Troll dolls. Killer dummies.The Autons have been causing chaos since the 1970s. Let’s rank all of the Doctor’s encounters with the dreaded “living plastic creatures…”
4) The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang – 7.1 million
For this highly scientific analysis, we’ll be averaging out the viewing figures for each story, as they were told over multiple episodes. 2010’s ‘The Pandorica Opens’ and ‘The Big Bang’ were a single adventure, spread over two instalments, and the average audience came in at 7.1 million viewers.
However, it might be a little disingenuous to class this as an Auton story. The Autons are in it, certainly, but then so are the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans… All of the Doctor’s deadliest enemies come together to prevent him from ‘destroying the universe,’ and seal him inside the Pandorica prison. The Autons are part of this universe-wide conspiracy, and (because reasons) they bring Amy Pond‘s dead fiancé back from the dead, in Auton form.
In the end, this is quite a sweet story. Amy ends up inside the Pandorica for a few centuries (again, because reasons) and the Auton Rory takes it upon himself to guard her for a few hundred years. He won’t die, after all, as he is now made of plastic.
Of course, he did shoot her at the end of ‘The Pandorica Opens,’ so he probably owed her a favour or two…
3) Terror of the Autons – 8.0 million
In some ways, ‘Terror of the Autons’ is one of the most important adventures in Doctor Who canon. Not only is it the first to feature Katy Manning as one of the Time Lord’s most popular companions Jo Grant, but it is also introduces the Doctor’s arch enemy the Master, played by Roger Delgado.
Here, his plan is simple: complete domination of planet Earth, using the Auton army (controlled by the Nestene Consciousness.) To do this, he takes over a plastics factory, and uses the Autons to kill people in all manner of disturbing ways, including daffodils that choke people by spraying a suffocating plastic film, and an arm chair that eats people alive. There is also the famous ‘troll doll’ which comes to life when activated by heat – a plot point which drew several complaints from contemporary viewers, whose children were too scared to take their teddy bears to bed.
All in all, this is a quintessential Doctor Who story from the 1970s, and one that typifies the Jon Pertwee era. It is the first to feature the UNIT family, as it became known: the familiar line-up of the Brigadier, Jo, Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton. The Master, in a strange way, also became part of this family, featuring in the vast majority of their stories. In fact, he appeared in every adventure of Season Eight.
2) Spearhead from Space – 8.2 million
‘Spearhead From Space’ is another very important Doctor Who story. It was the first to be filmed in colour, and the first to feature Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. It was also the first ‘proper’ UNIT story (the previous season’s ‘The Invasion’ had been a test run.)
In this adventure, the Doctor has been exiled to Earth by his own people, and discovers that the planet is in the midst of an invasion of strange, glowing spheres which, somehow, have the power to control living plastic creatures in the shape of shop window dummies.
This all culminates in one of the most famous scenes of the classic era, where the Autons burst out of their window displays and start terrorising the streets of London. It’s a truly iconic moment, and a perfect example of the style of horror that would typify Doctor Who in the 70s – the idea that the scariest things don’t lurk in the darkest corners of the universe, but in a person’s living room. Indeed, Jon Pertwee himself famously said, “There’s nothing more alarming than coming home and finding a Yeti on your loo in Tooting Bec.”
This new form of sci-fi horror was much-enjoyed by contemporary viewers, with an average of 8.2 million tuning in for this adventure – doubling the figures from the previous season. And ‘Spearhead From Space’ is still being enjoyed to this day, with the adventure having been released no fewer than six times on home media (possibly more.) How many copies have you bought?
1) Rose – 10.8 million
The most-watched Auton story of all time is 2005’s ‘Rose,’ written by Russell T Davies. This episode was crucial to Doctor Who‘s survival; it had been off the air for 16 years (bar a movie) and there was some doubt as to whether the series would still work in the modern age. ‘Rose’ had to re-introduce the format of the show, repurposed for the sensibilities of the 21st century viewer.
As you can probably glean from the viewing figures, ‘Rose’ went down a storm. The new Doctor Christopher Eccleston was universally loved, as was his new companion Rose Tyler. And the Autons were given the honour of being the first alien menace the Time Lord faced in this brand new era, although their name wasn’t used in the episode; they were simply referred to as “living plastic creatures,” controlled by the Nestene Consciousness.
And despite the episode’s popularity, it did have a rough ride. An early copy was leaked by the employee of an overseas TV station, and some early reviewers slated the story. Moreover, the broadcast itself was – astonishingly – interrupted by Graham Norton, whose voice bled over from another channel. Even more frustratingly, this occurred right at the moment that Rose first met the Doctor, which was far from ideal.
Still, these niggles did little to de-rail the Time Lord’s explosive return. Few Doctor Who episodes experienced so much pressure to deliver, and if ‘Rose’ had failed, Doctor Who‘s return might have been limited to one, brief season in 2005, never to be seen again.
So tell us: Which is your favourite Auton story? Let us know in the comments below.
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