Doctor Who - Spearhead From Space Details

Nostalgic British TV

Jon Pertwee's debut as the Doctor finds him helping the Brigadier against an invasion by aliens who use plastic window-shop dummies that come to life and become an army to take over the earth. Unfortunately, the plot is largely nicked off the 1950s film 'Quatermas 2' and the special effects are a bit ropey by today's standards. But the sheer panach of the acting keeps it going.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Great, but flawed

First the bad news, the extras are terrible. The Doctor Who DVDs usually come with a raft of interesting documentaries and interesting commentries, but this is very much the runt of the litter. A real missed opportunity when you conisder that this is Jon Pertwee's first story, and includes one of the Doctors most fondly remembered enemies (how many people crawled under the sofa as the shop dummies came to life.)

There is only a bunch of trailers, a mildly amusing UNIT recruitment film, and a commentary from Nicolas Courtney and the lady who plays Liz, However, Liz is almost inaudible, making the commentary seriously irritating. I gave up after five minutes.

However, this is one of the best Doctor who stories, and worth viewing if only to see a naked Jon Pertwee (I wonder where the doctot picked up that Tatoo.) The Autons are still genuinely creepy, and it is great to see Jon develop his character with lightning speed.