Doctor Who: Spearhead from Space

Spearhead from Space is the first of only two Doctor Who stories to be originated entirely on film as opposed to videotape; this was an emergency measure necessitated by the unavailability of studios due to industrial action at the BBC.

SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE - A small shower of meteorites, apparently in formation, lands in England during a freak heatwave. They are small and emit signals. UNIT - the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, commanded by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, mount a search but most of the meteorites have already been collected by someone - or something. The Tardis materializes in some woods close by. The Doctor emerges, collapses and is taken to the hospital. His recovery is swift and although he recognizes his old friend the Brigadier, because of his changed appearance he is not recognized in turn. An attempt is made to kidnap the Doctor from hospital. Liz Shaw, a brilliant scientist, joins UNIT to investigate the meteorites, and soon she and the Doctor are working together. A plastic factory, close to where the meteorites fell, has stopped production of dolls and now manufactures facsimile figures - a superior kind of waxwork, and window dummies. The owner, Hibbert, seems to be under the control of his new partner Channing. There are mysterious deaths in the area, and talk of strangely blank-faced figures in the woods. These are Autons - manlike plastic figures animated by the alien intelligence that came to earth in the meteorites. The factory displays some of its figures in a London waxworks. Dr Who in intrigued by how uncannily lifelike they are. Then he realizes that the key men in the administration of government are to be replaced by mobile facsimiles. The country, and then the world will be ruled by alien intelligence operating in human guise. Their role is to create chaos, and so pave the way for colonization by these emanations, the Nestenes, from another planet. The Doctor and Liz discover that the Autons are vulnerable - they can be rendered lifeless by the application of UHF waves at close quarters. The Doctor attacks this weakness, destroys the swarm leader and is able to end the invasion attempt. The Nestenes have been defeated, but there is always the possibility that they will try again.

Exiled to late 20th Century Earth by his own people - the Time Lords - the newly regenerated Doctor arrives in Oxley Woods during a shower of mysterious meteorites. Investigating these unusual occurrences is the newly formed United Nations Intelligence Task Force (UNIT). Led by Brigadier Allstair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT is soon called into action when people and meteorites begin to go missing. Most puzzling of all is the attempted kidnapping of a hospital patient, a severely disorientated man with two hearts who had instantly recognized the Brigadier, then had difficulty placing his own face.

By the time the Doctor is able to join forces with the Brigadier and the recently recruited Dr. Liz Shaw, time is running out for UNIT. Already irregular things are happening at a nearby plastics factory, while faceless creatures lurk in the woods. The Nestenes have arrived with world conquest on their collective mind.

Cast
The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
Liz Shaw - Caroline John
2nd Reporter - Prentis Hancock
Attendant - Edmund Bailey
Captain Munro - John Breslin
Channing - Hugh Burden
Corporal Forbes - George Lee
Dr. Beavis - Henry McCarthy
Dr. Henderson - Antony Webb
Hibbert - John Woodnutt
Major General Scobie - Hamilton Dyce
Meg - Betty Bowden
Mullins - Talfryn Thomas
Nurse - Helen Dorward
Ransome - Derek Smee
Seeley - Neil Wilson
Sergeant - Clifford Cox
Technician - Ellis Jones
UNIT Officer - Tessa Shaw
Wagstaffe - Alan Mitchell
Production Credits
Director - Derek Martinus
Assistant Floor Manager - Liam Foster
Costumes - Christine Rawlins
Designer - Paul Allen
Film Cameraman - Stan Speel
Film Cameraman - Robert McDonnell
Film Editor - William Symon
Film Editor - Adam Dawson
Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
Make-Up - Cynthia Goodwin
Producer - Derrick Sherwin
Production Assistant - Peter Grimwade
Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
Title Music - Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, arranged by Delia Derbyshire
Visual Effects - John Horton
Writer - Robert Holmes