Right, well this will be my first proper review post of the new year and it will be on a Doctor Who story I have already sort of reviewed (but not properly!) as I did it as part of a double bill from the Jon Pertwee era of the show. The original post in question featured Pertwee's two Auton stories, Spreahead from Space and Terror of the Autons. I have since created a separate post for Terror of the Autons but not for Spearhead from Space, so the latter story will be the focus of this post.
Spearhead from Space is of course Jon Pertwee's debut story in the role as the third doctor, so after 48 years, how does it still fair??? Well, let's take a look....
And yep, the usual warning applies...
SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
STORY
So, the story begins shortly after the the second doctor (Patrick Troughton) regenerates into the third doctor (Jon Pertwee) as the TARDIS arrives on 20th Century Earth in England, the third doctor emerges and falls unconscious (as he has now begun his exile to Earth under orders of the Time Lords). Meanwhile a swarm of meteorites lands nearby in a field not far from the Doctor, who is soon taken to Ashbridge cottage hospital.
At the hospital, the Doctor is soon met with by Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) who doesn't recognise the Doctor on account of his regeneration, however the Doctor does as he briefly comes round. However, not long after the Brigadier leaves hospital, the Doctor is abducted by a strange man, Channing (Hugh Burden) along with some other men. The Doctor escapes into a field where one of the UNIT soldiers, opens fires on him with a bullet just grazing his skull, he falls into unconsciousness again and taken back to hospital.
Meanwhile the Brigadier has recruited the help of a scientist, Liz Shaw (Caroline John) to aide UNIT with their investigations although she remains sceptical of the Brigadier's stories of the Doctor and alien invasions. The Doctor soon regains consciousness and escapes the hospital, stealing a roadster car, he drives to meet with the Brigadier and Liz where he convinces the Brig that he is the same person. The Doctor agrees to help them with their investigation regarding the meteorites, as UNIT managed to recover a piece of plastic polyhedron, which the Doctor analyses and suggests its part of a collective alien intelligence.
In the meantime, Channing is revealed to be part of the alien intelligence known as the Nestenes, who can control plastic and use it to make facsimilie human beings and he has taken over a toy factory that is run by the weak willed, Hibbert (John Woodnutt). Channing then sends out mannequin type facsimilies, called Autons to try and retrieve another meteorite taken by a local poacher, Sam Seeley (Neil Wilson). The Auton sent to retrieve is forced to flee the scene when UNIT troops show up just as the Brigadier and the Doctor find the meteorite and take it back for analysis.
And from here, the Doctor, the Brigadier and Liz must find a way to stop Channing and the Autons from their plan to start an invasion on Earth....
THOUGHTS
Spearhead from Space must rank easily as one of the strongest opening stories for any of the doctors in the show's history, as it sees Jon Pertwee get off to a great start here as the Third Doctor, who has always been one of my favourite doctors overall. And with the Third Doctor, it saw the series take a real change in direction as the Doctor is now exiled to Earth under orders of the Time Lords and is no longer allowed to travel in time and space but it did also introduce the UNIT family of the Brigadier, Sgt Benton, Captain Yates and Jo Grant (but not in this season). The show also introduces one of the Doctor's most underrated companions in Liz Shaw, played by Caroline John (who bears some resemblance to Jodie Whittaker, the new Doctor (well I think!).
The story was also a landmark for the show as it was the first one to be broadcast entirely in colour and it was also shot all on film, which helps gives the story a more polished feel. Spearhead would also later be released on Blu-ray as it was one of the very stories from the original series that was shot on film and as such was an ideal choice for being presented in HD.
As for the villains of the story, the Autons, they themselves make for pretty effective ones as their mannequin masks are very creepy looking and the scene (SPOILER!!) where the mannequins break out of the clothes shops is very memorable. Its just a shame however when the Autons appeared again in Terror of the Autons (which was also the debut story for the Doctor's arch nemesis, the Master) their masks and presences were much less effective.
PERFORMANCES AND SOME NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: some spoilers might be in this section but I will try and cut this section down in size from now on as it is usually too big!).
As for the performances, well they are all excellent as you would with the new regular cast all in great form and the supporting cast also.
Starting with Jon Pertwee, who is great in his debut performance as the third doctor and he naturally has his share of good scenes. Now this will be tough to cut down to just three scenes but that's what I will try and do, just pick three!
And the first scene that springs to mind is the one where the Doctor having escaped from hospital, drives up to meet the Brigadier at the UNIT building and he is met by a security guard at the gate. So, the Doctor angrily says to the guard without giving the guard a chance to speak "All right, all right, I suppose you want to see my pass? Yes, well, I haven't got one. And I'm not going to tell you my name, either. Now you just tell Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart that I want to see him. Well, don't just stand there arguing with me, man! Get on with it!".
So, in the next moment the Doctor is taken to the Brigadier and Liz and the Doctor takes a look at his new face and says "What do you think of my new face, by the way? I wasn't too sure about it myself to begin with. But it sort of grows on you. Very flexible, you know. Could be useful on the planet Delphon, where they communicate with their eyebrows!". So, the Brig then introduces the Doctor to Liz and the Doctor wiggles his eyebrows at her and says "That's Delphon for "how do you?!" and Liz laughs. The Brig then asks the Doctor if he will help UNIT and the Doc asks "If I do, will you give me the key to the TARDIS?" and the Brigadier replies "Possibly!" and the Doctor says testily "Then go away and let us get on with our work!". The Doctor then turns to Liz and asks her sharply "Do I really need to call you Miss Shaw?!" and Liz laughs and says "Liz, just Liz" and the Doctor smiles and says "Liz! That's much better".
Another good scene is when the Doctor attempts to escape in the TARDIS as he tricks Liz into giving him the key, which the Brigadier had. So, after failing to take off in the TARDIS, emerges from it as a puff of smoke appears at the door and he looks sheepishly at Liz and the Brig and says "Just testing!". Liz, then angrily looks at the Doctor and says to him "Doctor, you tricked me!" and the Doctor admits "Yes, I'm afraid the temptation was too strong, my dear. It's just that I couldn't bear the thought of being tied to one planet and one time. I'm sorry. It won't happen again". The Brigadier then says to him "It won't. Give me the key, Doctor!" and the Doctor says "Must I? The TARDIS no longer works as you saw!". And as the Brigadier asks the Doctor to try and not escape again, the Doctor says "My dear fellow, I couldn't escape now even if I wanted to! They've trapped me here!" and the Brig asks "Who?" and the Doctor replies "That mean, dispicable, underhanded lot!" referring to the Time Lords.
And last of all is the final scene where after (SPOILER!!) the whole invasion has been thwarted, the Doctor then establishes a few conditions for him to agree to work with the Brigadier and UNIT. So, the Doctor tells the Brigadier "Yes, well, before we go into all that, Brigadier, I think we must discuss terms". The Brig asks "Terms?" and the Doctor says "Yes. After all, you do want to take advantage of my services again, don't you?" and as the Brig tells him the staff salary is adequate, the Doctor scoffs and says "Money?! My dear chap, I don't want money! I've got not use for the stuff!". So, the Brigadier then asks "Well, what do you want?" and the Doctor tells him "Well, facilities to repair the Tardis, laboratory, equipment, help from Miss Shaw here".
The Doctor then insists on the Brigadier getting him a car as he had taken a shine to the roadster he had stolen from the hospital. So, the Doctor says "And there's that car, too. Yes, you know, I took to that car. It had character!" but the Brigadier insists "No, Doctor. That car must be returned to its owner". The Doctor looks dispondent and asks "Must it?! Yes, I guess it must. Still, there's no reason why you couldn't find me something similar, is there? I mean, it could persuade me to stay, you know!". So, the Brigadier says he will arrange it and before he goes he asks the Doctor "By the way, I've just realised. I don't even know your name!". So, the Doctor takes a moment and then says "Smith! Doctor John Smith!" and he breaks into a big smile (then roll credits!).
Nicholas Courtney next up is great as the Brigadier and he resumes his role with ease here and enjoys a good rapport with Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Brigadier start their partnership together in this story.
And Nick has his share of good scenes also but again I will try and keep it down to just three, starting with the one where the Brigadier first meets with Liz Shaw. And in the scene the Brigadier tries to explain to Liz what UNIT do and he says to her "We're not exactly spies here at UNIT" prompting Liz to ask "What do you do here exactly?". So, the Brigadier replies "We deal with the odd, the unexplained, anything on Earth, or even beyond" and Liz mocks him saying "Alien invaders! Little blue men with three heads!". And at the end of the scene, the Brigadier explains to Liz that a series of meteorites landed in Essex and just six months ago, another shower landed in the same spot, leaving Liz in a state of disbelief. So, Liz says to the Brig "The odds against two lots of meteorites landing in exactly the same place must be incredible!" and the Brigadier looks at her seriously and says "They are, Miss Shaw...they are".
Then there is the scene where the Brigadier goes to the hospital to visit the Doctor, while he is unconscious, expecting to see the second doctor. So, the hospital doctor (who is the dead spit of Adrian Edmonson!) tells the Brigadier that the Doctor's physiology is completely different and his blood type is not identifiable, so the Brig smiles and says "Splendid! That sounds like the Doctor!". So, the Brigadier goes over to the Doctor, who lies on his side and he turns him over to see his face and looks puzzled.
Liz then asks the Brigadier "Do you know him?" and the Brigadier, disappointed says "What? No, I thought I might do, but he's a complete stranger. I've never seen him before in my life". However at this point, the Doctor has started to come around and he looks up at the Brigadier and says to him quietly "Lethbridge-Stewart? My dear fellow, how nice to see you again". And the Brig's second in command, Captain Munro says to him "He knows you, sir" but the Brigadier insists "But he can't do!". So, the Brig leans toward the Doctor and asks "Look here! Can you hear me? Who are you?!" and the Doctor weakly says "Don't you recognise me?" and the Brig firmly says "I'm positive that we've never met before!".
And last of all is the scene where the Brigadier discovers that Liz has pinched the TARDIS key and given it to the Doctor, who attempts to escape in the TARDIS only for it to not work as the Time Lords changed the dematerliasation codes.
So, in the scene, the Brigadier angrily enters the UNIT lab just shortly after the Doctor has entered the TARDIS, and he asks Liz "Miss Shaw, where's that key?!" and after a short pause, he says "You've given it to him!". Liz then says "He needed some equipment" and the Brigadier tells her "Equipment? I had no idea you could be so gullible. That's an excuse. We shan't see him again!" and we start to hear the TARDIS trying to dematerialise and the Brig says "Listen, he's going". However the TARDIS noise goes wonky and it is followed by the sound of an explosion and a puff of smoke and then by an embarrassed looking Doctor, who emerges from the TARDIS, coughing.
So, the Doctor then explains that he is now trapped on Earth and he can't escape and that the Time Lords "Changed the dematerialisation code" and the Brig asks "The what?" and the Doctor says "The dema...oh it doesn't matter, you wouldn't understand anyway!". The Brigadier then says "There's a great deal that I don't understand. But one thing I did understand, Doctor, was that you promised your help". The Doctor irritated says "Yes, well, I've tried to help you the best way I can, but I need more evidence. I need more to go on!" and the Brigadier replies "Well, I think I might be able to help you".
Caroline John next up is also great as Liz Shaw, the Doctor's new companion, a well respected Cambridge scientist, who the Brigadier recruits into UNIT to help out with their investigations into the meteorites.
Caroline also has her good moments too that include her first scene where Liz is taken to meet the Brigadier for the first time and she is rather angry at all the security rigmarole she is forced to go through to meet him. So, Liz angrily enters the Brig's office and tells him "Was all that nonsense out there really necessary? Identity passes? Guards? I was even searched!". Liz then says "I have an important research programme going ahead at Cambridge!" and the Brigadier says "Yes, I know. An expert in meteorites, degrees in medicine, physics and a dozen other subjects. Just the sort of all-rounder I've been looking for!". Liz however dismissively says "I'm just not interested in security work" and the Brigadier asks "Security?" and Liz mockingly says "Producing invisible ink. That sort of thing". The Brigadier then explains that UNIT don't deal with security exactly, more the unusual an unexplained on Earth and beyond and Liz mocks him by saying "Alien invaders? Little blue men with three heads?!".
Then there is the scene where Liz and the Doctor first work together and he explains to her about his TARDIS, much to Liz's disbelief. So, in the scene, Liz complains that they cannot analyse the meteorite structure "I can't understand it. We've tried a dozen different methods of analysis and haven't identified a single element!". The Doctor then replies "Yes, what results can you expect with this primitive equipment?!" leaving Liz somewhat taken aback, who exclaims "Primitive?! We've got lasers, spectographs, micron probes...!". The Doctor testily interrupts her and says "Yes, yes, yes, yes, I know all that! But what we really need is a lateral molecular rectifier" and Liz, astonished asks "What on Earth's that?!" and the Doctor tells her "Not ON Earth unfortunately".
The Doctor then tells Liz that he has one in his TARDIS, leaving Liz very sceptical, who asks "Doctor, do you really have scientific equipment in there?!" and the Doctor tells her "My dear, Liz. I have an entire laboratory!". Liz then laughs and says "Yes, I'm sure you have!" but the Doctor says "No, no, no, its true! Well, you think that the Tardis isn't big enough, don't you? That's because you keep looking at it simply as a police box". Liz laughs again and says "Well, it IS only a police box!" and the Doctor tells her "Oh no, not once you get inside it, it isn't. You see, Liz, the Tardis is dimensionally transcendental!" and Liz humouring him says "I see!".
And last of all there is the scene where the Doctor and Liz are constructing a device to combat against the Nestenes and the Doctor messes about with some wires while Liz looks very tired. So, Liz wearily says to the Doctor "It's nearly half past five. Can't we take a break? I can hardly keep me eyes open!". The Doctor however is more embroiled in what he is doing and says to Liz "And a red. Here it is. Hold onto this for me a moment" and Liz holds a wire and she yawns and says "Just think, the rest of world is fast asleep!" and she yawns.
Hugh Burden next up is excellent in his role as the creepy, main villain, Channing, an alien Nestene, who is in a human body and has taken over a toy plastics factory.
And Burden has some good moments in the story that include the one in the last episode where Hibbert tries to sabotage a tank containing a Nestenes alien creature. So, as Hibbert hits the control panel of the tank with a metal bar, Channing rushes in and shouts "Stop!" and Hibbert yells "No, Channing! You can't stop me now!". Channing then says to him "You should not have left the factory, Hibbert" but Hibbert angrily says " Channing! I can think when I'm away from you. I know what's been happening. I know what I've done. You've been controlling my mind! The Doctor was right!". Hibbert then looks at Channing fearfully and asks "Who are you? WHAT are you?" and Channing replies "We are the Nestenes. We have been colonising planets for a thousand million years. Now we have come to colonise Earth". Hibbert fearfully asks "What will happen to man? You will destroy us!" but Channing says "You will be spared, Hibbert. You have helped us".
Channing then tells Hibbert "There is nothing you can do, Hibbert" but Hibbert defiantly shouts "If I destroy this, I destroy all of you!" and he hits the tank again with the metal bar but then an Auton shoots him in the back. Channing then looks on with anger and says to the Auton "Destroy! Total destruction!" and the Auton fires again at Hibbert, who's body vanishes into a puff of smoke.
John Woodnutt is also very good as Hibbert, the weak willed toy factory owner, who is controlled by Channing for most of the story.
And Woodnutt has his good moments aswell but I will only mention one of them as I mentioned his other one already in the paragraphs above for Hugh Burden. So, the scene I will mention is the one where the Doctor, the Brigadier and Liz visit the toy factory to speak to Hibbert, who downplays Ransome's story, one of Hibbert's business partners, who at this point is on the run from the Autons after they discovered him in the factory.
So, in the scene, Hibbert laughs at the story Ransome told the Doctor and the others "What an extraordinary story! What made him say such a thing?" and the Brigadier says "We have to check on it, Mr Hibbert, no matter how extraordinary it might be". Liz then says to Hibbert "He was going to come with his but then he disappeared" and Hibbert says "Ah, he was a brilliant young man, in many ways". Liz asks "Then why did you dismiss him?" and Hibbert tells her "Oh, he had some wild scheme for making electronic dolls. The design was quite impractical. He was very unpleasant when I turned him down".
The Doctor then asks Hibbert "What exactly are you making here?" and Hibbert says "Er, plastic dolls of course, but our new line is display mannequins for shops. We send them all over the country". The Doctor, curious, then asks "And can these mannequins actually move?" and Hibbert says "Well, they're flexible, of course. That's why we've captured the market. But I can assure you, they can't move on their own". The Brigadier then asks "So you think Ransome was simply trying to make trouble" and Hibbert says "Hmmm, I can't think of another explanation". So, the Doctor says that's all they can think of and sorry for being a nuisance and Hibbert replies "Not at all. I'll see you out".
John Breslin is also good in his role as Captain Munro, the Brigadier's second in command, who has a couple of good scenes worth mentioning.
The first being where the Brigadier meets with Munro after the Doctor had just been returned to the hospital after trying to escape from Channing and his men when they captured him. So, Munro shows the Brig a box containing the partial remains of one of the meteorites they landed earlier. So, the Brig asks "Where is this meteorite you chaps found" and Munro tells him "Right here, sir" so he opens the box and takes out the section of meteorite and hands it to the Brig who says "Its light, very light".
So, as the Brig asks about the men who tried to abduct the Doctor, Munro tells the Brigadier that he got a picture of Channing "I've got a picture of one of them, sir. He was here earlier posing as a reporter". The Brig asks "How did you get this?" and Munro says "I made a check on all the press men, sir. One of the photographers took this shot when you arrived with Miss Shaw, and two of the nurses saw this man leading the raiding party". The Brigadier then asks "What about the others?" and Munro tells him "I only got a glimpse of them, sir. But there was something odd about their faces".
And lastly there is the scene where the poacher, Mr Seeley is questioned by Munro when Seeley says he is looking for a reward for finding one of them but he is reluctant to tell them if he has one (which he does at home). So, Seeley tries to bluff his way out saying he needs to get home to the his missus but Munro tells him "Don't worry, Mister Seeley, we'll let your wife know where you are. Now, about the meteorites?". Seeley then says "Look, sir. It was a mistake. I haven't seen nothing!" and Munro says "If you tell us where it is, you can go home". Seeley then changes his tune and says "Worth a bit of money, I reckon" and Munro asks "So you do know where there is one" and Seeley remains tight lipped and says "I might!". Munro however is now growing impatient and he says firmly to Seeley "Seeley, I'm not going to bargain with you. You tell me everything you know, and tell me quick!".
Derek Smee is also good in his role as Ransome, Hibbert's business partner, who Hibbert snubs under the orders of Channing and Ransome turns up to confront Hibbert in his office.
So, I will mention that scene only for Smee where Ransome shows up and complains to Hibbert about his treatment of him. And Ransome angrily says to Hibbert "When I invented this doll, you promised me full backing. You sent me to the States to interest the Americans in joint production. You said, that if it all worked out, you'd make me a partner. Well, here it all is. Agreements ready to sign, advance orders, the lot. And what do I find on the mat when I get home? A letter giving me the push. Look, we worked on this project together. Well, you helped me finish the designs. Now you've put the chop on it just like that. For heaven's sake, George, you owe me some sort of explanation!".
Hibbert then nervously stands up and says "Its, er new policy. We have a new policy" and Ransome asks "What's happened to this place?! Most of the staff gone, security notices everywhere" and Hibbert tells him "We're developing a new process. Its all very secret, we've changed everything". Ransome then says "I'll say you have. The whole layout of the factory floor is different. And my workshop, what's in there now?!". Hibbert then turns and gives Ransome a serious look and says "Stay away from there, John. You shouldn't have come. Its not safe". And at this point, Channing enters and Hibbert grabs his neck (as Channing controls his mind) and he sits back down. Ransome, concerned then says to Hibbert "Look, if there's anything wrong, perhaps I can help you" but Hibbert flatly says "There's nothing wrong. My letter explained everything. Goodbye" leaving Ransome no choice but to leave.
And last of all is Hamilton Dyce, who does well enough in his role as General Scobie, who Channing and the Nestenes make facsimilie copy of in their effort to override UNIT's interference although Scobie is pretty much your typical cliched senior British military figure. However Dyce also plays Scobie as a facsimilie copy of the real general, so that allows to change up the character a little.
So, for Hamilton, I will mention only one of his scenes and its the one where the facsimilie Scorbie takes the Nestene energy unit from Munro at UNIT HQ while the Doctor, Liz and the Brig are away. So, Munro asks Scobie "May I ask what you intend to do with it, sir?" and Scobie replies "The government is sending it to the Royal Geophysical Laboratory".
Munro then says "With respect, sir, I think the Brigadier ought to be informed first. I have no authority to part with it" but Scobie sharply tells him "You can tell Brigadier Stewart I ordered you to hand it over!". Munro stands his ground and says "My orders come through UNIT, sir" which then forces Scobie to say "Captain Munro, you may be attached to UNIT but you're still in the army. Will you give me the globe? Or shall I take it and arrest you for mutiny?!" and Munro resignedly gives it over to him.
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the direction, Derek Martinus does a fine job here with the story and he directs it a nice, brisk pace and he nicely balances out the action and he succeeds in creating a creepy atmosphere, especially as the Autons make for very eerie, effective villains. In fact unless I am mistaken, I think Martinus makes a short appearance in the story as the security guard at UNIT HQ, who the Doctor snaps at let him in. This was also the last serial that Martinus worked on in the series as he also directed stories from the Patrick Troughton era of the show.
P.S. Further this paragraph turns out I was mistaken as it wasn't Derek Martinus that played the camero role of the security guard but it was in fact the show's producer at the time, Derrick Sherwin that played the part. This however was the last serial that Sherwin produced as Barry Letts would take over the producer role for the remainder of the Pertwee era.
Moving onto the music score it was composed once again by Dudley Simpson, who by then had become a semi-regular composer for the show but he would from this point on, be the real main composer. And Simpson's score here is very good as it has a good mix of orchestration and some synthesizer work and there are plenty of good sections of it that are suspenseful and well suited to the tone of the story.
FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
As for flaws....yes well Spearhead does still have the one or two.
For starters, one of the main problems I had to do with the story was just why did Channing want to kidnap the Doctor in the first place??? It simply doesn't really make much sense and isn't explained, I mean even the Brigadier asks this question and we aren't given a proper answer. However in the story, Hibbert asks Hibbert if it was possible that the Doctor had taken one of the Nestene energy units, which would probably account for why they would abduct him to get it back. Having said that though, its still not very clear or well explained and that scene feels hastily done and not very well thought out.
One of the other issues was to do with the giant octopus that was concealed in the tank at the end of the story, which frankly looked ridiculous and laughable when the Doctor is attacked by it with its tentacles everywhere. It was a very silly end to an otherwise excellent adventure where the Doctor has to deal with a big octopus and that's really all it takes to knock out the Nestenes and Autons!
And lastly, I thought it seemed a bit out of character that the Doctor would want to just run away from Earth rather than help out Liz and the Brigadier when they have a situation on their hands, as the Doctor usually would always help out rather than just be selfish and impulsively try and run away. So, this was a rather strange and selfish move by the Doctor, who gladly at this point scarper in the TARDIS once Liz sneakily handed him the key and leave the Earth to the fate of the Nestenes!
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So, summing it all up, Spearhead from Space is definitely one of Jon Pertwee's best stories and one of the best debut stories of any doctor in the show. The story is also very well acted by its cast with Jon Pertwee stepping into Patrick Troughton's shoes very confidently (well they might have been a bit too small for him!) as the Doctor. The supporting cast are also great and the return of Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier was a welcome one as well as the new companion, Liz Shaw played by Caroline John and the guest cast are also very good too, particularly Hugh Burden and John Woodnutt. And the story is also very well written of course by Robert Holmes and directed by Derek Martinus.
And if you are a fan of the show and haven't seen it yet, then I would definitely give Spearhead from Space a go, or if you have seen it, I'd certainly recommend giving it another watch.
Right, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post.
Till then its bye for now!
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