Enter The Third Doctor (Doctor Who - Spearhead From Space (DVD))

Member Name: T4imbo3107

Product:	Doctor Who - Spearhead From Space (DVD)
Date:	11/07/09 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A new Doctor for a new era.

Disadvantages: The Tardis is effectively sidelined.

Its always exciting in Doctor Who when a new actor takes over the lead of the show. So seeing Jon Pertwee in his first story really was a pivotal point in Doctor Who history. The previous Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton, had seen ratings fall over his tenure as The Doctor and this meant that a vital overhaul was required. Troughton felt that his time was coming to an end and time to hand over to another person. This gave the producers a real opportunity to kick start the show.... this time in colour.

Originally broadcast on 3rd January 1970, Spearhead from Space is a four part story, Based on events in the previous story called The War Games, Pertwee's Doctor has been exiled on Earth as punishment, in fact Pertwee's first scene as The Doctor has him literally collapsing out of the Tardis in woodland, only to be found and taken to hospital suffering the after effects of a forced regeneration. At the same time a series of meteors land nearby which give UNIT a reason to investigate these strange landings. As the investigations continue the trail of discovery leads to a plastics factory, a factory that has recently undertaken a number of sinister changes that provoke concern and whose primary export is a new range of plastic mannequins. Like the new episode named Rose with the Ninth Doctor the Autons are the ones causing the havoc in the show, however it is not known why and how the meteors play a piece in the story till later in the third and fourth episodes which acts as a pivotal point in the story.

From the moment the opening titles begin you realise that this is a totally different Doctor compared to the role portrayed by Troughton, the way the Doctor moves, the style of his clothing, everything has literally been thrown out and then re-written to fit Pertwee. You even see him do his own stunts as well as participate in fight scenes, which is fresh and new to the part. The Doctor has everything start to form around him, the Autons come to him in an attempt to kill him while in Hospital, There are a number of scenes in which the Hospital staff are utterly baffled by the Doctor's physiological make up of having two hearts and this provides some quite light hearted scenes that build on the introduction of a regenerated main character.

Brigadier Leithbridge-Stewart of UNIT is also the main focus of the story at the beginning as he is bought in to identify the Doctor while he is in Hospital. Naturally he is not recognised, although The Doctor carries on a conversation thinking that he will be recognised. This is the first time that we get to meet Liz Shaw as she is also introduced as she has been recruited by UNIT to assist with the meteor issue. I like this character as she can hold her own in a conversation and is portrayed as a strong character, which was rare up till now in Doctor Who. Oh and one thing to notice is that UNIT HQ is under St Pancras station, now bare in mind that this was 1970, and you'll see that the entrance where the vehicles go through is where the booking office for Eurostar is today, you can see this as the pillars are exactly the same and it is mentioned in the extras as well!

I think that Pertwee has been given an excellent start in the role; there are a number of Doctor Who nuggets that only happen when a new actor takes the part. For example in choosing the costume, deciding who he actually is and so on. The advantage with Pertwee's Doctor is that the characters memory has been wiped by The Timelords and he is not entirely sure as to who he is anyway, so this gives the writers the chance to wipe the slate clean and to start fresh and with Pertwee having an abundance of hair as well as giving his incarnation of the Doctor a stronger than average curiosity factor, that borders on childish, then the foundation has been laid in quite a satisfactory and original manner. The only problem I have is that as the Doctor is exiled on Earth the Tardis really only becomes an ornament rather than the means of transportation. In the story the Doctor cannot use it at all as the dematerialisation codes have been changed, so the only means of transport is a car, which in this story the car is borrowed.

I also felt that the tension of that the story brings is built up in a sufficient manner, not very much to hide behind the sofa with as that was to come later, but the time that you see the Autons become active was actually quite frightening in places as there hands open to fire a weapon and In thought this was quite violent in places, although I have to admit they were done on a much grander scale in the 2005 new episode of Rose, in this story the killing of innocent people is done early in the morning in a manner that is chilling to watch and accompanied by music which makes this scene stand out.

The Autons are an underused Doctor Who character and have only been used three times in Doctor Who history, it's a shame really as the stories that they could provide really means that they are a wasted opportunity, on the flip side there is only so much the writers could do with them without repeating the plot over and over again as they are made of plastic and that limits the scope of ther plot somewhat.

Also noticable are the camera shots that are used, these are far more angular and taken from a height looking down rather than the standard studio floor approach, in fact the whole story looks like it was filmed on locatiuon as the film itself has the grittiness of outdoor filming that was common at the time. The elevated camera angles do tend to add to the story as you see that the Director Derek Martinus has seriously attempted to deliver somethinmg fresh and revitalised.

One observation throughout this story is how different everything looked 40 years ago, by this I mean that the activation of the Autons takes place in Kingston Town Centre, the only problem is that anyone who has visited the town lately would have seen that the area has been pedestrian-ised over, whilst in the story this has two way traffic going down the main thoroughfare.

Extras wise the DVD has a number of documentaries, a UNIT recruitment film and commentary from the cast. Trailers from the time of broadcast are also on the disc, these are quite nostalgic to watch as the BBC idents and voiceovers make this look extremely dated, especially when you realise that this was premier Saturday night entertainment. The extras are good to watch and give an overview into how the episodes were produced, although I would've expected a bit more in terms of the extras personally.

Overall this can be considered an origin story for the Third Doctor and strong one that is entertaining to watch and gives the audience some idea as to what may come in future episodes. This is also a break from the normal type of stories as the Doctor is stranded without any chance of leaving Earth, which means that we wont see any alien planets or chalk pits for a while throughout the Pertwee era, however this also means that we get to see more Earth locations than what has been seen up till now in the series and means the threats are closer to home than most previous stories. As a result of this, the Doctor has no choice but to take on the name of John Smith and becomes a freelance advisor for UNIT.

Bottom line is that this is the start of a new era in Doctor Who and one that will change the legacy of Doctor Who forever.

Summary: The Third Doctor's first story!