“TERROR OF THE AUTONS” (4 EPISODES) – Original Airdate January 2-23, 1971
The Doctor is still trapped on Earth and unable to use the TARDIS, but the Time Lords are looking out for him. They send warning that the Master has come to Earth and the Doctor soon discovers that the dangerous Time Lord is also working alongside the Nestene Consciousness, controller of lethal Autons creatures. Once again, the planet is in terrible danger. Can the Doctor and new assistant Jo Grant save it before it’s too late and the true terror of the Autons is revealed?
This serial, the first of Jon Pertwee’s second season as the Doctor, is loaded with firsts, particularly of new additions to the cast. First and foremost, the Doctor gains a new companion with the introduction of Josephine Grant, played by the always effervescent Katy Manning. Jo was very different to her predecessor, Liz Shaw, in nearly every way. Jo was fiesty, willing to jump into the fray and ready to help the Doctor in any way she could. Jo would remain for three seasons and is still regarded as one of the most popular and fondly remembered companions.
A longer lasting character arrived in the form of the Master, originated here by the late Roger Delgado. This is the first time one of the Doctor’s fellow Time Lords would appear on a regular basis and this story serves as a great intro to the character. All of his tropes are present: the ability to mesmerize people to do his bidding; his TCE gun which, in addition to killing someone, shrunk them to the size of an action figure; his cunning and guile in preferring to inact his plans behind the scenes and through others. All of these things would be used in subsequent years by the Master to greater and lesser degrees. Although many actors have portrayed the Master over the years, Delgado is still the best to me.
In a more limited capacity, “Terror of the Autons” also saw the ranks of UNIT increase with the addition of Captain Mike Yates, played by Richard Franklin. Yates would appear on a recurring basis for the rest of Pertwee’s run, figuring most prominently in the story discussed below. This season and next were probably the peak years for UNIT and man-of-action Yates was a welcome recruit.
These four episodes hold up well forty years later and look very good on DVD. I’m not sure what clean up was needed on the original film, but it is very crisp. This is a classic Robert Holmes story and really defines the next few years of the show to a great extent. This single disc set comes with some awesome extras, most notably the “Life on Earth” Making Of feature, “The Doctor’s Moriarty” retrospective on the creation of the Master and “Plastic Fantastic,” which takes a look at the process behind the Autons and why they were so frightening. Lots of great details in these special features and some great archive interviews with Jon Pertwee. There is also a photo gallery, promotional material on PDF and a terrific commentary track featuring Katy Manning, the late, great Nicholas Courtney and the late Barry Letts, producer during Jon Pertwee’s reign. I highly recommend listening to this as all three are very entertaining.
“PLANET OF THE SPIDERS” (6 EPISODES) – Original Airdate May 4-June 8, 1974
At a Tibetan retreat in the English countryside, a group of men are using ancient meditation rituals to tap into a mysterious alien power. They unwittingly create a bridgehead between Earth and Metebelis 3, a planet where the ‘Two Legs’ are oppressed by giant spiders. The creatures are desperate to recover the blue jewel that the Doctor gave to Jo Grant as a wedding gift. Now the Doctor must risk everything and return to Metebelis 3 to face the awesome power of The Great One, who plans to use the great crystal to enslave all of human kind.
Much like “Terror of the Autons” was notable for being full of firsts, “Planet of the Spiders” marks a few endings. Indeed, it is truly and end of an era. First and foremost, this was the final story for Jon Pertwee. Pertwee has played the role for five years and left an indelible mark on the show and very big shoes to fill. Doctor Who marked its tenth year under his reign and probably established itself as a British institution during this time. Pertwee would return to the role of the third Doctor for the 20th and 30th anniversaries as well as in a couple of radio adventures and a stage play before his untimely death in 1995.
Also marking an end was the Earth-based stories and UNIT as a regular presence. The setting at UNIT HQ would continue for the first story of the fourth Doctor, but would disappear after that. The Brigadier, Sgt Benton and Mike Yates would no longer be regulars, the latter having turned into somewhat of a bad guy earlier in the season only to return here and redeem himself. Benton would appear in three more stories in the following two seasons and the Brigadier would be seen sporadically until the show was canceled in 1989, although the late Nicholas Courtney would return to the role in several audio plays by Big Finish Productions and on the spin-off series Sarah Jane Adventures.
Two other major departures were in the form of producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks, both responsible for the exiled on Earth/UNIT arc that dominated the third Doctor’s tenure. This was the first time in the series that the Doctor stayed tethered to one particular time and place over multiple seasons, something that has not been repeated since, unless you count Doctors nine through eleven and their penchant for returning to modern day Earth. Letts and Dicks presided over a very popular era in the show’s history and have left a lasting legacy. Although UNIT was established the season before, this was the era that really defined the organization and informed its later appearances. They also created the Master and gave us our first multi-Doctor story with “The Three Doctors.” I’m not certain Doctor Who would have lasted past the early 1970s if it had not been shepherded by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks.
All six episodes shine on this two-disc DVD set and probably look better than they did when originally transmitted. There is a wonderful Making Of feature, “The Final Curtain,” which details the making of this story and what lead to all the departures. Again, there is some great archival interview footage with Jon Pertwee. Barry Letts gets a retrospective with “Directing Doctor Who” which covers the producer’s directorial contributions to the program. John Kane, who plays Tommy, relates fond memories of his work in “John Kane Remembers…” and there is a powerhouse commentary track featuring the likes of the late Elisabeth Sladen, the late Nicholas Courtney, the late Barry Letts, Richard Franklin and Terrance Dicks.