Spearhead from Space

"They're all part of one entity... a collective intelligence." 

Writer: Robert Holmes 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 3rd - 24th January 1970

Season: 7.01

Featuring: Third Doctor, Liz, Brigadier

Synopsis 

Exiled to Earth in the late 20th century by his own - the Time Lords - the newly regenerated Doctor arrives in Oxley Woods alongside a shower of mysterious meteorites. Investigating these unusual occurrences is the newly-formed United Nations Intelligence Taskforce - UNIT for short. Lead by Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT are soon called into action when people and meteorites start going missing. Most puzzling of all is the attempted kidnap of a strange hospital patient - a man with two hearts, who insists that he recognises the Brigadier...

The new Doctor soon joins forces with his old friend, UNIT, and the recently recruited Dr Liz Shaw, but time is running out...

Irregular things are happening at a nearby plastics factory, while faceless creatures lurk in the woods. The Nestened have arrived, and want to conquer the Earth...  

Verdict 

Spearhead from Space was an excellent debut story for Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor! This was significant for me for two reasons as other than Deep Breath on broadcast and The Power of the Daleks during my black and white era run, this was my first time blogging a television story following a regeneration. It's always interesting to see how a new incarnation of the Doctor gets off at the beginning but doing it standalone means you're probably judging the story itself more than anything which I think is an important perspective to have. The story was also significant because it was another watch with my young cousin whose knowledge of Doctor Who has increased ridiculously in the two weeks or so since we watched The Movie together. He's watched quite a few Classics on the Horror channel and he's been following the fourth and fifth series' of new who on Watch. He's been driving my aunty mad apparently with all the Who he's been watching which is good news to me. This though was his first Third Doctor story and I think it's always good to debut a new Doctor for him with a familiar villain. He's watched Rose and really liked it so I thought I'd give him the Autons! He easily loved the humour that came with the Doctor following his imposed regeneration in The War Games, a story that was nicely referenced. He loved his eagerness for shoes and he thought it was hilarious that the Doctor was taking a shower! I won't bother asking why the Time Lords decided the newly regenerated Doctor should have a tattoo but I'm not one to argue. It was great to see the Brigadier back and with series taking a new direction in having the Doctor exiled to Earth we'll be seeing a lot more of the now familiar character. The references to The Web of Fear and The Invasion were lovely and it's fabulous to see that the Brigadier held a lot of respect and regard for the Doctor in his help in dealing with the Yeti and the Cybermen. He even eventually accepted that the Doctor could change his face! The dialogue was superb in regards to that with it of course not being dubbed regeneration until Planet of the Spiders. Thankfully there was no contradiction there. This story is significant for being the first Doctor Who story on television in colour and although I love the nostalgic feel of the black and white era, Doctor Who just needs to be colourful. The idea of the Autons is brilliant and what could be scarier than shop window dummies and plastic toys and displays coming to life? Their arms (weaponry not the body part) being hidden in the hands of the Autons was fantastic. I really liked the story of Sam and his wife, who provided some great comedic moments, and it gave another decent perspective on an alien invasion. The supposed meteorites actually being part of a giant mind was brilliant and the Nestene Consciousness certainly was up to no good! The cliffhanger to part one was outstanding with the Doctor actually getting shot! I was disappointed with the follow up though to be honest as it was almost ignored which was a shock. Ransome was a good character and I liked his part in the second part cliffhanger. Channing was a brilliant villain and his association with the Autons was questionable but he of course was controlling Hibbert. He'd never have agreed to the new policy at the plastics factory otherwise! The Doctor made him realise this of course. The debut of Liz Shaw as companion was just wonderful and Caroline John has to be one of the most underrated companions in the show's 52 year history. She looks absolutely stunning and I think her having considerable scientific knowledge is sublime because immediately she gets on well with the Doctor. Her thoughts on the extra-terrestrial sure do alter during the course of the story. It's also very good to see how the Doctor develops over the story and it's kind of split two parts each way. It's all post regenerative trauma in the first half but once his new clothes are acquired he's back to all business which is lovely. He devises the perfect weapon against the Nestenes by having just the frequency that can kill them and uses it to full effect! After quite the battle and some repair from Liz, the Nestene was killed and that meant the Autons had no controller and were rendered useless, ensuring the safety of the population. Overall, a brilliant start to the season! We've got a terrific new Doctor, a magnificent companion and just a marvellous first story in colour. Doctor Who has entered the 1970s in high standards. 

Rating: 9/10