The TARDIS Lands at Gatwick Airport

When The Doctor and his three companions, Polly Wright, Ben Jackson and Jamie McCrimmon exit the TARDIS they find that they have landed on Earth in 1966. And on a runway at Gatwick Airport.

They are instantly spotted by a policeman and are forced to split up to avoid arrest. Polly hides in a hanger that is used by a company called ‘Chameleon Tours’ where she witnesses the murder of a man by one of the company's employees using what looks very much like a ray gun. Ben meanwhile is witness to the TARDIS being moved by airport officials as it is deemed to be a hazard.

The Doctor and Jamie, after they manage to shake off the policeman who had pursued them, are reunited with Polly – who tells them what she has seen in the Chameleon Tours hanger. They all return there to investigate allowing The Doctor to examine the body and so confirm that the man was killed by an alien weapon. They decide to warn the authorities. But unknown to the travellers, Polly's earlier presence in the hangar had been detected by the murderer and so when they set off The Doctor and Jamie are unaware at first that Polly, who had lagged behind, is no longer with them. She has been kidnapped so as to prevent her revealing to the authorities the identity of the murderer.

The Doctor Hides Behind an Aircraft Wheel

It transpires that the man Polly saw killed was Inspector Gascoigne who had been investigating Chameleon Tours due to a number of missing young people who have gone on holiday and have flown with Chameleon Tours.

After a lot of persuasion The Doctor manages to persuade the airport’s Commandant to investigate their claims but by the time they arrive back at Chameleon Tours hanger the body is gone. Realising that the Commandant no longer believes them, and so at the risk of being arrested, The Doctor and Jamie manage to slip away and hide in the airport concourse. There they spot Polly amongst some passengers disembarking from a flight, but when the reach her she claims not to know them.

The Doctor, Jamie, Ben and Polly

The Doctor and Jamie are then reunited with Ben – who goes off to the Chameleon Tours hanger to see if he can find anything. While there he discovers a secret room. He also finds the real Polly in a trance-like state inside a large packing crate. But when he tries to use the office phone to call the Commandant he is attacked. Luckily The Doctor, while investigating in the office behind the Chameleon Tours reception desk, sees Ben being attacked and he rushes over to the hangar. Inside he is unable to find Ben but he does discover the secret room. After nearly being gassed The Doctor is able to escape.

Still in the airport concourse Jamie has befriended Samantha Briggs, the sister of one of the missing youths, and it is then The Doctor realises that something very disturbing is happening to those who travel with Chameleon Tours. This travel company is being operated by an alien race who are kidnapping young travellers. All because of an accident on the Chameleons’ home planet which removed their identities and doomed the species to extinction. They are now reliant on a scientific process of identity theft to sustain and extend their lives and so are abducting thousands of humans.

Meanwhile Jamie manages to board a Chameleon Tours aircraft. But just after it takes off it changes into a spacecraft which shoots into space and docks with a large space station. There he discovers what has happened to all those who have been abducted by the Chameleons – they have all been miniaturised and kept in storage while their Chameleon counter-parts are able to roam free back on Earth.

Jamie Talks to Samantha Briggs

To try and locate what has been happening to the young travellers, and also to locate Polly, Ben and now Jamie, The Doctor manages to infiltrate Chameleon Tours. He manages to discover the location of the kidnapped humans who have yet to be transported to the space station. He also learns that if the arm bands, that the Chameleon doubles are wearing, are removed then they disintegrate so freeing the person whose identity was stolen. Armed with this valuable information The Doctor, with the help of the airport’s Commandant, manages to persuade the Chameleons to find another solution to their problem. Despite some initial resistance the Chameleons soon realise that they have to follow The Doctor’s request. And so the kidnapped humans are released - including The Doctor’s companions.

Reunited at last, Ben and Polly realise that this is the same day on which they originally began their travels with The Doctor and so decide to remain in their own time and so they bid farewell to The Doctor and Jamie. As The Doctor and Jamie head back to the TARDIS, which had been released from airport storage, they are shocked to see it being driven off on the back of a lorry…