SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE is the 1st 'Doctor Who' story starring Jon Pertwee, who was the third actor to play The Doctor, between 1970 and 1974. This story was shown in January 1970 The story, which takes place over 4 episodes, also stars Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney as The Doctor's companions Liz Shaw and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart respectively.

By this time in the DOCTOR WHO saga the programme makers had decided that it was time to curb The Doctor's travels a little, and instead had him stranded on Earthl being placed in exile by the Time Lords as a punishment for all of his interferences to date. This story has The Doctor and his companions investigating a strange meteorite, which have links with the strange Auton race. The Autons would turn out to be a popular race, appearing in another Pertwee story, TERROR OF THE AUTONS, and again in the first episode of the reimagined DOCTOR WHO in 2005, starring Christopher Eccleston.

The story is a fun one, and I always find it interesting when being introduced to a new Doctor. How will he be different to the previous version? Pertwee is very flamboyant in comparison to his predecessor, Patrick Troughton, and this flamboyance is added to by the fact that this story was the first to be filmed in colour. It is also one of the few stories to be shot on film instead of videotape, and this adds a certain cinematic feel to procedures.

If you are interested in DOCTOR WHO history then this story is an important one to watch, as a 'regeneration' story. The DVD features an engaging commentary by Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney, although other extra features are not really worth watching. It is available from Amazon for less than £8.

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DOCTOR WHO - SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE (1970)
Starring Jon Pertwee as The Doctor, Caroline John as Liz Shaw, Nicholas Stewart as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Written by Robert Holmes
Directed by Derek Martinus
Produced by Barry Letts
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