SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE – 1970 – ep 51

Well, here I am with Jon Pertwee’s first go as the Doctor… I have seen this one before although it’s been about 30 years. Here’s a memory, since this is for my own posterity. My mom and I lived in a house about five miles from where the wife and I live now (the neighborhood was Willow Creek) and our living room TV had been to close to the fireplace one night and it melted – to watch TV we had to go into my mom’s room and look at the one at the foot of her bed. I remember coming home from school, getting something to eat and sitting on the edge of her bed watching Pertwee’s reruns. Aaaahhh memories. What I remember mostly about Pertwee’s run is that he was confined to Earth (I didn’t know he was exiled until I watched The War Games recently) and his episodes always seemed to me to be “James Bond-y” and cavorting around with UNIT and the Brigadier. Oh yeah – and that fancy Whomobile.

NOTE:  The vehicle I always thought was called the Whomobile is actually just a car named Bessie with a license plate reading “WHO 1″. It turns out the Whomobile is a hovercraft kind of thing….

All right – let’s see what we’ve got:

Episode 1:

The new, color titles! A redone theme! Jon Pertwee’s mug! A good start! As we open, a sweaty, English youth is watching some sort of radar and notices that we have some incoming, unknown traffic. He calls the supervisor over and she remarks that it must be meteorites. “But they are all grouped together, like they’re organized,” he worries – and sweats.  Out in a forest, or perhaps a shire, a dirty, hairy man with rotten teeth is setting a rabbit trap. He sees the incoming projectiles and jumps out of the way. There is an explosion! He inspects the crater and…. something is glowing!! A few feet away, the TARDIS materializes and… Pertwee stumbles out… he is dazed! He collapses! Elsewhere, Caroline John who would be this seasons companion “Liz Shaw” is being driven to UNIT HQ. She meets with Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (let’s go ahead and abbreviate that to BLS shall we?) in an interview to be UNIT’s scientific advisor. UNIT is the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce btw. Anyway, as they are having polite, English conversation, BLS’ phone rings – the meteorite site has been located – so has an unconscious man! Outside a police box! In the shire! “This must be the Doctor!” he says and starts to explain who the Doctor is to Liz

In the hospital, a doctor – not THE Doctor – are trying to figure out who the Doctor is. He has two hearts and blood that can’t be analyzed. The keen eye will notice that when the Time Lords regenerated him and sent him to Earth, they must have gone ahead and given him a nice copper bracelet. Oh well. Soon enough, BLS and Shaw are there at his bedside and he exclaims “This is not the Doctor, I have never seen this man before in my life!!” To which the Doctor awakes and blurts: “Why Brigadier, how good to see you!!” What is all of this folly? Let me say one thing about this new season, I do NOT care for the incidental music one bit. Not one bit. Not even one. Anyway, BLS and Shaw leave to think on this and soon the Doctor is kidnapped by a fellow who had been lurking around in the background. But the Doctor escapes! He is wheeling himself down the sidewalk at break neck speed! The UNIT guards are hot on his tail! So are his kidnappers! The Doctor is heading for the TARDIS!! The two UNIT guards ordered to protect the Police Box here him rustling in the woods! They shoot!! Pertwee emerges, grabs his head!! Has the Doctor been shot??? Is he stone cold dead??

Episode 2:

He falls to the ground – cut to the hospital – “Is he dead?” BLS asks the doctor. “Nope, just in a self induced coma” replies the doctor. “That bullet just burned his forehead.”  Outside the hospital, BLS tells his main man that the police box is being moved to UNIT HQ so he can double up protection for the Doctor.  ”But why would anyone want to kidnap him…” he worries. His man shows him a picture of the person who tried to steal off with him – “Look at this face” he foreshadows. In town we are introduced to a doll making plant – and a silent woman with a very waxy face. Oooohhhh the kidnapper is there, lurking and glowering. Something is rotten at the doll plant. At UNIT, Liz has built herself a fancy lab and is analyzing the meteorite leftovers. “These are fabricated” she determines – not by someone…. or something! Back in this shire – the filthy rabbit hunter who stole a pod is investigating his treasure and it is getting brighter and louder! It’s calling something! it seems to calling the ascot wearing mannequin looking thing in the woods!

In the lab, BLS is checking out the TARDIS in the corner. He has the key but is interrupted by the arrival of the Major General.  Back at the hospital, the Doctor is sneaking around in his robe. He finds a “Doctors Only” washroom and takes a shower. Now the keen eye will notice that not only does he have a copper bracelet, he is also sporting a wristwatch and a tattoo of a snake on his forearm.  Prowling around in a towel, he comes across a closet full of clothes and gets himself a nice new costume – complete with frilly blouse and a cape!  He steals a car and heads out. In the shire, some UNIT soldiers have unearthed another glowing orb! They are taking it back to HQ and almost run into the Mannequin! They crash! There is blood on the window (that’s rare)! The Mannequin steals off with the globe! The Doctor is at UNIT HQ demanding to talk to BLS.  Inside – the wristwatch turns out to be a TARDIS finder. Before we can say Auton the Doctor is analyzing the plastic meteorite shards and is going to help BLS in exchange for his TARDIS key.  Back at the doll plant a fired employee is sneaking in to see what the heck is going on in there. He sneaks into a room full of life sized mannequins! He is puzzled! One of them comes to life and begins to approach him!! AY YAY YAY!

Episode 3:

The Auton’s hand has broken into two pieces! The hand is a gun! It shoots! It misses!! The employee has escaped – with a dreadful secret!! In the doll factory control room the creepy, lurking leader guy has declared the employee must die! The employee is running through the woods! He collapses in front of a couple of UNIT soldiers. In the lab, the Doctor is chewing on a pencil and he and Liz are stumped identifying the plastic element. “What we need is a lateral electrical rectifier” the Doctor surmises. Elsewhere, the employee is drooling in fear. “Let’s get this man to HQ” a soldier commands. In the lab, the Doctor has used his charms and enticement of futuristic technology to convince Liz to steal the TARDIS key from BLS. At HQ, the employee is explaining the strange developments of the plastic men to BLS himself. Liz interrupts, but is poo-pooed by the Brigadier – nevertheless, she spies the key on the desk and swipes it! So cunning.  The Doctor heads into the TARDIS and a very cross looking BLS shows up – the TARDIS tries to dematerialize but it is out of commission…. he emerges sorrowful and covered in smoke. “They’ve changed the dematerialization code.” He rues.

The employee has explained that the creepy lurking dude’s name is Channing, so I don’t have to type all of that any longer. “Something’s rotten there!” he cries and they all decide to head to the doll factory. In the forest, the Auton is tracking down the last of the pods – the swarm leader! These guys sure are all over the place. In the tent with the rabbit hunter, BLS, the Doctor, Liz and the Employee show up when they were supposed to go to the factory. Anyway, the rabbit hunter has fessed up that he has the pod in a trunk at his cottage. “Let’s go there!” They decide. At the cottage, the rabbit hunter’s wife is being slowly chased around by the Auton – she shoots it – two shotgun barrels full – but it has no effect! Soon – she is among the deceased and the Auton seems to have found the trunk. BLS and his group are there! They shoot the Auton but it runs off! Without the pod! Through a mental link, Channing knows the swarm leader has been taken hostage by UNIT. The rabbit hunter’s wife is actually OK, she was just laying there. The Doctor takes control of the pod and they decide to take it back to the factory.  For the record – an Auton without shotgun holes in it’s uniform has killed the employee! He has been disintegrated! the group heads to the factory – and interview the factory manager. “What are you making here?” Ask the Doctor. “Mannequins,” he is answered “For display all around the country.” “I suppose we’re done here, then” the Doctor surmises. In the lab. the Doctor has wired some well, wires, to the orb and come to the conclusion that it’s containing something intelligent. In a back story I have not mentioned, the General from episode one is back – he had a mannequin of himself made earlier. To close this out, while he is talking on his phone, his doorbell rings. When he opens it up is himself! Only waxy!! His double enters his house!

Episode 4:

The Auton-General is in the house! He stares at the real general! In the lab, the Doctor has figured out that the pod is a member of a collective. The pod is just a shell. That must be why they need that factory! To make new shells. At some wax museum, the Doctor and Liz are inspecting the new plastic representations of all of the government officials. One of them has a working, wound wristwatch. How odd. How sinister. They can’t get a hold of BLS so they are going to sneak in after closing time.  In the lab, while BLS and the Doctor and Liz are away, the Auton General has commandeered the orb from a pithy army soldier. In the doll factory, Channing announces he is going to unleash the Auton army tonight. In the museum, Channing has mentally “activated” the Auton army of Government lookalikes.

The Doctor confronts the doll factory manager and tells  him “Channing is your enemy and an enemy of the entire human race!”  At UNIT HQ, the Doctor and Liz are trying to convince BLS ta ACT! In the factory, Channing has placed the stolen pod into some machine that is making the “whole” creature.  In the lab, Liz is yawning like crazy as the Doctor is putting together so me sort of contraption. In the streets of wherever London, all of the store front Mannequins are coming to life, breaking out of their storefronts and shooting people! People are screaming and going crazy! “All over the country, window dummies are coming alive.” BLS advises.  In the factory, Channing is explaining that they are the Nestenes and they have been colonizing other planets for centuries and Earth is next.

Meanwhile, BLS and his troops, the Doctor and Shaw are breaking into the doll factory. They are confronted by the Auton-General who claims they are all under arrest! The Doctor uses the gadget he was making and it cause the wax general severe plastic pain. “He was never really alive, you see” claims the Doctor. As BLS scrambles to take control of the troops, the Doctor and Liz head into the factory and shut down some Autons with the “frequency generator” I guess it’s called.  While the UNIT soldiers and the Autons get into a firefight, the Doctor confronts Channing who explains again they are the Nestene Consciousness and they cannot be destroyed. He flips a switch and runs out of there! The Doctor’s machine isn’t working!! Giant tentacles are coming out of the box!! The Doctor is surely dead!! Liz makes an enhancement on the machine and it kills the thing in the box – all of the Autons fall down. The day, and the Earth have been saved. ”Will the Nestenes be back?” BLS asks the Doctor back in the lab. “Surely” He concludes. BLS and the Doctor broker a deal for his services while he is trapped on the planet – the Doctor wants a lab…. a car… and Liz.

Well, this wasn’t too bad of a “serial”. I like Pertwee and I always liked the Brigadier. Of course, I like the more recent, better special effects Autons of “Rose” – which I suppose was fitting, since with “Rose” we rolled in a new era of Doctor Who too.

Some pics to remember this by:

The Doctor (with cape) and Liz:

BLS:

The Auton in the woods:

Caroline John:

Bessie:

Whomobile: