Spearhead from Space (Story #51, 1970)
Viewed 10 Oct 2012

Doctor/Companion: Three, Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Shaw, the Brigadier
Stars: Jon Pertwee, Caroline John, Nicholas Courtney
Preceding Story: The War Games (Two, Jamie, Zoë)
Succeeding Story: Doctor Who and the Silurians (Three, Liz, the Brigadier)
Notable Aspects:

• Three’s first story

Now this was not a reaction I’d anticipated – G is a shipper! She’s convinced that Three fancies Liz. I suppose she might have a point. She’s not far off base when, after the Doctor wiggles his eyebrows at Liz and tells her “That’s Delphon for ‘how do you do?’,” she says, “It’s also wolf for ‘what a babe.'”

Of course, she appears to fancy Three herself (have I mentioned that she’s about a decade older than Pertwee was when these were filmed?). The shower scene prompts her to comment that Three’s is “not a bad body.” By the end of Part 3, G’s praise is effusive: “This is a good one. I just like the new guy a lot. I’m in love.” Perhaps, then, there’s a bit of projection at work in her Three/Liz ship.

She loves the switch to color, and comments on the updated music, too. (Not sure how updated it can be, since Dudley Simpson was also responsible for The War Games – though admittedly there was hardly any incidental music in that particular serial.) The humorous bent of the Doctor-based portions of this adventure are right up G’s alley, as well. Three’s first view of his own face, Liz’s take-no-prisoners attitude toward the Brigadier (Brigadier: Am I interrupting? / Liz: Yes.), the way the Doctor calmly appropriates first an outfit and then a car – all of these result in the gleeful noises I so love to hear. “This is very Monty Python-ish,” she declares as the Part 1 credits roll.

But the violence of the story isn’t lost on her, either. She’s visibly tense when the Auton is coming after the poacher’s wife, horrified when the jeep crashes and the driver is then seen as a bloody corpse smashed against the windshield, and downright rebellious of the implications when the shop window dummies come out to attack the public. “I choose to think this isn’t a dead body count,” she interjects. “It’s a stunned body count.” I suppose we each cope with these issues our own way.

She’s no slouch when it comes to figuring out the plot, either. When the Brigadier is shown the broken meteorite and told that it “must’ve broken off,” G is quick to correct that assessment: “No, it’s hatched!” Further, she figures Channing is a baddie at least in part because “he doesn’t blink. That’s a giveaway, too,” and that Ransome is being controlled by an implant. Regardless of the precise veracity of these conclusions, she’s clearly got the substance down.

As for characters, both Liz and the Autons seem to meet with approval. Not only does she say it in so many words (“Don’t you love Elizabeth?” (this before the Doctor had been asked to call her Liz) and “His little fingers come off to form a gun. I love that.”), but she makes jokes about them, too.

Liz: I deal with FACTS!
G: And L’Oréal!

Hibbert: What if they come here?
Channing: Then you will deal with him.
G: Or we’ll all take off our fingers and shoot.

So she’s made it a bit past the point simply of thinking it’s all so ruddy clever she can hardly contain herself to the edge of the plane of existence where true fans live – we can poke a bit of fun at it and point out the rubbish bits, even while still loving it as a whole.

Not that G finds anything rubbish about Spearhead. Not even the obviously rubber tentacles or Three’s comically crossed eyes can ruin the denouement for her. She’d been wanting to see the Nestene do its thing since she first saw its pulsing ooginess on the DVD menu, and actually gasped as those tentacles emerged.

Honestly, she has nothing but praise for this adventure. I can’t really blame her. Sure, the effects are a bit crap and there are other, better stories. But she’s coming at this will almost no background, and finding joy in what is there. How can you knock that?

Verdict: Thumbs up. “That was great. He’s a cutie.”

Looking ahead: The Dæmons