DVD Reviews

Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll May 26, 2011, 0:25 GMT

"I have come to destroy you Doctor, once and for all!" The Earth is in terrible danger! The Master is back with an evil scheme to destroy humanity and silence the Doctor forever. His plan: To awaken the awesome power of the Nestene-a ruthlessly aggressive alien life form. Once mixed with plastic, they will form into faceless automatons, a willing army of destruction easily controlled by the evil Time Lord ...more

Terror of the Autons marked the debut of the Doctor’s archenemy the Master and a return of some plastic enemies.  Not only that but he also got a new companion in the shapely form of Jo Grant. 

The Master (Roger Delgado), an old enemy of the Doctor (Jon Pertwee), arrives on Earth at a circus run by a man named Rossini (John Baskcomb) and steals a dormant Nestene energy unit from a museum. He reactivates it using a radio telescope and uses his hypnotic abilities to take control of a small plastics firm run by the Rex Farrel (Michael Wisher), where he organizes the production of deadly Auton dolls, chairs and daffodils.

Now as plastic items develop a murderous life of their own it’s up to the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney), new assistant Jo Grant (Katy Manning), and new UNIT captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin) to keep the Nestene and the Master from taking over Earth. 

The serial marked the return of an old enemy of the Doctor, the Autons.  They had famously turned window dummies into assassins (a shout out that the newly revived Doctor Who series replicated) but now have the ability to control innocuous household plastic objects.  This must’ve shocked kiddoes all across England, fearing plastic flowers and telephone cords (remember those?) could turn on them.

This season opener would also introduce the excellent Roger Delgado as the villainous Master.  The Doctor and the Brigadier had formed a pseudo Holmes and Watson and the natural progression of that pairing would be that they needed a Professor Moriarty to challenge them - hence the arrival of the Master.  The character is mysterious and played with devilish glee by Delgado. 

It got a bit silly as he turned up as nearly every villain behind-the-scenes during the season, but Delgado’s portrayal made up for any annoyance.  We also have the introduction of the clumsy yet lovable Jo Grant, who makes an interesting contrast to the knowing Doctor. 

Mike Yates also joins UNIT and this family unit that would make up the Doctor Who cast of characters.  Great stuff, certainly fun, and you’ll fear being suffocated by your 1970s plastic chair – not that it wasn’t fearful enough as far as taste goes. 

The Terror of the Autons is presented in fullscreen.  Special features include a commentary from Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, and producer/director Barry Letts, a pop-up info text trivia track, the 33 minute “Life on Earth” making of, the 19 minute “The Doctor’s Moriatry” about the origins of the character of the Master, the 11 minute “Plastic Fantastic” about the novelty of killer plastic, a photo gallery, and PDFs of the Radio Times and two promotions with Nestle and Sugar Smacks. 

Terror of the Autons introduced an iconic recurring villain to the mix of the Doctor and UNIT as well as a cute assistant, certainly the love interest of many a young lad.  It’s a wonderful episode that both thrills and chills.   

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