Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons main backdrop
Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons main poster

Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons

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7.7/10 • 7

1971-01-231h 40m

Science FictionDramaAdventure

The Master, an old adversary of the Doctor, has arrived on Earth to destroy humanity with the aid of the Nestene Consciousness and their army of Autons and killer plastic daffodils - unless the Doctor, joined by new assistant Jo Grant, can stop them.

Directors
Barry Letts
Writters
Robert Holmes
Editors
Robert Holmes, Geoffrey Botterill

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Jon Pertwee

    Jon Pertwee

    The Doctor

  2. Katy Manning

    Katy Manning

    Jo Grant

  3. Nicholas Courtney

    Nicholas Courtney

    Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

  4. Richard Franklin

    Richard Franklin

    Captain Mike Yates

  5. John Levene

    John Levene

    Sergeant Benton

  6. Roger Delgado

    Roger Delgado

    The Master

  7. Michael Wisher

    Michael Wisher

    Rex Farrel

  8. Harry Towb

    Harry Towb

    McDermott

  9. David Garth

    David Garth

    Time Lord

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Aug 29, 2024

6/10

This might have had a touch more menace to it, had the eponymous creatures bent on Earth's conquest not looked like the famous yellow-coats at a seaside holiday camp. Anyway, they are the chosen implements of the malevolent "Master" (Roger Delgado). He has returned to assist the powerful "Nestene" with their dastardly plans but hasn't counted on the intervention of the "Doctor" (Jon Pertwee) and his UNIT ally the "Brigadier" (Nicholas Courtney) who are intrigued when a secret power unit is stolen; then a radio telescope is put out of action and bodies start popping up all over Britain seemingly the victims of suffocation. Now it's up to our intrepid Time Lord to piece together the pieces of this puzzle before humanity is cling-filmed to death. It's good to have "Capt. Yates" (Richard Franklin) back to complete the military team and this story gives "Jo" (Katy Manning) a little more of a role as she proves invaluable helping the "Doctor" work to thwart their antagonists. Thing is, though, despite the best efforts of Delgado - and his penetrating stare - as the megalomaniacal mastermind of evil, this is just another rather cheap and cheerful drama that comes across as vaguely comical at times, and has way too much script. There's just not enough happening, and though the premiss that the world might regret being quite so dependent on plastic one day has some resonance, there's just no peril here and the flat denouement rather sums it all up. I'm sure budgets were an issue, even in 1971, but I think the "Doctor" needs to get back into space and give us some baddies we can get to grips with rather than yet another series of episodes that focus too much on saving our own planet - again, and again whilst facing the endless red-tape of the British government.

Media

  • Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons poster
  • Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons poster
  • Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons poster
  • Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons poster
  • Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons poster
  • Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons poster
  • Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons poster
  • Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons poster
  • Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
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