Spearhead from Space [TV/1970.1.3 ~ 1.24]

★★★★☆

  Wouldn't it have been fantastic to have the entirety of Season 7 shot in 16mm film? The details and film grain on HD are intoxicatingly good; plus, shooting on film gives a serial (or anything, for that matter) a unique tone and color that I enjoy tremendously. This season is already one of my favorites from the televised series, but imagining The Ambassadors of Death and Inferno as remastered 4K scans means almost too much giddiness to handle. Oh well. The more naff (albeit charmingly so) effects of those stories would've stuck out more on clear film, I suppose.

  Spearhead from Space is immediately striking for several reasons, and not just the fact that it was the first serial to be shot in colour. It's Jon Pertwee's first stint at Doctor Who, of course, and not only is he drastically different from Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor, he's also immediately confident in his own incarnation. I've always held the notion that only a few actors to have played the Doctor were comfortable in their own shoes in their first serial/episode; Jon Pertwee is a shining example of this, sporting a demanding screen presence and delivering his lines with utter confidence. It helps that both Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney are on par with Pertwee's talents, providing viewers with an electrifying trio for the season onwards.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Spearhead from Space is a serial that demands repeat viewings. From the brilliant direction from Derek Martinus (tracking shots and snappy handheld, oh my) to the terrifying introduction of the Autons and the Nestene Consciousness, almost nothing is out of order and practically every element works with one another like clockwork. I've watched this thing countless times and I'm willing to watch it all over again on a whim.