Spearhead from Space: Episode 1

Honestly go watch all 4 parts you will fall in love with Pertwee's doctor. 9/10

Other than the fact that the CGI is bad compared to 2020 doctor who, this episode was pretty good. The doctor is great - and underused. Wasn't the best episode ever, but it was a satisfying start to a new doctor.

A strange set of meteorites has landed on Earth, and so has a newly regenerated Doctor.

The Black and White era has ended, Doctor Who begins in colour, with a brand new Doctor, Jon Pertwee has taken the reins, and spends most of the episode in bed.

It looks so fresh, not just because it's in colour, but it's beautifully shot, being on film makes a difference. No flimsy sets or dodgy costumes, this looks impressive.

This is a brilliant episode, a new Doctor's first story can be tricky, think of Robot, Castrovalva, Twin Dilemma and Mark of The Rani, none of them are brilliant, Spearhead from Space is.

We have the intrigue of the flashing ball, we have the introduction of the fabulous Liz Shaw, and of course the arrival of Jon Pertwee, it doesn't get much better than this, 10/10.

Jon Pertwee's debut as the Third Doctor coincides with Robert Holmes introducing the Autons for one of only three television stories they would be prominently featured in (if I recall correctly, they are the only three they would be featured in, period). Ah, Robert Holmes. Always good to see that name at the start of a story, isn't it? In many ways this was the first story in which he really showed his knack for creating solid dialogue and characterization as well as keeping the science fiction, horror, or adventure plot fresh every episode of the story ('The Krotons' was average and 'The Space Pirates' is missing, but apparently not a hidden classic based on reconstructions). I don't want to give any of the plot away but it will suffice to say that the Autons are really bloody good villains, and so is the intelligence behind them, the Nestenes. There are some pretty violent scenes in this story and I remember being very scared upon watching this story for the first time when I was five or so, which is always good in a Doctor Who story.

It was ingenious to actually have Doctor Who villains who are ACTUALLY made of plastic within the confines of the story, and one of the reasons this doesn't seem particularly dated. The character of the Third Doctor is brilliantly introduced over the course of this four parter, as is Liz Shaw, and there is also some excellent character development for the Brigadier. The story was shot on film rather than video for some reason and does look fabulous and is directed well.

Episode 1: 7/10 Episode 2: 8/10 Episode 3: 8/10 Episode 4: 9/10

Overall: The average rating amounts to 8 out of 10 stars, but I will give it an 8.5 out of 10 overall.

Although my earliest recollections of first watching Dr Who are of Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee's was the first I watched regularly and so I consider him "my Dr Who". Although almost as eccentric as the memorable Troughton, he brought more stylishness, scientific nous, physicality (his famous karate chops would develop in time) and, through his travels in his vintage car "Bessie", sheer mobility to the part. I was so disappointed when he left in 1973 (plus I was incidentally growing up at the time), that I never watched a single Tom Baker episode and still haven't to this day, only catching up again for the Peter Davison regeneration.

This first Pertwee adventure made for a great introduction with the memorable menace of the Autons, it's little wonder that their breaking out of shop windows as activated mannequins rates so highly in the list of scariest scenes in the whole history of the show. At 10 years of age, it scared me and obviously resonated with Steven Moffat who since has created danger out of other inanimate "human" objects, such as statues and most recently, snowmen.

It would have been nice to see an actual regeneration scene between the two Docs, plus it takes a while for Pertwee to appear and dominate scenes, but given that this afforded us time to get reacquainted with the redoubtable Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart and new assistant Liz Shaw, it's not a great loss.

The story is well-paced and the idea of replacing politicians in power with alien copies is one that would be used again in the Moffat era. Yes, the climax with Pertwee engaging (I'm being polite) with a rubber octopus is about as realistic as Adam Batman West's similar encounter with a shark in the 1966 movie, but everything else is good and boded well for the new Doctor's more earthbound adventures for the next few years at least.