'Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons' (1971)


Well, thank goodness that week is done and consigned to history (and that's all I will say on the matter). Now, it's time to continue working my way through all the classic 'Doctor Who' DVDs that I can find in my local CEX ;o) And yes, I know it's all on Britbox but I'd have to give up either Shudder or Disney+ and I'm not quite ready to do that yet. Anyway, hunting for 'Doctor Who' DVDs is just as much fun as hunting for books so, here I am :o)

Ever since I saw Roger Delgado in 'The Claws of Axos' and 'The Daemons', I've wanted to see him in more stories as he IS the Master, every other Master was great but Delgado is my favourite now. When I got the chance to finally watch 'Terror of the Autons' (Delgado's first appearance as the Master), I was really up for it. Having watched it, Delgado and Jon Pertwee were probably the best things about this story but I think that's just me to be honest. It wasn't that bad actually, let me tell you about it...

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 arrived and the Doctor soon discovers that the evil Time Lord is working alongside the Nestene Consciousness, controller of lethal Auton creatures.

Once again, the planet is in terrible danger. Can the Doctor and his new assistant Jo Grant save it before it's too late?

The old joke about classic 'Doctor Who' is all about what it asked you to believe and how the budget for the show could never quite meet that premise. As far as I'm concerned, Daleks with wobbly heads are the best thing ever but that's just me ;o)

'Terror of the Autons' takes a slightly different approach to this and one that I don't think hit that sweet spot. We're asked to believe that having infiltrated and taken over a plastics factory (and even built an Auton workforce), the Master's absolute best plan is not to sit tight and build millions of Autons, to take over the world, but instead to develop a killer plastic daffodil that will destabilise the UK and leave it open for invasion from space. Seriously? Seriously... Autons are these unstoppable plastic soldiers with built in guns in their hands. Killer daffodils can be stopped by moving yourself to another room. I know which one I'd rather have on my side...

So yep, the show is asking us to suspend disbelief like we've never suspended it before and it was a little step too far for me this time (as was Jo stepping out to make a list of plastic factories and then suddenly appearing at the very one the Master was at, did I blink and miss something?)

Luckily for us, the story focusses a lot more on 'Autons vs UNIT soldiers' (Yates knocking an Auton off a steep hill, with his car, was my stand out moment) and really creepy moments where you realise that someone was an Auton the whole time. It's an intriguing mix of action and horror which really held my interest. 'Terror of the Autons' is also notable for having Roger Delgado's first appearance as the Master as well as Katy Manning making her debut as Jo Grant (and Richard Franklin's first appearance as Captain Yates, thanks Wikipedia!) The Doctor's first face off against the Master is the big deal here and while you can tell that both Delgado and Pertwee are still feeling their way into this new relationship; Delgado oozes with menace and Pertwee comes across as hapy to get one over the Master. There's a good foundation built here for meetings in future episodes all the way through to today.

I also liked the way Jo Grant is just happy to have a job but won't take too much crap from the Doctor etc, she'll go off and do stuff on her own if she has to. I've seen a couple of stories with Jo in them but even if I hadn't, I'd be able to tell that she'll be an ideal companion for the Doctor, just on the basis of this story.

'Terror of the Autons' asks a lot of its viewers (plastic daffodils...) but ends up being a lot more fun than I made out at the beginning of the post. 'Carnival of Monsters' and 'Planet of the Spiders' are probably still my favourite 'Third Doctor' stories but 'Terror of the Autons' is a very solid tale as well.

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