“Terror of the Autons” is the first adventure of the eighth season of “Doctor Who” classic series, which aired in 1971. It follows “Inferno” and it’s a four parts adventure written by Robert Holmes and directed by Barry Letts.
The story
The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) is still trying to repair the Tardis when Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) assigns him a new assistant, Jo Grant (Katy Manning). The girl brings the news that the only Nestene energy unit still extisting was stolen and there was a sabotage at a radiotelescope.
The Doctor runs to investigate, concerned about the possible consequences of such criminal acts. The situation gets complicated when a Time Lord appears to warn him that his old enemy, the Master, fled to Earth and wants to kill him.
Extras
This DVD contains a good amount of extras. There are typical contents such as production subtitles, the Radio Times Listings, a promo of the “Doctor Who” DVD to be published soon and a gallery of pictures from this adventure.
There are various comments in the adventure alternative audio track by protagonists Katy Manning and Nicholas Courtney and producer / director Barry Letts.
Life on Earth. A documentary on the production of this adventure.
The Doctor’s Moriarty. A documentary about the Master and his role as the Doctor’s antagonist.
Plastic Fantastic. A documentary about the Autons.
The DVD also contains promotional material about the products Sugar Smacks and a Nestlé chocolate related to “Doctor Who” in PDF format.
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Barry Letts had become the “Doctor Who” producer when the seventh season had already been planned so it wasn’t until the eighth season that he could really exercise his decision-making power. An increase of the budget allowed him to produce a greater number of adventures composed of fewer episodes and made various changes in the cast.
In the eighth season a new companion was introduced, Jo Grant, who was almost the opposite of Liz Shaw. Very enthusiastic but not particularly competent in scientific matters, Jo was a return to the companions of the past who gave way to the doctor to explain what was happening and also gave him a way of being paternal and protective with her.
It was also decided to expand the UNIT staff with the introduction of Captain Mike Yates. Originally, they considered the possibility of creating a romantic plot between him and Jo but the strong relationship quickly developed between the girl and the Doctor led to the abandonment of that idea.
The Doctor in exile had many points in common with Sherlock Holmes therefore Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks decided to create a Moriarty, meaning an enemy at his level. The idea led to the birth of the Master, a criminal Time Lord who could be a real challenge for the Doctor.
“Spearhead from Space” was a success so it was decided to start the eighth season with a sequel, again written by Robert Holmes, that became “Terror of the Autons”. The need to utilize the Auton and introduce new characters restricted the possibilities of the plot, which in my opinion isn’t as brilliant and sophisticated as in many other adventures written by Holmes.
The great strength of “Terror of the Autons” is in its characters and their interactions. This happened thanks to the excellent work of the production team and the author in shaping the characters but also in a very appropriate choice of actors to play important parts. In a unique case, producer Barry Letts was also the director and this gave a great consistency to the work done on paper.
At least initially, Jo Grant finds herself in a situation where she’s out of her league but still manages to make herself useful. The Doctor is grumpier than ever because he can’t make the Tardis work and treats everyone badly but eventually accepts Jo. After a first meeting that’s not exactly positive, soon the two of them start forming one of the strongest bonds ever seen between the Doctor and a companion before, in the new series, a romantic attachment was allowed.
Barry Letts already knew actor Roger Delgado and kept him in mind in the creation of the Master. We can really say that the result is masterful. From the beginning of “Terror of the Autons” Delgado falls perfectly into his character determining his success, also because he works extremely well in the scenes together with Jon Pertwee.
The Master has become one of the most famous enemies of the Doctor, so much that he appeared many times in “Doctor Who”. After being a regular during the eighth season, he appeared occasionally in later ones and also in the new series after regenerating or anyway changing body a number of times. However, the contrast with the Doctor has never worked as well as the one between Jon Pertwee and Roger Delgado.
The presence of the Master outshines the Autons, who still have their moments. Today certain scenes of “Terror of the Autons” don’t particularly impress us, also because the special effects of the time seem low quality. At the time, however, some scenes turned out really scary, so much that they caused various protests.
Today “Terror of the Autons” has a considerable reputation. I honestly don’t consider it an extraordinary adventure, still it’s good and the debut of Jo Grant and the Master makes it important in “Doctor Who” history. The DVD also contains interesting extras that make it a product I recommend to anyone who is interested in the show.
In Region 2 nations, this DVD is part of the “Mannequin Mania” box set, available on Amazon U.K.
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