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.

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.

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

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.

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

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




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.

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

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

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..........:yawn:

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.

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).

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!

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.

I did approach this story with a bit of trepidation because I rather enjoyed Season 7 and you hear so much about some stories. It has a lot of nice original ideas in it. The scientist miniaturised by the Master, the appearance of the Time Lord in mid air, the Autons with carnival masks, the ugly plastic doll. the Auton in the safe I like the location of the circus. Its different. As a story I actually prefer the mystery of the first couple of episodes as you see the Master take over Lew and then Rex in the factory and dispose of his father. It links quite nicely with the creepiness we had in Spearhead. Once we get to the mannequins handing out daffodils and the aborted RAF strike it loses a bit of momentum for me as a story as the Autons stay stuck on the bus until the Nestene try to materialise. A good story but Spearhead for me is far superior as the Autons don't seem as effective this time.

I did think of something I didn't understand in the plot . The Master's materialisation circuit was taken by the Doctor so how did the Master's Tardis disappear from the circus? I'm sure the Brigadier says at one point UNIT went down there to look for the missing scientist and both he and the Master had gone. I'm assuming his Tardis would go wherever he went and if it stayed where it was why didn't UNIT just take the darn thing and store it and capture the Master when he came for it. Am I over thinking this too much


I had to watch the story twice really to make my mind up about Jo. Initially I did think she was a bit too ditzy but she brings a great warmth to UNIT and I think brings out a fatherly aspect in the doctor.. The doctor smiles a bit more with Jo around. She reacts instinctively and with her feelings. I still think Liz would have been a better companion as she was more of an equal to the doctor but Jo is engaging and a bit innocent. I cant work out how old she is meant to be though as she looks older than a teenager. Mike Yates is a bit of a sexist male " Cheer up love" that I love how sheepish he looks after the Doctor rebukes him for using his Bunsen burner to make cocoa !

You are right Daveyboy about a slightly lighter feel with this story .I think it is partly because Delgado gets all the best lines in the script. I love the way he knows Rossini is really Lew Harris and all the dialogue with Farrel Snr. where you know the Master is going to get him. I think the Master makes a good debut here but I don't buy how quickly he agrees to work with the Doctor towards the end. The banter with the Doctor and the Brigadier is done about right too still with a degree of respect,



The chair eating Harry is such an evil moment from the Master. You get chills


I like the bright and breezy look of the story with the circus background but I agree about the CSO especially around the doll moving around before killing Farrell Snr. It looks so bad.
The music is actually a bit less intrusive than I expected and I don't actually mind it too much ( yet.) ..
So onwards to the next ( new) story. I wonder how many I can watch before Capaldi's debut ?

Yes I enjoyed this story. But I didn't realise The Master was going to be in EVERY story from now on..........:yawn:[/quote]


Terror of the Autons is such a brilliant & IMO terrifying story. But i agree with you regarding the master, which spoils the pertwee era for me - the overuse of the master in practically every story.

Terror of the Autons is such a brilliant & IMO terrifying story. But i agree with you regarding the master, which spoils the pertwee era for me - the overuse of the master in practically every story.[/quote]

Well it could spoil Season 8 but outside this year he is in only 3 stories not really practically every story.

I sometimes whether we would feel differently if we were watching this at the time of the original transmission. Did they know The Master would be in the show the whole year?, if not would they (the audience that is) have felt so let down by the Bad Guy always being The Master?

I honestly don't think so, Delgado was so new and so good. I tend to think that we feel this way in hindsight.

Don't get me wrong, i have nothing against the master or roger delgado, but just felt that he was way overused throughout the pertwee era, like in some respects the daleks are overused in nuwho IMO.

The review in the Third Doctor Handbook of this story says exactly the same thing. It says after all The Master's planning, it only takes one comment from The Doctor to undo all that and help him defeat the Autons. I'm not sure if this story had come later whether that little copout would have worked so well. Maybe it's because it's his first story and there's nothing to compare against at this point that maybe it's more readily accepted.

I also like the moment where he tries to hynotise Farrel Snr and fails and as you say, you just know he's gonna get him somehow.

I just finished watching this story yesterday and I was thinking that after The Daemons that this is probably my next fave UNIT tale. There's something about it, maybe it's the more friendlier feel after Season 7, the debut of Jo and The Master, the less arrogant Doctor, and the whole feel of the production, it all seems to come together in this for me and though I hate the exile scenario with a passion, it still is an enjoyable watch.

No I do agree but I tend to think of it as over used in one year. It gives the impression he's in nearly every Pertwee story when even with season 8 it's only a third of the stories.

I think it's common agreement he's overused but I do wonder if the audience really thought this at the time.

I like the fact that this, particulary in colour (first saw it on bootleg way back when only black and white was available) has a nice sort of queasy nightmare vibe. (Those big heads on the grinning Auton dummies...brrrrr.) Delgado is absolutely superb from the off and I'm a big admirer of Robert Holmes....aren't we all!

Used to have rather mixed feelings about Jo....seemed a bit of a step back from Liz when I first watched the Pertwee era in the Eighties. BUT...thanks to Katy Manning and the obvious rapport she had with Pertwee, I came over the years to really like her. And there was a nice progression of the character, where she grew and became stronger and left the Doctor for her own strong reasons. Ditzty, yes, but I think that was quite endearing now...and she was no wet blanket like Victoria. (Sorry Victoria fans.)

Very strong story overall, and as the Autons intoduced the third Doctor, and then Jo and the Master, I can completely understand why RTD thought....aha, who should be in the C21 return of the programme, I wonder?

Terror Of The Autons is really the start of the Barry Letts era - the three stories he produced in the previous season were on the schedule before he joined, and so he took Terror as a chance to make his mark on the series.
And he does.
It's incredibly fast paced, unlike anything we've seen in the series before. The scenes chop and change with dazzling speed. And the (over)use of CSO is innovative but makes the show more cartoony. But this suits the story - we have a definite Baddie, a Gang of Goodies, it's all a bit like Scooby Doo, what with policemen wearing removable masks, and the Master almost getting away with his hugely convoluted plan if hadn't been for those meddling kids helping the Doctor.

Along with the similarly day-glo Claws Of Axos, Terror of the Autons reminds me so much of being a small boy and watching TV in the 1970s. Terror Of The Autons is the equivalent of Spangles and Space Dust sweets and all the foods with lurid colourings and additives.

I watched it for the first time last year. The bit where they open the safe made me jump....I'm in my mid-thirties....

Yep I forgot that bit was coming the second time I watched it and I jumped a bit a well

I found a few things on rewatching that I had for one reason or another had forgotton about. Firstly, the Time Lord that materialises and visits the Doctor. Some humourous moments occur as they poke a bit of fun at each other. The Doctor's face when he is reminded that the Master's degree is superior to his own
I had also forgotton how effective the first two cliffhangers were, Jo determined to set off the bomb and the two Auton policemen in the car. This is followed by some very creditable action scenes in the quarry as they, Yates and the Brigadier manage to evade them.
Out of all the methods employed by the Nestene and the Master I still find the Daffodil method the most chilling and frightening. Real peril is captured with the Daffodil looking around before firing the plastic onto Jo's face. Chilling stuff.

katy manning was lovely but a bit retrograde. i preferred caroline john. who played liz shaw with a nice sense of humour.

One thing that sticks we about this story is poor old Mrs Farrell losing both her husband and son separately in the same story. And it's not even recognised.

Perhaps it would have been too sad to dwell on it.