Why Spearhead from Space is the Most Important Doctor Who Story (Classic review) 

Had it been any other story, I think it would have been cancelled like Shada. It’s not only the first story of Season 7, it’s not only the first story of colour, it’s not only the first story of a new era, it’s the first story for the 3rd Doctor. This was just could not be skipped so the BBC just had to bite the bullet and let the production team record the story on film and on location, much I bet to their annoyance

Jon Pertwee was the Doctor I grew up with most of all, having only fleeting memories of Patrick Troughton.

I'd say the first "I am the Doctor" moment was when the first Doctor threatened to cause the Sensorites more trouble than they bargained for.

Those Autons broke out of the window of John Saunders in Ealing Broadway - on my way to school... every day I checked that window for movement ! I knew all the shops, I even recognised cracks in the pavement. Spooky stuff. I was saved from mental breakdown by the fact my Dad worked on the show - and many years later, so did I.

An important story in many ways both in front and behind the camera. I find it simplistic in a positive way to usher in Jon Pertwee but also to draw the audience. Also at his 3rd attempt I feel this is the story were Robert Holmes found his niche in writing for Doctor Who and sets the tone for the rest of his writings.

Dr Who is one of my favourite TV series of all time. The heyday for me was the Pertwee & Baker era (I also enjoyed Tennant in the role too). This is the first one I remember watching, at the age of four - I didn't even get to watch in colour as we had B/W TV in those days, but it got me hooked. Funny thing was, I had several different nightmares about the autons afterwards, but it didn't stop me watching the series. I think the fact that the action took place in ordinary locations - made it all the more scary at the time.

I had an English friend with whom I shared an appreciation for Doctor Who. After the first season of New Who, we were comparing it to the classic eras. When he mentioned that he had actually seen the Patrick Troughton era during its first run, I asked him how the show managed to survive the PT era. His answer: "Because everything else on British TV at the time was even worse!" 😆

To me the Autons were scarier in this episode than in Terror of the Autons, the heads on the Autons in Terror were to abnormal looking. The mannequin heads used in Spearhead gave them a more normal yet terrifying look.

You're spot on about the ending being rubbish - when I first saw this at the age of 12, I had no idea it was only 4 episodes long (that was rare for the time!), so when everything started going wrong, the octopus flopped its ten tickles out, and the Doctor started gurning - all the while with half the plot still unresolved - I just figured "Oh, here we go for another cliff-hanger - they're about to spin this out for another episode!" ...And then it was all smiles at the secret UNIT car park and all done less than 2 minutes later. Plastic Scobie was dead, but all the other dummies were free to live their own lives in pollution rich earth! :)

Always loved Spearhead from Space. Season 7 had a unique feel to the Pertwee era and stands tall on its own merit. The very first story of series 7 was a great intro and so vastly different to what came right before. Gone was black and white, the second Doctor and his tramp like character along with companions Jamie and Joe and the space adventures. In was color, a new Doctor and a much more technical and scientific character in the form of Liz Shaw, earth bound stories and a more grown up feel overall. The show regenerated both its main character and itself in one fell swoop. Great stuff

I was going to argue that Power of the Daleks was the most important... because if that story failed - no more WHO. Of course - this had just has much riding on its success. At least when Troughton took over, WHO was riding high. As you noted, the show was dwindling to some degree and could have easily had the plug pulled. Instead, we got 5 years of Bond. Doctor Bond.

Spearhead from Space was the first Doctor Who story where I was old enough and mentally organised enough to remember to watch the show. Before then I recall the odd episode but this is the first time I've seen the entire story. So I can remember episodes with Daleks etc in them but they are just fragments of stories.

The Doctor was able to find UNIT because they wore a tracking device that led them to the TARDIS because it was being held there.

Great review, thanks! Pertwee's era is different, but it grew on me... That said, I always liked Spearhead. Saw it on PBS in the 80s. The tattoo always looked like a question mark, though HDTV has diluted that belief a bit with so much clarity. So it's a snake that, in long shots, is questionably a mark 😂 Modern Who isnt terrible, but even the writers of the 70s said there's only so much they can do with an Earth-baded formula and that stuck with me... Thankfully, the ratings improved, and I'll admit the Doctor loathing his exile helped almost as much as the Master in making more Earth invasions credible.

I would argue that 'The War Machines' might be the most pivotal. It's the first story whose format really feels like the 'Doctor Who' we know and recognize now. I vividly recall being kind-of bored by many of the meandering plotlines of the Hartnell era, but this one leapt off the screen for me, as it was the first time I felt I was watching something with some familiar story momentum. That one echoed all the way through to the end of the McCoy era.

And he shows up, gets nude in a shower, and shows us his tattoos in a beautifully over engineered shower. I remember seeing back when I was in the 70's and I loved it. I was already in the late 70's Tom Baker era (because that was brand new, but we got a lot of reruns of DW and The Goodies every night on ABC) when I saw it first in about 1981. "The Doctor has tatts!"

The idea of something creepy and realistic intrigues me. Though execution is the key.

Can't help thinking that that episode copied "Quatermass II" rather closely.

Im wanna guess the background is in Crewe, just cause i can see some steam locomotive coaches in the background, but thats just me guessing, also great vid man

I watched Spearhead a few weeks ago and loved it. It clearly inspired the comeback in 2005 in “Rose”.

1st episode I ever saw, and if asked to pick a favourite, this is it.

This was the first dr who episode i ever watched. Were we lived they never showed the first two doctors.

I watched this as a kid. For years after I was terrified of shop mannequins.

Great video, but I disagree with the first ever "I am the Doctor" moment. I still think that was, funnily enough, in The War Machines, the first alien invading story, where the 1st Doctor slowly moves towards the robot whilst the troops retreat behind him and even though no words were spoken then too it really gets 1st Doctor's arc to a climax, he became the Doctor then and there after starting off as an unpolished diamond in "An Unearthly Child".

The cringy way Donna and Rose II spoke of male Time Lords was the way Time Ladies always talked to the Doctor in Doctor Who.

What the gel is a AU-don??

I like Spearhead from Space

thank - you . ( 2023 / July / 21 )

6:15 Rly? Changing the lead actor to someone dramatically different doesn't count as a re-invention??? I like the rest of your analysis.

Doctor Who ended in 1989. I am not sure what is on now, but it sure ain't Doctor Who.

Alien planets too expensive? But they all look like a sand quarry. You can film there pretty cheaply, even by BBC standards.

Personally I think its over rated. Sure it's important but Its not a story I care to revisit outside of marthoms. Much prefer Terror of Autons amd the 7 parts this season.

Spaerhead from space. 3rd doctor the 9th doctor Rose story are the same theme so the 9th doctor is owed a new story because they promised all new stories

Try breathing

Spaerhead from space. 3rd doctor the 9th doctor Rose story are the same theme so the 9th doctor is owed a new story because they promised all new stories