Spearhead From Space: Doctor Who: Season 7

Goldby

Grob

Long

Spearhead From Space REVIEWS



Goldby

Yes, it's amazing what colour AND being shot entirely on film can do for a story. If they ever wanted to re-release Spearhead From Space as a movie version in the cinema back in the 70's it would have been perfect. Just imagine if the Beeb actually threw money at the show, enough to make it all in film. Yep this one has it all. A new doctor and supporting cast, new brand spanking production values, new production team that make everything seem plausible and an actual distinguishably realistic threat to Earth.

Pertwee has grasped the Doctor and it his own from his very first line. He even gets over his changed appearance quick and there is literally almost no reference to the past six years of the program, he just arrives, gets better and the story moves on. The Autons are well thought out, creepy, seemingly indestructible AND THEY MOVE QUICK, finally an agile monster.

Liz and the Brig are fantastic, they're characters so well defined and grown up. In fact it's almost weird that we've suddenly being thrown into an adult version of Dr Who. Plus apart from being super intelligent and a non screamer, Liz obligingly wears very short skirts to show she's not just brains. No other supporting actors drop the ball and the UNIT team here seems highly populated like a proper military section rather than a couple of bods running a local tuck shop that it turns into later. That Channing guy is very creepy also. Yep this season is good and off to an extremely strong start especially with iconic moments like the shop dummies coming to life and bursting out into the local streets of London, killing people - scared the willies out of me on the first viewing as a youngster too

So many good moments not even the rubber tentacles at the end let Spearhead from Space down...10/10



Grob

Its back..................and its in COLOUR!!!Its amazing what colour TX, a new leading actor, a new supporting cast, a new direction and a new production team can do for a show. In fact, comparing Spearhead from Space to the War Games is on par with comparing Leisure Hive with Horns of Nimon. Or Caves of Androzani with the Twin Dilemma. Its the same show, its just so.....radically DIFFERENT. Pertwee IS the Doctor as soon as he opens his mouth (I really like Derek Martinus' direction here by the way; he never fully shows us what the Doctor looks like until three quarters of the way through episode one when you get his opening line.) He does serious and comedy really well and its not too long before Troughton is just a memory. In fact, there is very little that links Spearhead From Space with the War Games. There is a mumbled line about the trial and then a couple of lines later and thats it.

It really is a fresh start. Liz Shaw is a great companion and someone who is one an equal par with the Doctor. More's the pity that Barry Letts and Tewwance Dickth decided against that and brought in scatterbrain Jo. And the Brig is great as well playing it all so seriously and straight.

Season 7 is one of my favourite Who seasons cos its before the whole "UNIT Family" things comes into play and it is forced to be all cosy and nice instead of here where its all gritty and real. Plot wise, its VERY adult for a kids show and the monsters are really creepy with their stiff movements, buzzy noises and blank faces. Even their costumes are clever; the overalls and the scarfs used to hide their neck joins. Brilliant. Then there is the scene with the jeep crash - complete with BLOOD and a shot of the driver's face smashed through the glass. In fact, there are some great scenes all over the place here. This is when everyone involved decided that the best way to pitch a TV show for kids is to pitch it at the ADULTS.

Spearhead From Space is one of the first stories that really got me into Who when it was shown on the ABC back in 1979 and it really scared the wits out of me. However, since VCRs were yet to be invented and Colin Baker was an unknown quantity I was lucky I had the novelization to read again and again and again.

Awesome story; brilliant all round. 10/10.



Long

Just like everyone else, Spearhead From Space is also one of my all time favourites. It's one you can watch again and again and still find new things. I think the key thing here is that this was the first time that Doctor Who was really scary. You see shop mannequins every day of the year and think nothing of them at all... but after seeing them come to life in such a menacing and creepy way scares the hell out of you... and you'll never look at a shop mannequin the same way ever again!

As a kid I found the crazy tentacled thing pretty scary too, and thought it was really going to strangle the Doctor... watching it now, maybe it's a little crass, but it certainly had the desired effect back then, and still holds up OK.

This is the first regeneration story that we would have seen. I guess the template for a regeneration story was there from Power of the Daleks, but this is the earliest one that we have had the chance to see... and it's by far the best one too! All the quirks of a regeneration are there - the memory lapses, the "my god, he has two heart beats" and the moments of manic madness and rest - but this time they're intertwined with an excellent story, and a realistic, scary and new threat... something that really only Christmas Invasion has come close to (I guess the movie wasn't bad either).

What else can I say... 10/10

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