Auton
Auton | |
---|---|
Doctor Who race | |
First appearance | Spearhead from Space (1970) |
Last appearance | "The Big Bang" (2010) |
Created by | Robert Holmes |
In-universe information | |
Home world | Unknown (possibly Polymos) |
Type | Living plastic automata |
Affiliation | Nestene Consciousness |
The Autons are an artificial life form from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and adversaries of the Doctor. They were originally created by scriptwriter Robert Holmes for Jon Pertwee's first serial as the Doctor, Spearhead from Space (1970), and were the first monsters to be presented in colour on the series.
They returned for the following season's Terror of the Autons (1971), which also introduced the character of the Master, but they did not appear again in the original series. Holmes intended to feature the Autons for season 23 of Doctor Who in 1986 in a story entitled
Autons are essentially life-sized plastic dummies, automatons animated by the Nestene Consciousness, an extraterrestrial, disembodied gestalt intelligence which first arrived on Earth in hollow plastic meteorites. Their name comes from Auto Plastics, the company that was infiltrated by the Nestenes and subsequently manufactured their Auton shells in Spearhead From Space.
Autons conceal deadly weapons within their hands, which can kill or vaporise their targets. The typical Auton does not look particularly realistic, resembling a mannequin, being robotic in its movements and mute. However, more sophisticated Autons can be created, which look and act human except for a slight plastic sheen to the skin and a flat-sounding voice.[2] In Series 5 of the relaunched Doctor Who series, they are shown as being able to create fully lifelike human replicas, able to fool other humans.[3]
History
The Nestenes are among the oldest beings in the
The Nestenes subsequently returned in the first serial of Pertwee's second year as the Doctor,
Early drafts of
When the series was revived in 2005, producer and writer
The Autons returned in the 2010 episode "The Pandorica Opens", alongside many other monsters from throughout the show's history, to trap the Eleventh Doctor. The Autons in this episode were programmed to believe they were the soldiers of a Roman legion, among them Rory Williams, using the memories of Amy Pond. They were very realistic and far more sophisticated than the average Auton, and their hands contained futuristic laser guns rather than projectile weapons. As in the 2005 appearance, the name "Auton" was not used in dialogue; the phrase "Nestene duplicate" was introduced here to describe the copy of Rory. Due to the influences of the cracks in time, the Rory copy possessed the personality of the real Rory and was able to resist the Nestene's control, later working together with The Doctor to save the universe.
The Autons were later mentioned in the
Other appearances
The Nestenes have also appeared in the Doctor Who
In the Doctor Who Annual 2006, an article written by Russell T Davies mentions the loss of the Nestene Consciousness's planets during the Time War, and states that it "found itself mutating under temporal stress". This may be a reference to the difference between the portrayal of the Consciousness in Spearhead from Space and "Rose".
In the late 1990s,
In the first series of the televised
In 2006, a
They appeared in issue 15 of Doctor Who – Battles in Time as the main theme of the issue.
The Autons also appear in Lego Dimensions. They appear in the Doctor Who Level “The Dalek Extermination of Earth” when the player time travels to Central London in 2015 using the TARDIS. Whenever the player destroys a purple rock, the Autons come to life from the shop windows and attack the player. They also appear in the Doctor Who adventure world as encounterable enemies.[8]
The Autons appear in one of the Doctor Who and Mr. Men mash-up books, published under the Doctor Men series of books.[9]
During 2020, as part of a fan "Watch-along" of the episode "Rose," writer Russell T Davies wrote a sequel to the episode "Rose" entitled "Revenge of the Nestene." It depicts a surviving Auton after the events of the episode.[10]
Reception
Writing for Looper.com, Richard Chachowski included the Autons on a list of the show's greatest antagonists. While he states they are hard to take seriously, "their blank, unemotional faces and stiff movements make them some of the creepiest looking antagonists the Doctor encounters in his adventures across time and space."[11] Writing in a review of "Spearhead from Space" for The AV Club, Christopher Bahn states that "The Autons are of secondary importance to the story," but also highlights that they "...provide some effectively chilling moments," highlighting Hugh Burden as the Auton duplicate of the character Channing, as well as the scene in which the Autons break out of the shop windows.[12] Writing for Doctor Who TV, Raphael Kiyani praised the Autons role in "Rose" as something "children could be scared about every time they walk down the streets," and further highlights that "Every time I see a shop-window I can’t help but think of the Autons, so it’s a powerful image."[13] Den of Geek writer Andrew Blair listed the scene in which stuntman Terry Walsh, playing an Auton, falls down a sixty foot cliff and gets back up again, as the greatest stunt in the series, highlighting the accidental nature of the stunt and how it made "the Autons seem uncanny... creatures who felt no pain."[14]
The image of store mannequins coming to life in Spearhead from Space, in full colour and shooting people down in the street, is one of the series' iconic moments and is often cited as an example of the series' ability to make everyday things terrifying. The use of even more ordinary objects in Terror of the Autons — including the unmasking of a police officer as an Auton — caused public controversy about whether the programme was too frightening for children. The story also featured in a discussion in the House of Lords, where Baroness Bacon expressed worries about it being too frightening even for older children.[15]
See also
References
- ^ List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films
- ^ "Rose"
- ^ "The Big Bang"
- ^ Alan Barnes, Gary Russell (13 April 2007). "The Infinite Quest episode 2". Doctor Who. BBC.
- ^ "The Five Doctors ★★★★".
- ^ "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". Doctor Who Confidential. Series 1. Episode 2. 2 April 2005. BBC. BBC Three.
- ^ "Jodie Whittaker Doctor Who episode almost brought Autons back". Radio Times. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ LEGO Dimensions
- ^ "The Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack face the Autons in one of four new Doctor Who-Mr Men mash-up books". Radio Times. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ "Doctor Who: Rose sequel "Revenge of the Nestene" released online". Radio Times. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ "The Greatest Villains In Doctor Who, Ranked". Looper. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ "Doctor Who (Classic): "Spearhead From Space"". The A.V. Club. 19 June 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ DWTV (26 September 2013). "Rose: Looking Back on Doctor Who's Revival | Doctor Who TV". Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ Blair, Andrew (2 October 2022). "Doctor Who's Best Stunts". Den of Geek. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- Baroness Bacon (3 February 1971). "Mass Media Communication". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 314. House of Lords. col. 1244–1245.
and I wonder what has happened to "Dr. Who" recently, because many children must have gone to bed and had nightmares after seeing the recent episodes
External links
- Auton on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki