BBC Doctor Who - The Stories BBC
QuickNav to a Season: 
QuickNav to a Story: 
 
The Previous Story
Terror of the Autons
 The Previous Story
The Previous Story
(Inferno)
 The Next Story
(The Mind of Evil)
Season
Details
SynopsisGeneral
Information
The
Episodes
Audience
Appreciation
ArchivesNotesFirst and LastStory ImagesQuote of
the Story
Release
Information
In PrintPhoto
Gallery
 

Jon Pertwee
Terror of the Autons
Third Doctor Logo


Synopsis


Beware Autons Bearing Daffodils
Beware Autons Bearing Daffodils
 The Earth is in terrible danger! The Master has arrived with an evil scheme to destroy humanity and silence The Doctor forever. His plan? To awaken the awesome power of the Nestene - a ruthlessly aggressive alien life form. With their control over all types of plastic, they form into faceless automatons, a willing army of destruction easily controlled by the evil Time Lord himself. This is the terrible threat now facing Earth - the terror of the Autons.

 Aided by the Brigadier and his enthusiastic new assistant, Jo Grant, only The Doctor can combat their evil power, but this is easier said than done when every plastic doll, phone flex, or chair can be turned against him. First, however, he must defeat the Master.

Source: BBC VHS Video


General Information

Season: Eight
Production Code: EEE
Story Number: 55
Episode Numbers:279 - 282
Number of Episodes: 4
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Working Titles:"The Spray of Death"
Production Dates: September - October 1970
Broadcast Started: 02 January 1971
Broadcast Finished: 23 January 1971
Colour Status: Colour and B&W
Studio: BBC Television Centre (TC6 and TC8)
Location: Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont St Giles (Buckinghamshire), Queen's Wharf (Hammersmith), Roberts Brothers Circus (Leyton, London), Totterhoe Lime and Stone Company Ltd, Thermo Plastics Ltd (Dunstable, Bedfordshire) and GPO Relay Station (Caddington)
Writer:Robert Holmes
Director:Barry Letts (Uncredited)
Producer:Barry Letts
Script Editor:Terrance Dicks
Editor:Geoffrey Botterill
Production Assistant:Nicholas John
Assistant Floor Manager:Bruce Best
Designer:Ian Watson
Costume Designer:Ken Trew
Make-Up Designer:Jan Harrison
Cameraman:John Baker
Lighting:Eric Monk
Visual Effects:Michealjohn Harris
Incidental Music:Dudley Simpson
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Brian Hodgson
Studio Sounds:Colin Dixon
Title Sequence:Bernard Lodge and Ben Palmer
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Delia Derbyshire
Stunts/Action By: HAVOC
Autons Originally Created By: Robert Holmes
Circus Sequences Courtesy Of: Robert Brothers
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor)
Number of Companions: 4The Companions: Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Katy Manning (Jo Grant) (Joins) and Richard Franklin (Captain Mike Yates) (Joins) Guest Cast: Roger Delgado (The Master) Additional Cast: Michael Wisher (Rex Farrel), Harry Towb (McDermott), David Garth (Time Lord), Frank Mills (Radio Telescope Director), Christopher Burgess (Professor Philips), Andrew Staines (Goodge), John Baskcomb (Rossini), Dave Carter (Museum Attendant), Stephen Jack (Farrel Senior), Barbara Leake (Mrs. Farrel), Roy Stewart (Strong Man), Dermot Tuohy (Brownrose), Norman Stanley (Telephone Mechanic), Bill McGuirk (Policeman), Terry Walsh (Auton Policeman), Pat Gorman (Auton Leader), Haydn Jones (Auton Voice)Setting: Earth (1970s) Villains: Autons and The Master

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
279Episode 102 January 197124'36"7.3PAL D3 colour restoration and 16mm B&W telerecording
280Episode 209 January 197124'48"8.0PAL D3 colour restoration and 16mm B&W telerecording
281Episode 316 January 197123'28"8.1PAL D3 colour restoration and 16mm B&W telerecording
282Episode 423 January 197122'10"8.4PAL D3 colour restoration and 16mm B&W telerecording

Total Duration 1 Hour 35 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 8.0
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)75.89%  (Position = 35 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)77.00% Higher (Position = 51 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)77.62% Higher (Position = 59 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 9 out of 24


Archives


 All four episodes exist in colour as PAL D3 restorations and the original 16mm Black and White film telerecordings.



Return to the top of this page
 


Notes


"Terror of the Autons" is a direct sequel to Jon Pertwee’s debut story "Spearhead From Space". It sees the return of the Nestene Consciousness and its plastic servants, the Autons.

This story opened Season Eight and introduced Katy Manning as the Third Doctor's new companion, Jo Grant - an intelligence trainee whose wiles and charm brought the show into the 1970's. The UNIT team is also joined by semi-regular character Captain Mike Yates, played by Richard Franklin. Captain Mike Yates was brought in as a possible love interest for Jo (which never materialised) and as a go-between for The Brigadier and his field personnel.

This story though is more renowned for being the first for fellow Time Lord and The Doctor’s arch-nemesis, The Master, as played by Roger Delgado. The Master would appear in every story of this season and sporadically in the next two seasons.

Harry Towb, who plays the unfortunate McDermott, had previously appeared in the Second Doctor story "The Seeds of Death", in which he also came to a sticky end.

Michael Wisher, the young Farrel, had also done uncredited voice work for "The Seeds of Death", and had previously appeared in the Third Doctor story "The Ambassadors of Death" and, later, in "Carnival of Monsters". He would go on to do various Dalek voices and become well known as the first actor to play the evil genius Davros in the Fourth Doctor story "Genesis of the Daleks".

Strong Man Roy Stewart previously appeared as another strong man in the Second Doctor story "The Tomb of the Cybermen".

Although credited on-screen, Bill McGuirk (a Policeman), who was previously used by Barry Letts in "The Enemy of the World", does not actually appear; his entire contribution having been edited out prior to transmission.

Haydn Jones was originally contracted both to provide the Auton voices and to play the telephone engineer who turns out to be The Master in disguise, but the latter part was recast when Haydn Jones was given the more substantial one of Vosper in "The Mind of Evil".

This story is set in the fictional town of Tarminster. In the 2008 The Sarah Jane Adventures story "The Mark of the Berserker", Sarah Jane Smith visits a hospital in the same town. The town is also mentioned on the Harold Saxon promotional website. It states that Lucy Saxon's father was Lord Cole of Tarminster.

In addition to his role as producer of Doctor Who, Letts was keen to direct the occasional story - a job which he had most recently undertaken on an emergency basis for part of "Inferno" at the end of the seventh recording block. Since "Terror of the Autons" came at the start of the new season, Letts decided to direct this story himself. However, he is not credited as such in the credits as BBC regulations at the time prevented any person from being credited for more than one production role.

In the closing credits for episodes three and four Jon Pertwee was credited as ‘Dr. Who’ rather than ‘Doctor Who’.

This story is the second time in the programme that a quarry stood in for an actual quarry (as compared with an alien planet or other environment), after the 1964 First Doctor story "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". Quarries would further serve as actual quarries in "Terror of the Zygons" and "The Hand of Fear".

The dramatic scene at the start of episode three, where an Auton is hit with a car and tumbles off a cliff, was quite real. Dinny Powell was driving the vehicle in place of actor Richard Franklin, and stuntman Terry Walsh as the Auton fell further down the slope than intended, being injured in the mishap. He nevertheless got back to his feet in the same take as planned.

The Nestene energy unit in this story is blue, whereas in "Spearhead From Space" they were red.

The Master's TARDIS is disguised as a horsebox, and uses a Mark Two dematerialisation circuit, as opposed to The Doctor's Mark One (as revealed in "The Time Meddler"). These are non-compatible (unlike The Meddling Monk's and The Doctor's TARDIS circuits in "The Daleks' Master Plan", which are semi compatible).

This story sees the first appearance of The Master’s signature weapon, the Tissue Compression Eliminator - though the device itself was not named as such until the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Time-Flight".

The Master can hypnotise people silently, though a strong will can resist. He carries a volatiser (bomb) and grenades. He can create effective disguise masks, and fake security passes.

Certain scenes in the story, particularly the killer doll and the Auton policemen, caused controversy in the press as being too frightening for children. In an unconnected House of Lords debate about the effect of mass media on the public, the story was cited as an example of a programme that might be too 'scary' for younger children.

Like other early Third Doctor stories the original 625-line PAL colour videotapes of this story were wiped by the BBC for reuse, although they retained the 16mm Black and White film recordings. An original PAL colour clip of episode one, depicting The Doctor's first meeting with Jo Grant, still survives in its original 625-line format after being used in a 1973 edition of the news show Nationwide. However, all four episodes currently exist as PAL D3 colour restorations. These were created in 1993, by an unofficial Doctor Who restoration team. They used original NTSC U-matic dubs, that were sent abroad prior to the wiping of the colour videotapes, and the Black and White film telerecordings. The re-colourised version was then released, on VHS video in April 1993. In 1999, an improved restoration was prepared, by the Restoration Team, for a planned repeat on BBC Two. In the event, however, the run was abandoned before the story was shown.

The Nestene and the Autons were due to return in an ultimately cancelled story, "Yellow Fever and How to Cure It" during Season Twenty Three; the production was cancelled in the 1985 hiatus as Robert Holmes died before beginning work. The Autons did make a return thirty four years later, in the 2005 Ninth Doctor's introductory story, "Rose". The Autons also appear in two BBC The Past Doctors Stories novels; "Business Unusual" by Gary Russell and "Synthespians™" by Craig Hinton. They also return in the BBC Books The Tenth Doctor Stories novel "Autonomy".



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first story of Season Eight.

 The introduction of new companion Jo Grant played by Katy Manning.

 The introduction of semi-regular companion Captain Mike Yates played by Richard Franklin.

 The first appearance in the show of The Master played by Roger Delgado.

 The first appearance of The Master’s signature weapon, the Tissue Compression Eliminator.

 Jan Harrison's first involvement in the show as Makeup Artist.


Return to the top of this page
 


Story Images

Show Text
The Master
The Master
The Master's TARDIS
The Master's TARDIS
'I Am The Master'
'I Am The Master'
The Doctor
The Doctor
 
Jo Grant
Jo Grant
The Doctor with Jo Grant and Captain Yates
The Doctor with Jo Grant and Captain Yates
The Doctor and Jo Grant
The Doctor and Jo Grant
The Deadly Auton Doll
The Deadly Auton Doll
 
The Master Takes Control
The Master Takes Control
An Auton
An Auton
Beware Autons Bearing Daffodils
Beware Autons Bearing Daffodils
The Master Surrendering?
The Master Surrendering?




Quote of the Story


 'Nonsense, what you need, Doctor, as Miss Shaw herself so often remarked, is someone to pass you your test tubes, and to tell you how brilliant you are.'

The Brigadier



Return to the top of this page
 


Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Video
VHS
Terror of the AutonsApril 1993BBCV 4957Alister Pearson
Video
DVD
Terror of the AutonsMay 2011BBCDVD 3135BPhoto-montagePart of the "Mannequin Mania" Box Set (BBCDVD 3135) Released along with "Spearhead From Space"
Video
DVD
Terror of the AutonsSeptember 2013BBCDVD 3814Photo-montagePart of "The Monster Collection - The Master" boxset
Video
Blu-Ray
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 8 (Limited Edition)March 2021BBCBD 0506Photo-montageBlu-Ray Limited Edition boxed set containing 5 specially restored stories
Video
Blu-Ray
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 8 (Standard Edition)November 2022BBCBD 0564Photo-montageBlu-Ray Standard Edition boxed set containing 5 specially restored stories


In Print

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)PublisherAuthorCover ArtRemarks
Novel
Novel
Doctor Who and the Terror of the AutonsMay 1975Target No. 63Terrance DicksPeter BrookesISBN: 0-426-10639-3
Novel
Novel
Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons1979Target No. 63Terrance DicksAlun HoodNew cover reprint.
ISBN: 0-426-11500-7
Novel
Novel
Doctor Who and the Terror of the Autons1986Target No. 63Terrance DicksBook: Alun Hood
Box: Photo
Re-released as part of The Doctor Who Gift Set
ISBN: 0-426-32410-8
CD
CD
Doctor Who and the Terror of the AutonsJuly 2010Target No. 63Terrance DicksAudio version of the Target Novel read by Geoffrey Beevers (The Master).
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time)Issue 55
Doctor Who Magazine - ArchiveIssue 164 (Released: September 1990)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArchiveIssue 165 (Released: October 1990)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArchiveIssue 311 (Released: December 2001)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 325 (Released: January 2003)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of FictionIssue 385 (Released: August 2007)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of FictionIssue 386 (Released: September 2007)
Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive1984 Winter Special (Released: 1984)
Doctor Who DVD FilesVolume 101 (Released: November 2012)

Return to the top of this page
 


Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companions

 
Jon Pertwee
The Third Doctor

   

Nicholas Courtney
The Brigadier
John Levene
Sergeant Benton
Katy Manning
Jo Grant
   
Richard Franklin
Captain Mike Yates





On Release

VHS Video Cover
VHS Video Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Mannequin Mania DVD Cover
Mannequin Mania DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
The Monster Collection - The Master Cover
The Monster Collection - The Master Cover

BBC
VIDEO
The Collection Season 8 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover
The Collection Season 8 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO
   
The Collection Season 8 Standard Edition Blu-Ray Cover
The Collection Season 8 Standard Edition Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO



In Print

Original Target Book Cover
Original Target Book Cover

Target
NOVEL
Reprinted Target Book Cover
Reprinted Target Book Cover

Target
NOVEL
The Doctor Who Gift Set
The Doctor Who Gift Set

Target
NOVEL
Target Audio CD Cover
Target Audio CD Cover

BBC
CD
   



Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time): Issue 55
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time): Issue 55

CMS
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 164
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 164

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 165
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 165

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 311
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 311

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 325
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 325

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 385
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 385

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 386
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 386

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive: 1984 Winter Special
Doctor Who Magazine Special - Archive: 1984 Winter Special

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 101
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 101

GE Fabbri
   

Return to the top of this page
 
 
Who's Who
KJ Software
Who Me
Episodes of the
Third Doctor


Season 8 Press to go back to the previous visited page References
 
 
Doctor Who is the copyright of the British Broadcasting Corporation. No infringements intended. This site is not endorsed by the BBC or any representatives thereof.