OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 280
STORY NUMBER: 055
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 09 January 1971
WRITER: Robert Holmes
DIRECTOR: Barry Letts
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 8 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: Mannequin Mania Box Set - Spearhead from Space / Terror of the Autons
EPISODE FORMAT: 16mm b&w film recording recoloured using 525 off air video
"I haven't been to a circus for years. I think I'll go myself!"
The Doctor throws the bomb into the river where it detonates. He frees Jo from the Master's hypnotic influence. The Master demonstrates a new plastic chair to McDermott which folds up and kills him. Later the Master & Rex Farrel are visited by his Father, who isn't impressed with the Master. Farrel leaves with a sample of the Master's new toy troll doll. Unit tracks the missing Philips to Rossini's circus which the Doctor Visits, being captured by Rossini and strongman Tony. Jo knocks Tony out and frees the Doctor. They are threatened by a grenade wielding Philips. The Doctor tries to free Philips, who dies when he sets the grenade off. The Doctor enters the Master's Tardis and steals his dematerialisation circuit. Menaced by the circus performers the Doctor & Jo are rescued by the police. When they are driven to a remote quarry the Doctor asks to see their warrant cards. The Policeman turns round and is unmasked as an Auton.
This story is a distinct change of pace from the last season moving a long at a fair lick. In some ways it almost feels like a bunch of set pieces strung together and essentially it is: The Master is setting a series of traps for the Doctor: "escaped the bomb I sent you? Never mind here's my grenade wielding hypnotised scientist!"
"Got out of that too? I've sent some Auton Policeman to get you!"
On of of that the Master is also responsible for two of the series more imaginative grisly deaths as McDermott is smothered by a chair and John Farrel is murdered by an ugly troll doll!
Stephen Jack, playing Farrell Senior, had been acting on screen since the late 1930s so it's almost a shame that the only credit on his CV I can draw attention to is his appearance as Zenon in The Tomorrow People episode - A Rift in Time: Turn of the Thumb. His wife is played by Barbara Leake.
Michael Wisher plays their son, plastics factory manager Rex Farrel. He made his Doctor Who onscreen debut in Ambassadors of Death playing bearded TV reported John Wakefield, but several sources have him down as providing uncredited voices in Seeds of Death. He's famed for bringing Davros, the creator of the Daleks, to life in Genesis of the Daleks but you can also see/hear him in Carnival of Monsters as Kalik, Frontier in Space, Planet of the Daleks, Death to the Daleks & Genesis of the Daleks as Dalek voices, a role he also reprised for Blue Peter & Jim'll Fix It, Revenge of the Cybermen as Magrik and Planet of Evil as Morelli PLUS THE voice of Ranjit. Producer & Director Barry Letts had previously used him on his Z-Cars story The Saint of Concrete Canyon and he later appears in Moonbase 3 as Harry Sanders in Departure and Arrival.
George McDermott is played by Harry Towb who was, rather briefly, Osgood in The Seeds of Death. He's been in loads of things but the only thing I'm sure I've seen him in The Professionals where he plays Harry Spence in Blood Sports.
Circus Owner "Luigi Rossini"/Lew Russell is played by John Baskcomb who was in the missing second season Out of the Unknown episode The World in Silence as Eric Lonsbury.
Joining us this episode is Roy Stewart, as Tony the circus Strong Man, who memorably played Toberman in The Tomb of the Cybermen. before that, he's appeared in The Crusade: The Warlords as a Saracen warrior. He was in the opening Out of the Unknown episode No Place Like Earth where he plays a Security guard and you can see that on the Out of the Unknown DVD Set. His most famous role is in the Bond film Live and Let Die where he plays Quarrel but you can also find him in Space: 1999 as the Tall alien in cave in The Metamorph and in the Rentaghost Christmas Special Rentasanta, the last episode featuring the original cast, where he plays Djinn. This Blog has some screencaps from this episode, sadly not showing Stewart, but featuring some recycled costumes from a later Doctor Who story! I have fond memories of this piece of madness and would love to see it again even though the introduction of Dobbin the Pantomime Donkey in it is seen by some as the point where the series goes wrong!
The Auton Troll Doll is a second Doctor Who roll for Tommy Reynolds who was previously a Chumbley Operator in Galaxy Four.
One new location is seen briefly this episode as The Doctor hurls the bomb out the window into the river and that's Queens Wharf in Hammersmith. The location was very near to the BBC's Riverside Studios where a number of First & Second Doctor stories were filmed which probably is a factor in it's previous use as the point the Dalek emerged from the water at the end of Dalek Invasion of Earth episode 1 Two day after this episode was broadcast the 4th Doomwatch second season episode No Room for Error was shown.
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