“Spearhead from Space” launched Doctor Who into the 1970s with not only a new Doctor, Jon Pertwee, but a new assistant, the scientist Liz Shaw (Caroline John) and a regular place in the show for UNIT and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney). It also marked the debut of the programme in colour and saw the Doctor stranded on Earth after Patrick Troughton’s last adventure, “The War Games” (1969). Not only that, but it proved the only serial in the show’s history to be entirely shot both on film and location, giving it a uniquely cinematic feel. Regenerating in a country hospital, the Doctor finds himself helping the Brigadier investigate an unusual meteorite and its links with a sinister doll factory. The Autons are cybernetic killers–anticipating The Terminator by some 15 years–and the sequence in which they break through high-street shop windows to slaughter pedestrians remains a chilling highpoint of Doctor Who’s entire history. Things do turn silly with a subplot involving a waxworks museum, while the ultimate battle with the Nestine consciousness is more likely to induce laughter than fear, but as vintage television nostalgia this is fast-moving splendidly characterised entertainment. —Gary S. Dalkin
On the DVD: The remastered picture and sound are exceptional for a 1970 TV show. Obviously in 4:3 and mono, this DVD offers technical quality easily as good as many feature films. There is a very friendly, if not especially informative, commentary from Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John, and subtitles that offer background facts and figures. With an amusing five-minute recruiting film for UNIT, repeat trailers and a gallery including previously unpublished photos, this excellent DVD is a Doctor Who fan’s dream come true. —Gary S. Dalkin
A Cracker By 1988, I’d gone off Doctor Who to the point where I couldn’t even watch the show anymore as I felt it had become so desperately poor.
An all time British television classic This story, perhaps more than any other, is the perfect introduction to Dr Who from any period because it has all the right elements that make for a gripping story, without any of that trademark silliness that has unfortunately tended to draw derision upon us adult fans. Therefore if you have a friend that you suspect might need introducing to Dr Who but you aren’t sure of the reaction you’ll get – this is the one to sit them down in front of.