[daveyboy7472]

For me, this is where the Pertwee Era starts for real. Season 8, though still too Earthbound, at least has a more variant story setting and it gets of to a good start with this sequel to Spearhead In Space.

The reason I feel it starts the Pertwee Era for real is that contains everything that would be the mainstay of this Era for the next three years. For a start you have a less arrogant Doctor than the previous year. Then also in this story there is the long awaited reaffirmation of The Doctor's exile and the fact it was actually by the Time Lords. It was blatantly ignored most of Season 7 but now we see not only a Time Lord but The Doctor making a serious effort to bypass their controls over the TARDIS which was to be a regular feature of this Season. And the TARDIS itself makes a reappearance! Watching this after it's neglect most of Season 7 is a joy to see if only for a short period.

You then have the debuts of both Jo Grant and Mike Yates, who you can see in this story that they may be preparing to have some kind of romantic link, though it never took off. Jo's first story is quite a strong one and she has plenty to do. Plus off course, the start of the more comical side of The Brigadier and I love all the sniping between him and The Doctor. In short, you can see the UNIT team bonding really well, including Benton off course.

Then off course there is the superb debut of Roger Delgado as The Master. I don't think regular villains get much a much better start than this. Delgado just pulls it of from his first scene(still don't know how he clicks his fingers wearing gloves!) and I love all the humourous byplay with The Doctor. As an aside to that, this must be one of Pertwee's funnier stories, he really gets some funny lines with The Master and The Brigadier.

With all these debuts going on, the Autons themselves really take a back seat in this story. Admittedly they are not as good as in their first story, mainly because of the aforementioned dominating issues. It's a shame they were never seen again in Classic Who(though they were supposed be in the aborted Season 23) and we had to wait until Rose to see them again.

As for the story itself, I like it. It has a much lighter feel than the previous year and really set the standard for the main part of the Pertwee Era. Though the Earthbound setting is still annoying, at least this story does enough to distract from that. I love all the Policeman Auton stuff and the scenes at the circus, plus the first onscreen meeting of the Doctor and The Master, and also The Master's first meeting with Jo. In hindsight, watching this story and Delgado's last makes you realise how far Jo had come since her debut in handling The Master's hypnosis.

So all in all, I think this is a good start to Season 8. It's not the best story of the season but it's far from being the worst either.

[Listentome]

I've been waiting for this one davyboy.

This has to be one of my all time favourites. It was one of those I waited years to watch ever since as a child seeing photographs of it in my Uncle's Doctor Who magazine way back in 1982. 30 years later I finally watched it, having only seen clips on other dvd extras.

It really doesn't disappoint. The Autons are chilling, The Master is deliciously evil, and Jo Grant's entrance into the world of Who is charming.

[gwalker94]

Terror of the Autons used to always seem to me to be discussed as one of the greatest who stories, but you don't hear much of it these days.
I enjoy it and agree that it is the first of the Pertwee era as it is remembered, but all the CSO these days can get rather trying.
That said, you've got to respect Letts for his willingness for experimentation.
And the chair eating Harry Towb looks fab

[knowndeserter]

Originally Posted by daveyboy7472

Then also in this story there is the long awaited reaffirmation of The Doctor's exile and the fact it was actually by the Time Lords. It was blatantly ignored most of Season 7 but now we see not only a Time Lord but The Doctor making a serious effort to bypass their controls over the TARDIS which was to be a regular feature of this Season. And the TARDIS itself makes a reappearance! Watching this after it's neglect most of Season 7 is a joy to see if only for a short period.

To be fair there are at least four attempts by the Doctor to circumvent the Time Lords lock of the dematerialisation circuit in the previous season, in fact half of Inferno is based around one of them. The TARDIS does feature quite extensively in Spearhead from Space; well at least as much as it does in any other story outside of Season 7.

Just to declare that while Jon Pertwee is not my favourite Doctor, Season 7 probably is my favourite season.

[daveyboy7472]

Originally Posted by Listentome

I've been waiting for this one davyboy.

This has to be one of my all time favourites. It was one of those I waited years to watch ever since as a child seeing photographs of it in my Uncle's Doctor Who magazine way back in 1982. 30 years later I finally watched it, having only seen clips on other dvd extras.

It really doesn't disappoint. The Autons are chilling, The Master is deliciously evil, and Jo Grant's entrance into the world of Who is charming.

I'm glad it's been worth the wait!

I agree there is a lot to enjoy in this story.

Originally Posted by knowndeserter

To be fair there are at least four attempts by the Doctor to circumvent the Time Lords lock of the dematerialisation circuit in the previous season, in fact half of Inferno is based around one of them. The TARDIS does feature quite extensively in Spearhead from Space; well at least as much as it does in any other story outside of Season 7.

Just to declare that while Jon Pertwee is not my favourite Doctor, Season 7 probably is my favourite season.

Fair points which I accept but his attempts were then put to one side once the story began though as you say in Inferno it does sort of become part of it. I think in this Season, it does become much more of an issue and The Doctor's exile is mentioned more prominently in connection with that.

[Larry1971]

absolutely love it the banter between Pertwee and Deldado is a joy to watch.

[CoalHillJanitor]

This may be the only story that got two complaints from Mary Whitehouse - the killer troll doll and the Auton policeman.

[Face Of Jack]

Ah yes - this is when I got a bit more interested. Bit of Tardis stuff, new companion and a new villain - a Time Lord! This is more like Doctor Who should be! Still stuck on bloody Earth, but the alien/Time Lord theme sort of swayed us away from that direction. Loved the return of the Autons - albeit in different guises. That Troll Doll was a bit of a laugh, but a bit creepy at the same time.
I think the BBC were quite happy whenever Mary Whitehouse complained......they knew they were doing it RIGHT!!
Yes I enjoyed this story. But I didn't realise The Master was going to be in EVERY story from now on..........

[Nikki E.]

My second favourite DW story!

It's like Mission Impossible. (I've never seen Mission Impossible - this fact may be obvious from my previous statement.)

...or something. The time-constraint imposed by the Brig makes it well tense; plus the martial arts, and car chase scenes; I feel, it's a bit like an action movie.

This is when the Autons really frightened me as a child.

And the Master disguised as the maintenance/cleaner (repairman, electrician, whatever he were) is freaky!

Also; Delgado!!! , , , , , &!

I always feel so bad for the bloke under the Master's hypnosis.

The laughs, frights, and tears, are why Terror of the Autons is up there with my top favourite DW stories.

[littlepete]

This is a story I often dig out, my favourite Pertwee.
There's such a lot to like. I've often heard people say this story has a cartoon look, due to the bright colours and the CSO, which many dislike - but I really love the experimentation and the feel it gives the show.

The music is another high point for me too. Dudley Simpson at his bonkers best - going ape on the electronics with the Radiophonic workshop - sounds brilliant when played loud! (in fact all his music for series 8 is awesome IMO - 5 great soundtracks in a row).

[Phoenix Lazarus]

I was too young to have watched this properly, but it's one of the first Dr Who books I read, after I started watching properly with Tom Baker's debut. It included some wonderfully scary moments, such as the man being ingested by that plastic sofa, and the man being strangled by the doll that came to life. When I watched the adventure on YouTube recently, I still found both of these very creepy and scary-along with the scene where the man in the radio telescope tower is found, shrunk and dead, in his own lunchbox! The bit where the Doctor is about to enter that room, and nearly gets blown up by a tin of explosive attached to the door is also very suspeneful!

[M@nterik]

To my dying day i will bitterly regret that i did not realise until after i had changed jobs that the factory this was filmed at was one of my major suppliers a few years back and i never visited it.

This story is a joy to me. I Love it. It really has everything, as near to perfect for Who as it comes and the restoration on the dvd was awesome.