 This story is renowned for opening Season Seven, introducing Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor and the first to be produced in colour. "Spearhead From Space" is the birth of a new era for Doctor Who.
This story also introduces Caroline John as The Doctor's new assistant, Liz Shaw and the first to feature UNIT as a regular part of the show's format which includes the return of Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (aka The Brigadier) officially becoming a member of the regular cast.
"Spearhead From Space" includes the first of two appearances of the menacing plastic Autons and the sinister force behind them, the Nestene Consciousness. This story is also known as "The Auton Invasion" – the title used for the Target novelisation.
The Autons would return in the 1971 story "Terror of the Autons" and again in the 2005 story "Rose". Interestingly each of these are the first story for a new companion, namely, Jo Grant and Rose Tyler, respectively, while "Spearhead From Space "was Liz Shaw's first story. The Autons also have cameo appearance in a specially shot flashback scene in the 2006 story "Love & Monsters" (which briefly revisits the events of "Rose"). The latter two stories contain scenes that deliberately echo the shop window dummy scenes in this story.
"Spearhead From Space" is the first of only two Doctor Who stories to be recorded entirely on film as opposed to videotape. While cast and crew were carrying out the location filming there was a threat of industrial action at the BBC. With recording dates at Television Centre threatened, Producer Derrick Sherwin was aware that this story might have to be abandoned altogether. To prevent this Derrick Sherwin was allowed to complete this story entirely on film. "Spearhead From Space" would be the first and only story from the original run of the show to be shot entirely on film, as opposed to the usual mix of electronic video cameras for studio material and film for location work (or all-video in later seasons).
This story was based on a story that Robert Holmes wrote for the 1965 film "Invasion", which featured an alien crashing in the woods near a rural hospital, where a medical examination reveals his alien nature. The hospital is later visited by other aliens, seeking a fugitive criminal.
With the change of the actor playing The Doctor and the move to colour, it was decided that a new title sequence was needed for the show. The services of Bernard Lodge were again used. He decided to film shifting diamond patterns in black-and-white, then tint them with colour gels using an optical printer. Jon Pertwee's head and a new Doctor Who logo were then added to the mix.
Unlike the logos used for the First Doctor and Second Doctor eras (which used a generic typeface) the new logo, that was introduced for this story, was an attempt at being more stylized, particularly in the presentation of the initial ‘D’ in ‘DOCTOR’ and the ‘H’ in ‘WHO’. This logo would be used until the final episode of the 1973 story "The Green Death".
The opening titles also feature the camera zooming in on the words so that they appear to rush towards the viewer and, for the first time in the show's history, a matching closing title sequence (previously the closing credits had generally been shown against a black background). The new opening and closing sequence are also accompanied by a rearranged version of the theme music.
This story is directed by Derek Martinus, who had last worked on "The Ice Warriors" two years earlier. This would be Derek Martinus' last involvement with Doctor Who. He left the BBC to go freelance in the mid-Seventies, during which time he directed episodes of series such as Blake's 7 and Into the Labyrinth.
In the middle of filming both Peter Bryant (Doctor Who’s previous Producer) and current Producer Derrick Sherwin left the show to work on to a troubled German coproduction thriller series called Paul Temple. At first Douglas Camfield (whose most recent Doctor Who directorial assignment was "The Invasion") was offered to become the new producer. When he declined the post was offered to and accepted by Barry Letts. Barry Letts had directed "The Enemy of the World" during Season Five and at that time he had voiced a number of ideas on how the show should be made, some of which Peter Bryant and Derrick Sherwin had since implemented. "Spearhead From Space" was consequently the last Doctor Who story on which Derrick Sherwin received a credit. After finishing up on Paul Temple, Sherwin left the BBC to form an independent production company.
Nearly all the cars seen in the story are E or F registration so aiding the contemporary UNIT theory.
This is the first time in the history of the show that it is revealed that Time Lords have two hearts and a heartbeat that can be lower to as little as 10 beats per minute. In addition, The Doctor is revealed to have an inhuman blood type and cardiovascular system, and can put himself into a coma with no detectable brain electrical activity.
The Doctor is heard to tell The Brigadier that his name is ‘Doctor John Smith’, an alias first used in "The Wheel in Space".
There are scenes featuring real waxworks shot at Madame Tussaud's in London.
In the first episode Producer Derrick can be seen as the UNIT commissionaire.
The Doctor is credited for the first time as 'Doctor Who' in the closing credits as opposed to 'Dr. Who'.
The Doctor's exile would last until "The Three Doctors", although the Time Lords would move the TARDIS through space and use The Doctor as their agent in "Colony in Space", "The Curse of Peladon", "The Mutants" and "The Time Monster".
The Doctor claims to be conversant in the eyebrow-twitching language of the planet Delphon. This language also features in the Big Finish Productions audio story "...ish", when the Sixth Doctor says a word in Delphon while reflecting on words of the same pronunciation and spelling with different meanings.
This story was repeated on BBC One on consecutive Fridays in July 1971. It was repeated again on BBC Two in 1999 in an episodic form and then on BBC Four in 2006 as two compilation episodes as part of the Science Fiction Britannia season.
A novelisation of this story, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in January 1974, entitled "Doctor Who and The Auton Invasion". This was the first novelisation commissioned by Target following the successful republishing of three books originally published in the mid-1960s; the Target Books novelisation series would run for the next twenty years and see all but a half-dozen Doctor Who stories adapted. The Third Doctor era would become the first to be completely novelised with the release of the adaptation of "The Ambassadors of Death" in 1987. "Doctor Who and The Auton Invasion" was translated into Finnish, in the seventies, as "Tohtori KUKA ja autonien hyökkäys", although the show never appeared on Finnish television until 2005 when the revived show was was sold to the country. "Doctor Who and The Auton Invasion" was also translated into Dutch, Turkish, Japanese and Portuguese.
Episode 1 of this story was released on DVD in 2006, as a promotional item in a cardboard case with The Sun newspaper.
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The Firsts:
Jon Pertwee's first credited appearance as the Third Doctor.
The introduction of new companion Liz Shaw played by Caroline John.
Nicholas Courtney's first full story as official companion, Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.
The first story of Season Seven
The first appearance of the Autons.
The first story where the term 'dimensionally transcendental' is used to explain the TARDIS being bigger on the inside thab the outside.
The first story to be recorded in colour.
The first story to be recorded entirely on location and on film as opposed to videotape.
The first time it is revealed that Time Lords have two hearts and an inhuman blood type.
The first story to have a matching closing title sequence rather than the usual black screen.
The first time The Doctor is credited as 'Doctor Who' in the closing credits as opposed to 'Dr. Who'
Christine Rawlins' first involvement in the show as Costume Designer.
The first story to have a novelisation commissioned by Target Books.
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(Position = 15 out of 159)
(Position = 36 out of 200)
(Position = 28 out of 241)
