On the “Earth-bound” format, Derrick Sherwin: We had reviewed QUATERMASS and got fed up with alien plants and “jelly” monsters. Terrance Dicks: My memory is that the programme had run its course and it was about time to take it off.
Derrick Sherwin: DOCTOR WHO at this time was becoming more and more expensive.

On seeking new writers for the series, Derrick Sherwin: I asked Nigel Neale (QUATERMASS) to write a DOCTOR WHO but he couldn’t. It’s not that easy to write.

On recoding SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE, Derrick Sherwin: 16mm film. A luxury and a large extent a blessing.
Terrance Dicks: Directors always say that there is a “mysterious” quality about film, which I have never really understood as a writer.

On deploying the Brigadier and his team, Terrance Dicks: I always liked the UNIT stories, except five stories a season.

On the departure of Patrick Troughton, Derrick Sherwin: …at the end of his schedule he was absolutely “frazzled”. When I was on the show we did 42 (episodes) a year. Hell of a turnaround and he really needed the rest; it was turning his temper.
Terrance Dicks: He was always grumpy. Shades of grumpy.

On the casting of Jon Pertwee, Terrance Dicks: Jon was desperately nervous under all that suavity, man-of-the-world confidence.

On the location filming, Derrick Sherwin: A splendid location; Wood Norton. We used it for the hospital and UNIT offices.

On Nicholas Courtney, Terrance Dicks: There’s Nick looking young, handsome and incredibly thin.

On Neil Wilson’s character (Sam Seeley), Terrance Dicks: This chap needs subtitles. I cannot understand whet he’s saying:

Derrick Sherwin: A Devonshire lad.

Terrance Dicks discusses the five-year story “arc” (sort of) between SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE and ROBOT as he reminds the audience that inconceivably the Doctor keeps a spare TARDIS key in his shoes.

Terrance Dicks recounts the story that whilst visiting the plastic doll manufacturer Jon Pertwee attempted to obtain a “freebie” toy for his niece only to be tersely ignored by the company. “Hon was always looking for a quick perk.”

On Caroline John’s character (Elizabeth Shaw), Derrick Sherwin: A woman with masculine tenderness. Strong and a good foil for Lethbridge Stewart. And Peter Bryant’s favourite.
Terrance Dicks: My God, that’s a short skirt!
Derrick Sherwin: Peter Bryant’s said, “Put her in a short skirt!”

On the plastic Autons, Terrance Dicks: A very good simple monster. Very scary.

On seeing the Doctor take a shower, Derrick Sherwin: One of few nude scenes in DOCTOR WHO.

On creating the Doctor’s Edwardian-styled roadster, Derrick Sherwin: I think I put in Bessie as a merchandising opportunity.

FACT: As Lis Shaw witnesses the Doctor attempting to dematerialise the TARDIS, you will see that the rear doors of the Police Box are open to permit the Special Effects Team to pump smoke into it.

On Douglas Camfield, Derrick Sherwin: A great loss to British television.

On the script’s final line, Terrance Dicks: That was my line, “Dr. John Smith”. I gave him that.

Derrick Sherwin: Goodbye, DOCTOR WHO and good luck. Jon, I will miss you.

The “value added material” for this re-release constitutes two major documentaries that chronicle the making of SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE and how the series, at the time, itself regenerated. It is interesting that that some 35 years later, BBC WALES would undergo the same “regeneration” in bringing the NEW SERIES to fruition (though with more substantial finances and technology).

In DOWN TO EARTH, the cast (including Jon Pertwee from the 1994 archive interview) and crew analyse the predicament that the series has found itself facing; a dispirited BBC wanting to cancel it as the audience had become disenchanted by it and rising production costs. As Terrance Dicks stated; “In 1969, DOCTOR WHO was dying”. Desperate measures needed calm heads and a firm hand or the series would have vanished from the screen, exiled to “cult” status.

Jon Pertwee recalls that he wanted to play the Doctor “straight” without comedy whilst the Third Doctor’s costume designer (Christine Rawlins) used the red satin-lined cape as the representation of “wings of the mother hen” for audience reassurance. Furthermore, Pertwee recounts the story – whether true of not, it is fantastic tale – that he successfully “nurgled” (read: stole) a piece of furniture during the filming of SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE.

A wonderful, joyous documentary that fondly remembers the 1969 production and how that it started to re-establish DOCTOR WHO’s credibility not only with the BBC Executive but, more importantly, with the audience. It was collaborative effort, but the series was safe for another decade.

In REGENERATION, the DOCTOR WHO production crew discuss the challenges that were encountered in bringing DOCTOR WHO from a world of monochromatic grey to a full colour television transmission

Terrance Dicks summed up the tenacity of the series’ production team; “Everyone came together and we took off from there.” Graphic Designer, Bernard Lodge recalls the difficulties of transferring the iconic DOCTOR WHO opening title sequence from the black & white to “ psychedelic ” colour, whilst Director, Timothy Coombe (DOCTOR WHO AND THE SILURIANS) asserts that he had “never enough time and never enough money” to realise a script’s potential (especially when using the temperamental Chroma key or CSO [Colour Separation Overlay]).

The five-minute UNIT RECRUITMENT film was included in the original DVD release and whilst it is entertaining I would have liked to have seen a 2011 version using clips from the NEW SERIES as an update.

One point of note is that the quality of the print has been thoroughly “cleaned” & restored and is, and I am not given to hyperbole as you know, beyond criticism. Superb.

Of course, MANNEQUIN MANIA boxset has coincided with the death of actor, Nicholas Courtney ( Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart) and, as such, the DVD release is fittingly poignant for fans. The character spanned 21 seasons of the CLASSIC SERIES (from THE WEB OF FEAR to BATTLEFIELD) and continued briefly in THE SARAH JANE ADVANTURES (ENEMY OF THE BANE) and will continue to entained & reassure those older viewers we remember him “the first time round” and new fans discovering the sometimes hapless but always resolute companion to the Doctor(s).

Simply, DOCTOR WHO – MANNEQUIN MANIA represents excellent value (and, please, don’t moan about having a copy of SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE already) and an invaluable insight to a time when the series was confronting difficult choices and indifference from the BBC Executive. Of course, they surmounted then and moved swiftly forward to, once again, cement it into British culture.

The best years were yet to come, but it all started with here.