An Autist Reviews: Terror Of The Autons (Classic Who Serial 8.1)

*All Reviews Are Spoiler-Free Aside From Any Spoiler Sections*

The Doctor has been stranded on Earth in the 1970s for too long and is still trying his best to escape, although his previous companion, Dr. Liz Shaw is no longer at UNIT, the government task force responsible for dealing with everything inexplicable, and where the Doctor ‘works,’ leaving him with only the assistance of his new assistant Jo Grant, who he isn’t exactly happy to have by his side. As Jo settles in at UNIT, one of the Doctor’s own people arrives on earth, steals an alien mind, and sets in motion a full-scale invasion of Earth. The Master is bringing the Nestene to earth, and soon almost half a million people are going to die, and later, the rest of the world. But fear not, because the Doctor and UNIT are on the case!

Apparently, I keep underestimating stories, which is funny since I feel like I tend to overestimate them, but here we are. Let’s get done with my biggest issue with this story, which isn’t really an issue, and that’s that the Master, for as dastardly as he is, has yet to really come into his own in this story, he’s not yet the suave and evil mastermind he will become during 3s run, but he is certainly cunning and dastardly, and I use the word dastardly for a reason, it’s the BEST description of him, certainly at this point. As for Jo, she too has yet to really come into her own, but she gets on her way faster than the Master, already being very fun, headstrong, and endearing. Now, my biggest actual complaint, which is the same complaint I have with many Classic Who stories, is that the cliffhangers are rather lackluster for the majority of the story. They have good aspects, but they just don’t come together and grab your attention until the final cliffhanger of the entire story. The story itself also has a few logical errors, with the Master at the end not quite feeling like himself. The pacing, while generally good, suffers often due to the constant cutting and the refusal to hold on certain scenes as long as they need to, despite holding on others longer than anyone needs. The last part is certainly the worst of the bunch, with a lot of character inconsistencies from Jo and the Master, despite them also having amazing characterization in it, making for mixed feelings. But the end has, perhaps the worst character moment ever, with the Master becoming cowardly just to resolve the story. The humor in this is on point, the story itself is intriguing and intense, and the UNIT team that will last 3 seasons is already showing great chemistry, even if it is still a little bumpy. The story is great, really, even if, despite introducing him, the Master comes off as rather bland in it.

Ah yes, the new character holding back the rating, how shocking. Look, this was Jo’s first outing, but for the first episode she is rather loud and annoying, despite the rest of the UNIT team being on top form, and for the rest of the story everyone is generally amazing, with Jo being slightly worse than the rest, and then everyone gets their own mediocre line deliveries, resulting in the 9s in parts 2 and 4. Though, part 3 is, without a doubt, the best part, with amazing acting from everyone involved all throughout! The side characters are spectacular, rather camp, but spectacular. The only bad moments tend to come from deaths and, in part 4, Rex Farrell, but few die, and Rex has few lines in part 4. The Master, despite not yet having truly come into himself, is amazingly acted, with the late, great Roger Delgado doing an amazing job as the dastardly villain of the story. And, finally, the Autons, despite my disliking the idea of them speaking, sound so chilling and are wonderfully fun to listen to!

Wow, I haven’t rated a televised story in a while… I had some trouble figuring out what sub-ratings to use for the first 2 parts, so the sounds and cinematography ratings are a little phoned in for the first 2 parts still. The music is what one expects from 70s Doctor Who. It’s loud, clearly synth, and it CAN be hokey and grating, but the first episode has the worst music and then it calms down enough so that it’s enjoyable, that it makes each scene more enjoyable, even if it sometimes should be included when it’s purely quiet. The Autons’ voice was amazing, I mean, I don’t really like them talking, since they’re scarier silent, but the effects on their voices are amazing! The computer effects in this, while certainly not terrible, do occasionally leave something to be desired, even if they’re usually spectacular, with the backgrounds occasionally being less than well cropped and the Timelord appearing in part 1 being rather silly looking. Also, the gremlin doll is… intriguing… The cropping job is terrible, it’s so clear whenever it’s an actor versus when it’s a doll, but the thing is… it’s so perfectly placed. The gremlin always looks like it IS where it’s shown to be, not like it’s just placed there, so while it has a dumb blue outline, it looks like it’s actually really there, which is impressive given the time! Oh, and the less we watch people travel in cars, the better… really… those effects ain’t great. The practical effects are also amazing! From smoke to explosions, to the plastic attacking the Doctor and Jo, the effects are almost always on point. Sadly some explosions are really, impressively, small, with the chair scene also being rather silly instead of scary. Oh, and those masks are amazing, not sure if those are costumes or practical effects, but they’re amazing and I am about to go onto the makeup and costumes anyway. The costume work, as is expected, is amazing, nobody looks out of place, the gremlin suit is amazingly made, and the Master’s clothing is always on point, he is truly a fashion icon. The makeup is also just brilliant, even if it’s rarely used or noticeable. Truthfully it’s only noticeable once, and that is when a tiny, pathetic bit of blood is on the hand of someone who WAS BLOWN UP BY A BOMB HE WAS HOLDING. The sets are brilliant, I have zero complaints about them themselves, but I do have complaints about the amount of computer effects that get used in place of actual sets. I mean, are you telling me that the BBC didn’t have a spare kitchen set to use, or a spare factory or laboratory set to use? The sets are amazing, but the refusal to use more sets is annoying as can be. Now, for the action. It’s the third doctor, there’s gonna be good action, right? Well, to an extent. The action in the first part is flawless, albeit sparse, in the second part the plastic murders are really dumb, if not well-executed, and there’s a shootout that just feels weak, with few gun effects, most of which are just pathetic, and, despite an auton getting rammed off of a massive hill, the deaths in that part are just dumb as can be, now, in the third part, Jo gets attacked and we get to see a soldier shoot the crap out of a doll… which is not exactly a tense or well-done scene, and, finally, in part 4, we finally get the shootout we deserve, a chase scene, and multiple karate chops, sadly though, some of the action is slow and the Master murders one man with a really poorly shot smack off of staircase, although the man falling is an amazing effect. And that takes me to the cinematography. Don’t get me wrong, this is often very well shot, but the cuts make me want to kill the director. Who decides that zooming in on someone or something for .5 seconds is a good idea? I mean, there are tons of amazing shots, but some of the choices are mind-bogglingly stupid or are clearly being made solely because there aren’t enough people on set to do a better shot. Finally, let’s move on to the sound effects: They’re amazing, really, all of them are amazing aside from the explosions and gun effects. The Auton guns are fine, but the UNIT soldiers’ guns sound so pathetic it actually hurts. Still, there are plenty of other iffy sound effects, but none are as annoying as the gun and explosion ones.

Now, finally, the replay value. It’s aight. I mean, it’s yet another scenario where you don’t need to watch it again, and watching it again won’t result in any further, deeper, understanding of the story, but hey, it’ll be fun. It’s a brilliant story with great acting and effects, plus it introduces 2 amazing characters. Really, it will always be a fun story to watch!

All in all, despite Jo’s less than spectacular acting, the Master’s poor characterization, the less than ideal action scenes, and the impossibly moronic cinematography related decisions, this story is an amazingly fun watch and marks the beginning of the Third Doctor’s era really getting good after the rather poor, boring, and overrated seventh season he debuted in. Really, give it a try, spend 2 hours in the ’70s, have a few laughs, and experience the beginnings of 2 of the most beloved characters in Doctor Who history. Happy January 2nd, everybody! Happy anniversary to Jo and the Master. It might not be their best outing, but hey, who’s first story is their best? (Say 13 and I’ll kill you <3 )

Original Guesstimate - 8

             P1 P2 P3 P4 All

Total - 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 

Plot - 9 / 9 / 10 / 9 / 9
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Story - 9 / 9 / 10 / 9 / 9
Pacing - 8 / 7 / 9 / 9 / 8
Dialogue - 9 / 10 / 10 / 8 / 9
Narration - NR / NR / NR / NR / NR
Exposition - 9 / 10 / 10 / 10 / 10
Enjoyment - 10 / 10 / 10 / 9 / 10
Twist/s - NR / NR / NR / NR / NR
Resolution/s - NR / NR / NR / 7 / 7
Ending/s - 8 / 9 / 10 / 10 / 9

Acting - 9 / 9 / 10 / 9 / 10
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MC/s - 8 / 9 / 10 / 9 / 9
SC/s - 10 / 9 / 10 / 9 / 10
BG/s - 10 / 10 / 10 / 10 / 10
Narrator/s - NR / NR / NR / NR / NR

Effects - 9 / 8 / 9 / 9 / 9
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Music - 7 / 9 / 10 / 9 / 9
Voice Effects - NR / NR / 10 / 10 / 10
Computer Effects - 9 / 7 / 9 / 9 / 9
Practical Effects - 10 / 9 / 9 / 10 / 10
Costumes/Makeup - 10 / 9 / 10 / 10 / 10
Sets - 9 / 8 / 10 / 9 / 9
Action - 10 / 8 / 8 / 9 / 9
Cinematography - 9 / 8 / 8 / 9 / 9
Sounds - 9 / 10 / 9 / 9 / 9

Replay - 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 / 8
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Re-Enjoyment - 10 / 10 / 10 / 10 / 10
New Details - 5 / 5 / 5 / 4 / 5

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