liz hiding. The Doctor tries to convince Hibbert to break the mind control Channing has over him. Channing returns to see what the problem is, but Hibbert doesn't give up the Doctors location.
Once they return to the factory, Channing and Hibbert are given the swarm leader meteorite. Channing transfers the life essence to the creature and it begins to pulsate. Hibbert is anxious of a UNIT attack, but Channing says he's ready for them, explaining that all the Autons will be activated at dawn.
Back at UNIT HQ, the Doctor uses the facts learned from his encounter with Hibbert to build a machine capable of jamming telepathic waves to subjects.
As dawn arrives, the Autons activate. Shop windows smash and dozens of Auton shop dummies emerge onto the streets of London, shooting innocent civilians and Police at will.
Once the Doctor has perfected his device, the Brigadier confirms he will assault the factory to get the Doctor close enough to Channing so they can stop the invasion.
Over at the factory, Hibbert finally frees himself of the mental control and begins smashing up the metal box containing the creature.
He confronts Channing, who says it is a Nestene. They have colonised thousands of planets in the past and now they will do the same to Earth. Hibbert attacks the Nestene in the tank again, but this time he's vaporised by one of the Autons.
As promised, UNIT assaults the plastics factory and are met by a host of Autons. Major General Scobie turns up and demands that the Brigadier steps down.
To everyone's surprise, the Doctor uses his nifty sonic blocking device and Scobie falls to the floor in agony, being reduced to an inanimate plastic dummy once more.
The real General Scobie awakens in Madame Tusaudes.
As the UNIT soldiers battle the Autuons, the Doctor and Liz make their way to the old workshop where they find the Nestene. They give Channing the option of surrendering or they will destroy the Nestenes, but Channing triumphantly yells "nothing can destroy the Nestenes" and he switches the incubator tank to full power.
The Doctor tells Liz to switch on his jamming device, but it doesn't work.
The Nestene's tentacled alien body bursts out of the incubator and wraps its coils around the Doctor trying to kill him.
At the last second, Liz finds the fault in the jamming device and corrects it, allowing the Doctor to blast the creature with the sonic disruption. Cut off from the rest of the Autons and having its own body closed down, the Nestene consciousness drifts off back into the depths of space. They find that even Channing himself was an Auton and is now little more than a plastic dummy.
Back at UNIT HQ, the Doctor is congratulated by the Brigadier on defeating the creature. He asks the Doctor to stay on a scientific advisor, which the Doctor agrees to do, but only if he can have a new wardrobe of clothes like the ones he stole from the medical consultant, and a vintage car too.
The Brigadier reluctantly agrees but says he doesn't even know the Doctor's name. The Doctor smiles and says "Smith...Doctor John Smith."
Trivia
- With the exception of the TV Movie (and the Peter Cushing one's), this is the only time when a Doctor Who story has been produced entirely on film as opposed to video tape. This is because there was a strike at TV centre and so Derrick Sherwin told the bosses to give him enough film and he'd go out and do it himself.
- Speaking of Derrick Sherwin, he was the guy who played the security guard at UNIT HQ when the Doctor turns up in the vintage car
- As for Jon Pertwee being cast as the new Doctor, he heard on the grapevine that the BBC were looking for another actor to play the star role. His friend told him to take a punt at it and so he got his agent to call the Doctor Who production office. As it turned out, his name was in the top three anyway. Knowing this, Jon played coy and made them take him out for quite a few meals before he finally said yes, which is why his face is never shown in The War Games.
- Less interesing, but worth mentioning is the fact that the crew weren't allowed to smash any glass on the high street, so that's why the camera cuts away as the Auton dummies break out of the shop windows
What worked
- The setup of UNIT is quite well done. It's clear that Liz Shaw is Dana Scully, the Brigadier is Walter Skinner and this is all the X Files twenty some years ahead of its time.
- The number of sub-plots going on is great. A real mix of conflicts
- The guy playing Channing does "intense" very well indeed
- In fact, most of the acting is great
- Yes, the monsters do look a bit lame, but the concept of dummies coming to life is a tried and tested horror trope that's used here to maximum effect
- The comedy is genuinely funny, just look at the scene with the Doctor and his shoes
- If the comedy is great, the brutality is even more shocking. The body count in this is pretty high, and the show undertakes this without blinking, even showing dead bloodied driver in full colour for the first time.
What didn't work
- The Doctor's gurning when he's being strangled by the tentacled Nestene
- Liz Shaw is a little bit too accepting, given her adamant stance at the beginning of the story that this is all hog wash
- Why does the Brigadier expect the Doctor to run off when he never has before?
- The explanation for the Nestenes is a bit dubious. I mean, what if they landed on a primitive planet incapable of manufacturing?
- The Madame Tusaudes bit is also really confusing. Why would such a reputable company allow a doll factory to exibit works there? Why would foreign leaders all agree in such a short space to have them done and how can the factory produce them so quick?
- As a matter of fact, why does the Doctor hang around there at all? Surely the top priority is storming the factory
Overall Feelings
You would be forgiven for having a strong case of Deja Vu here. Aliens attacking London at dawn, the Doctor creating some kind of jamming device and assaulting a factory with soldiers. Yes, this is effectively a remake of The Invasion, which didn't necessarily need remaking.
I can only presume that Derrick Sherwin in his desire to create an Earth based, Quatermass style show, returned to his base attempt at such a premise.
But where the Invasion was focused on Tobias Vaughn, this shows no such compunction to highlight Channing or even Hibbert as the stars. It's very clear that the focus is on the Doctor. Despite a good introduction to the UNIT organisation, the Brigadier and Liz are clearly stalling for time and carrying the show until Jon Pertwee gets out of bed and does the problem solving.
What's great is that from the start this is wonderfully complicated with at least five characters having conflicting goals in the first episode alone. This sadly peters out, but we get solid performances throughout.
Just like the Invasion, Spearhead from Space shows a lack of scope resorting to killing a few innocent civilians on an otherwise deserted high street, but the shock and unapologising brutality of it more than makes up for the lack of people or the dodgy plastic masks.
So, is this an improvement on the Invasion. No, I don't think it quite manages to top the invasion, but what it does do is convey the scope and complexity of the former show whilst also giving a good background and setup to UNIT. And it does it all in four parts.
Rating
10 out of 10!
A compact and good representation of a brilliant story, with the added horrifying image of shop dummies gunning civilians down in the middle of the street.
Rewatchability Factor
8 out of 10
Quick, quirky and interesting, if slightly dated by today's standards
Watch this if you liked...
- Rose (Doctor Who, Series 9)
Consulting the Matrix
Which do you prefer? This or the Invasion?
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