The Faceless Ones
Encyclopedia
The Faceless Ones is a serial in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 science fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from April 8 to May 13, 1967. The story concerns a race of identity-stealing aliens known as the Chameleons. It sees the departure of Michael Craze
Michael Craze
Michael Craze was a British actor noted for his role of Ben Jackson, a companion of the Doctor, in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He played the part from 1966 to 1967 alongside both William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton.Craze was born in Cornwall...

 and Anneke Wills
Anneke Wills
Anneke Wills is an English actress, best-known for her role as the Doctor Who's companion Polly in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Biography:...

 as the Doctor's companions
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...

 Ben Jackson and Polly
Polly (Doctor Who)
Polly is a fictional character played by Anneke Wills in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A young woman from the year 1966, she was a companion of the First and Second Doctors and a regular in the programme from 1966 to 1967.-Character history:Polly first...

.

Plot

The TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...

 arrives on a runway at Gatwick Airport and is confiscated as a hazard by the police, while the Doctor
Second Doctor
The Second Doctor is the second incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by character actor Patrick Troughton....

, Ben, Polly
Polly (Doctor Who)
Polly is a fictional character played by Anneke Wills in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A young woman from the year 1966, she was a companion of the First and Second Doctors and a regular in the programme from 1966 to 1967.-Character history:Polly first...

 and Jamie
Jamie McCrimmon
James Robert "Jamie" McCrimmon is a fictional character played by Frazer Hines in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A piper of the Clan McLaren who lived in 18th century Scotland, he was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1966...

 split up to avoid arrest. Polly ends up in a store room belonging to the mysterious travel company Chameleon Tours and sees a man killed by another, Spencer, using a futuristic weapon. Spencer reports his actions to his superior, Captain Blade. Polly flees and is reunited with the Doctor and Jamie. When the three travellers investigate, they find the body but are overseen by Blade. The Doctor and his friends head to airport control to warn the authorities of the situation. Lagging behind the others, Polly is captured.

The Airport Commandant is sceptical of the Doctor's story, but agrees to accompany the Doctor and Jamie to the Chameleon Tours hangar, but the body has disappeared and there is no sign of Polly. After the trio depart, Spencer resuscitates an alien, a featureless humanoid with prominent veins and a greenish pallor. The hospital's nurse, Nurse Pinto, brings in an unconscious air traffic controller called Meadows. He is connected via a strange machine to the alien, which transforms into a doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...

 of Meadows. The alien Meadows is then sent to work at Air Traffic Control. Back in the main airport, the Doctor and Jamie are stunned to see Polly emerge from one of the newly landed planes. She denies knowing them and claims she is Michelle Leuppi from Zurich.

At the Chameleon Tours travel kiosk, Jamie encounters Samantha Briggs, a young Liverpudlian looking for her missing brother, who disappeared on a Chameleon Youth Tours flight to Rome. He was reported to have arrived there and even sent a postcard, but no-one at that end seems to have seen him. The Doctor, Jamie and Samantha break into the kiosk, and discover a pile of fake postcards purporting to be from missing travellers. They also find a monitoring device which shows them the scene in the Tours hangar, where Ben has found the real Polly in suspended animation in a metal cabinet. They watch as Ben is captured and frozen by Blade and Spencer. The Doctor heads off to the hangar to investigate, telling Jamie and Samantha to stay where they are.

Jamie and Samantha meet Detective Inspector Crossland, who is investigating reports of young people gone missing after booking flights with Chameleon Tours. Jamie and Crossland realize that the man Polly saw murdered is Crossland's missing partner, DI Gascoigne. The Doctor returns from the hangar, having found the unconscious body of Meadows. The Doctor and Crossland meet with the Commandant, and the Doctor argues that Chameleon Tours is a front for the mass kidnapping of young people by aliens. He proves his theory by demonstrating a freezing gun he found at the hangar. Crossland is persuaded of the threat, and in turn persuades the Commandant to give the Doctor the run of the airport for twelve hours to find out more. Crossland boards the next Chameleon Tours flight and encounters Captain Blade, who holds Crossland hostage with a ray gun until the plane is in flight – after which Blade shows him that all the passengers on board seem to have disappeared.

Following an unsuccessful attempt on their lives by Spencer, Jamie and Samantha return to the kiosk while the Doctor meets up with the Commandant, who is worried that Crossland seems to have disappeared, and has learned from checks with other airports that Chameleon Tours has never delivered any passengers abroad. The next flight is to Rome, and unbeknownst to the Doctor, Jamie arranges to get on board, having stolen the ticket Samantha bought for the same purpose. Samantha, determined to get on the plane to track down her missing brother, is sent to see the flight manager – but finds only the murderous Spencer. He has her bound and taken to Nurse Pinto for duplication.

The plane takes off with an airsick Jamie aboard and an RAF fighter in pursuit. Captain Blade detects the tracking craft and eliminates it, then redirects the plane upwards rather than forward, using rocket engines to propel it into the outer atmosphere where a vast alien spacecraft awaits. The plane docks and Blade and his flight assistant Ann disembark. Once more the passengers all seem to have disappeared – all apart from Jamie, who is in the toilet. He emerges bewildered and heads to investigate his surroundings, soon finding a store of miniaturised passengers hidden away in drawers. Ann returns and catches him snooping, sealing him in a closed room with two misshapen aliens.

The Doctor has worked out from the radar signals where the plane has gone. He confronts Meadows, whom he knows to be a duplicate. The Doctor threatens to remove the black armband Meadows wears, and Meadows, aware that this would cause his death, agrees to talk. He explains that his race was damaged by an explosion on their home world which removed their identities and doomed the species to extinction. They are now reliant on a scientific process of identity theft to sustain and extend their lives, and to this end his people are abducting fifty thousand humans. The originals are being stored in a spaceship above the Earth while the aliens take on their lives and existences. The Doctor uses Meadows to track down Nurse Pinto at the medical centre, but when she resists her armband is removed, disintegrating her and reviving the real Nurse Pinto. Samantha is set free and tells the Doctor that Jamie was on the last flight to disappear.

Jamie meets the Director of the aliens - the Chameleons - who has taken on the identity of Crossland. The Director says the plane is now heading back to Earth to collect the remaining Chameleons at the airport. The Doctor has meanwhile worked out which of the airport staff have been duplicated, but says their cover should not be blown lest the abductees be imperilled. The Commandant is given the task of finding their originals, who are hidden somewhere at the airport.

The Doctor pretends to be the alien Meadows, re-duplicated into the Doctor's form, while Nurse Pinto impersonates her own double. They board the last flight and are taken to the space station. Blade seeks out the Director to tell him that they have been infiltrated. A duplicate Jamie has been created, who, having the real Jamie's memories, provides the Chameleons with data on the Doctor, revealing that he has considerable powers and knowledge. Blade sends undisguised Chameleons to capture the Doctor and Pinto and bring them to the Director. The Doctor hints at the danger posed to the Chameleons whose originals are still on Earth - including Blade and Spencer. These two Chameleons are given the task of processing the Doctor and Nurse Pinto. The Doctor says the Commandant has found their originals, and that radio contact with Gatwick will confirm this. Spencer and Blade are concerned, but the Director, whose original is safe on-board the space station, cuts off communication with the airport. Meanwhile, Samantha has found the originals hidden in cars in the airport's car parks.

The Doctor and Pinto are linked to a duplicating machine. Before the transfer can begin, one of the Chameleons disintegrates, proving that the real staff have indeed been found. Blade and Spencer draw their weapons and stage a coup, fearing for their lives. A radio link with Gatwick confirms that the Commandant now has the real staff and he threatens to destroy more of the aliens unless the Doctor is released. Blade frees the Doctor, who negotiates a peace between the humans and the Chameleons. If all the humans miniaturised and frozen on the spacecraft are restored, the Chameleons will be spared. The Director and the fake Jamie try to reassert control but are killed by Blade and Spencer. Blade agrees to the Doctor’s terms, and together they track down the real Jamie and Crossland, both of whom revived when their duplicates perished. The planes are loaded with the freed humans, and the Doctor, Jamie and Nurse Pinto join the first flight while Crossland stays behind to keep an eye on the Chameleons.

Back in the airport, Jamie gets a kiss good-bye from Samantha, and then rejoins the Doctor, Ben and Polly. When Ben and Polly learn the date - July 20, 1966, the exact day they first left in the TARDIS - they decide to remain behind, and bid farewell to the Doctor and Jamie. After their friends depart, the Doctor reveals to Jamie that the TARDIS, which had been released from airport storage, appears to have been stolen.

Continuity

July 20, 1966, is noted as the busiest day for the Doctor in his time on Earth. The First Doctor
First Doctor
The First Doctor is the initial incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor William Hartnell from 1963 to 1966. Hartnell reprised the role in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors in 1973 - albeit in a...

 defeats the War Machines and WOTAN. As noted in the synopsis above the plans of the Chameleons have been foiled and the TARDIS has been stolen at the beginning of the Second Doctor and Jamie's adventure against the Daleks.

Production

  • Working titles for this story include The Chameleons.
  • This story had its origins in a planned Hartnell story by Hulke-Ellis called The Big Store, in which aliens occupied mannequins in a busy department store, while waiting for human hosts to possess. The idea was adapted for the Troughton era and its setting changed to a metropolitan airport.
  • Filmed on location at London Gatwick Airport
    London Gatwick Airport
    Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...

    . Heathrow
    London Heathrow Airport
    London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...

     also accepted the production team's offer, but the team chose Gatwick as the cost was lower. Doctor Who did film at Heathrow for Time-Flight
    Time-Flight
    Time-Flight is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 22 March to 30 March 1982...

    in 1982.
  • There is a fan myth that this was the first story to feature the Doctor's face in the opening credits (exact determination having been difficult due to the number of episodes missing from this era of the programme). In reality, it was The Macra Terror
    The Macra Terror
    The Macra Terror is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 March to 1 April 1967...

    that saw the debut of the new title sequence. However, the revised arrangement of the theme music
    Doctor Who theme music
    The Doctor Who theme is a piece of music composed by Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Created in 1963, it was one of the first electronic music signature tunes for television and after nearly five decades remains one of the most easily...

     that accompanied this new sequence made its debut in Episode 2 of The Faceless Ones.

Cast notes

  • Pauline Collins was offered the chance to continue playing the character of Sam Briggs (who appears only in this story) as a new companion, but declined the offer. Collins guest-starred, years later, as Queen Victoria
    Victoria of the United Kingdom
    Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

     in "Tooth and Claw
    Tooth and Claw (Doctor Who)
    "Tooth and Claw" is the second episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and was first broadcast on 22 April 2006. In 1879 Scotland, the Doctor and Rose meet Queen Victoria...

    ".
  • Bernard Kay appears as Inspector Crossland. He had previously appeared as Tyler in The Dalek Invasion of Earth
    The Dalek Invasion of Earth
    The Dalek Invasion of Earth is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from November 21 to December 26, 1964....

    and Saladin in The Crusade
    The Crusade (Doctor Who)
    The Crusade is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from March 27 to April 17, 1965. The story is set in Palestine, near Jerusalem, during the Third Crusade.-Plot:...

    . He later appeared as Caldwell in Colony in Space
    Colony in Space
    Colony in Space is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in 6 weekly parts from April 10 to May 15, 1971.- Synopsis :...

    .
  • Wanda Ventham and Donald Pickering would later star as husband and wife in Time and the Rani
    Time and the Rani
    Time and the Rani is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 September to 28 September 1987. This story was the first to feature Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. It also features the last appearance of the Sixth...

    . Pickering had previously appeared as Eyesen in The Keys of Marinus
    The Keys of Marinus
    The Keys of Marinus is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in 6 weekly parts from April 11 to May 16, 1964...

    and Ventham would go on to play Thea Ransom in Image of the Fendahl
    Image of the Fendahl
    Image of the Fendahl is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 29 October to 19 November 1977.-Plot:...

    .
  • Christopher Tranchell would return as Leela
    Leela (Doctor Who)
    Leela is a fictional character played by Louise Jameson in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Leela was a companion of the Fourth Doctor and a regular in the programme from 1977 to 1978...

    's love interest Andred in The Invasion of Time
    The Invasion of Time
    The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 4 February to 11 March 1978...

    and had previously appeared in the first Doctor serial The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
    The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
    The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 5 February to 26 February 1966...

    as Roger Colbert.

Missing episodes

  • Episodes one and three of this serial exist in the BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     archives.
  • In addition to the complete version, the archives hold an incomplete print of episode one, returned from ABC
    Australian Broadcasting Corporation
    The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

     in Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

     in the early 1980s. The Australian Film Censorship Board saw fit to remove the following scenes: Spencer killing Inspector Gascoigne with a Chameleon ray-gun; the alien arm emerging from the cupboard; and panning shots of the alien figure (seen only from behind) at the end of the episode.
  • Also, around 14 seconds of material is missing from Episode three, due to a damaged print, as stated above.

In print

A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks is an English writer, best known for his work in television and for writing a large number of popular children's books during the 1970s and 80s.- Early career :...

, was published by Target Books
Target Books
Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became well known for their highly successful range of...

 in December 1986.

VHS, DVD and CD releases

  • As with all missing episodes, off-air recordings of the soundtrack exist due to contemporary fan efforts. In February 2002 these were released on CD, accompanied by linking narration from Frazer Hines.
  • In 2003, Episodes one and three of this serial were released on VHS
    VHS
    The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

     by BBC Worldwide
    BBC Worldwide
    BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...

    .
  • In November 2004, they were included in the three-disc Lost in Time DVD set.

External links


Target novelisation

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK