Episode 21
They’ve Cancelled My Show
Sunday 18 January 2015
We’ve jumped a time track only to find ourselves in the 1970s, watching a strange parallel-universe version of our favourite show. Where’s the TARDIS gone? What’s with all these different colours? And, most importantly, what’s happened to the Doctor’s nose? Join us, my dear fellow, as we try to find the answers to some of these questions by watching the first two stories of Jon Pertwee’s first season, Spearhead from Space and Doctor Who and the Silurians.
Buy the stories!
From now on, not only do all the stories exist, but they’ve all been released on DVD. So this bit’s easy.
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Spearhead from Space (Amazon US). In the UK, it can be bought as part of the Mannequin Mania box set, which includes Terror of the Autons. A must-have. (Amazon UK)
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Spearhead from Space on Blu-ray, in stunning HD (Amazon US) (Amazon UK)
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Doctor Who and the Silurians is published as part of the Beneath the Surface box set, which includes The Sea Devils and Warriors of the Deep (Amazon US) (Amazon UK)
Spearhead from Space
Kim Catrall, from Sex and the City and, of course, Star Trek VI (1991), played a slightly less lethal and slightly more creepy mannequin in the film, er, Mannequin (1987).
The Avengers and Peter Wyngarde’s Jason King both have a history of strong, fabulous women, but none more strong and fabulous than Caroline John’s Liz Shaw. (Oh, okay, Emma Peel.)
Even in the early 70s, millions of deprived Britons would tune into radio comedies like Round the Horne and The Navy Lark, starring Jon Pertwee.
If you’re thrillingly open-minded, you might enjoy the idea of agalmatophilia, which is a fetish involving sexual attraction to a statue or mannequin. If not, I’m sorry I brought it up.
Terrance Dicks’s novelisation of this story, The Auton Invasion, has been recently re-released as a paperback. It’s also available on the Kindle. (Amazon US) (Amazon UK)
Fans of the moments of gritty realism in 1970s Who might enjoy Steve McQueen in Bullitt (1968), Michael Caine in Get Carter (1971) or Dennis Waterman in The Sweeney. Fans of Pertwee hurtling down the hill in a wheelchair might enjoy the Ealing Comedies of the 1950s.
Captain Kremmen was an important part of Richard and Nathan’s childhood. You can get a taste of it here. Watch it on YouTube. You won’t regret it. (Oh, okay, you might.)
Moonboots and Dinner Suits is Jon Pertwee’s autobiography, first published in 1985. (Amazon US) (Amazon UK)
Doctor Who and the Silurians
Derrick Sherwin and Peter Bryant had an escape plan in the form of Special Project Air. It didn’t really work out though.
Watch Jennifer Saunders as Jane Seymour in Doctor Quinn: Mad Woman.
Malcolm Hulke’s novelisation of this story, Doctor Who and the Cave-Monsters, was also recently re-released, both in paperback and for the Kindle. (Amazon US) (Amazon UK). Caroline John reads the audiobook, and does a superb impersonations of both Jon Pertwee and Fulton Mackay. (Audible US) (Audible UK)
The New Series Silurians are based very closely on the Voth from the Star Trek: Voyager episode Distant Origin, who were in turn based loosely on the Silurians from this story.
Gerry Anderson’s The Secret Service stars a marionette vicar who solves crimes. Aren’t you glad to live in a world where such things exist?
“I’m a Silurian. And I’m going for my tea break.”
We have a competition
If you would like to win a Target novelisation from our personal collection, just write a comment on our website underneath the post for this episode. We’ll be giving away three books every time we reach the end of a season.
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Brendan is on Twitter as @brandybongos, and Nathan is, unimaginatively enough, @nathanbottomley.You can follow the podcast on Twitter as @FTEpodcast.
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