skip to content

varos

episode guide

spearhead from space

story 51 : season 7 : serial AAA : 4 episodes

Producer: Derrick Sherwin
Director: Derek Martinus
Writer: Robert Holmes
Script Editor: Terrance Dicks
Designer: Paul Allen

cast information

Jon Pertwee (Doctor Who); Caroline John (Liz Shaw); Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart); Hugh Burden (Channing); Neil Wilson (Seeley); Talfryn Thomas (Mullins); John Breslin (Captain Munro); Antony Webb (Dr. Henderson); Helen Dorward (Nurse); George Lee (Corporal Forbes); Tessa Shaw (UNIT Officer); Ellis Jones (Technician); Allan Mitchell (Wagstaffe); Prentis Hancock (2nd Reporter); Hamilton Dyce (Major General Scobie); Henry McCarthy (Dr. Beavis); John Woodnutt (Hibbert); Derek Smee (Ransome); Betty Bowden (Meg); Clifford Cox (Sergeant); Attendant (Edmund Bailey);

crew information

Liam Foster (Assistant Floor Manager); Christine Rawlins (Costumes); Stan Speel (Film Cameraman); Robert McDonnell (Film Cameraman); William Symon (Film Editor); Adam Dawson (Film Editor); Dudley Simpson (Incidental Music); Cynthia Goodwin (Make-Up); Peter Grimwade (Production Assistant); Brian Hodgson (Special Sounds); Ron Grainer (Title Music); John Horton (Visual Effects); Delia Derbyshire (Theme Arrangement);

episode information

  Title First UK Transmission Duration Ratings Archive Status
1 Episode 1 3 January 1970 at 17:15 23'38" 8.4mil 16mm colour film
16mm b/w film
2 Episode 2 10 January 1970 at 17:15 24'21" 8.1mil 16mm colour film
16mm b/w film
3 Episode 3 17 January 1970 at 17:15 24'16" 8.3mil 16mm colour film
16mm b/w film
4 Episode 4 24 January 1970 at 17:15 24'38" 8.1mil 16mm colour film
16mm b/w film
  1. Episode 1
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
    » Film print recovered from Ents c.1978
  2. Episode 2
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
    » Film print recovered from Ents c.1978
  3. Episode 3
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
    » Film print recovered from Ents c.1978
  4. Episode 4
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
    » Film print recovered from Ents c.1978

release information

In Print:
Novelised as: Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion
Written by: Terrance Dicks
Number 006 in the Target Doctor Who Library

Versions
1974 Published by Allan Wingate Ltd, UK in hardback
With cover artwork by: Chris Achilleos
1974 Published by Unieboek B.V. Bussum, The Netherlands in paperback
Translated into Dutch by J J Van Der Hulst-Brander
With cover artwork by: Chris Achilleos
ISBN: 9 026 98105 8
17 January 1974 Published by Universal-Tandem, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Chris Achilleos
ISBN: 0 426 11295 4
1975 Published by Tandem, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Chris Achilleos
ISBN: 0 426 11295 4
June 1975 Published by Remzi Kitabevi, Turkey in paperback
Translated into Turkish by Reha Pinar
With cover artwork by: Chris Achilleos
1976 Published by Weilin + Göös, Finland in hardback
Translated into Finnish by
17 August 1978 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Chris Achilleos
ISBN: 0 426 11295 4
30 April 1980 Published by Hayakawa Bunko Publishing, Japan in paperback
Translated into Japanese by Yukio Sekiguchi
With cover artwork by: Michiaki Sato
1981 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in hardback
With cover artwork by: Andrew Skilleter
ISBN: 0 491 02895 4
1982 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in hardback
With cover artwork by: Andrew Skilleter
ISBN: 0 426 11295 4
1982 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Andrew Skilleter
ISBN: 0 426 11295 4
1982 Published by Editorial Presença, Portugal in paperback
Translated into Portugese by Eduardo Nogueira & Conceição Jardim
With cover artwork by: Rui Ligeiro
1991 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Alister Pearson
ISBN: 0 426 11295 4

plot synopsis

A swarm of Nestene meteorites lands in Oxley Woods, as does the newly regenerated Doctor, who collapses outside the TARDIS and is taken to a nearby hospital. The Brigadier is not convinced that the man who claims to be the Doctor is the same one that he knew. The Nestenes, who are able to control and bring plastic to life, have taken over a plastics factory and are mass-producing Autons. Disguised as shop-window dummies, the Autons start to slaughter the general public. The Doctor has to prevent the octopus-like Nestene consciousness from wiping out mankind.

links to other sites