Season 8, Episode 1 | 4 parts | First broadcast: 2–23 January 1971 | Writer: Robert Holmes | Director: Barry Letts
Cast
- Jon Pertwee as the Doctor
- Katy Manning as Jo Grant
- Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
- Roger Delgado as the Master
Summary
A mysterious new adversary calling himself “the Master” arrives on Earth and allies with the Nestene Consciousness to unleash a fresh wave of Auton terror, this time via killer dolls, deadly plastic daffodils, and a murderous inflatable armchair. With scatterbrained new assistant Jo Grant at his side, the Doctor must outwit his devious Time Lord rival and stop the Nestenes from claiming Earth once and for all.
Interesting Facts
- This serial introduces Roger Delgado as the Master, who would become the Third Doctor’s most iconic recurring nemesis and a defining presence of the era.
- It also introduces companion Jo Grant, replacing the more scientifically minded Liz Shaw with a character better suited to having concepts explained to her by the Doctor.
- The story’s mundane-object-turned-killer imagery, especially the plastic chair and doll, proved so unsettling to young viewers that it drew complaints to the BBC.
- This was the first Doctor Who serial recorded using colour videotape for its studio scenes throughout, refining the visual style introduced the previous season.
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