Day 281: Terror of the Autons Episode 3

Old and new enemies this time. On the old side, we have the Autons. They exist, as mentioned when we covered Spearhead from Space, as presences which are everpresent in our world. They control plastic, something which constantly figures in our lives. By using this, the story is able to utilise the fact that it can terrify the audience with ordinary household objects. Take the doll, which comes to life and kills people, terrifying children everywhere of their toys. Or the chair that suffocates people. This represents a step up from the ordinary shop window dummies that were used in Spearhead, and shows that a reasonable deal of thought has been put into how the Autons might be improved for their next encounter with the Doctor.

Our new enemy is a Time Lord known only as the Master. The idea of making the new enemy a Time Lord is wonderful, as it means that the Doctor finally has a worthy adversary. Every time before this, we've known that the Doctor is somewhat above his foes, but now we have encountered someone with all of the knowledge that the Doctor has, all of the skills and prowess that the Doctor has. Suddenly this story has become a new challenge, and we are invested in how our heroes will defeat the Master. Expect more discussions of the Master later throughout this blog, as he will continue to return throughout the programme.