Terror of the Autons ( TV story ) Terror of the Autons was the first story of season 8 of " Doctor Who " . It was notable for being a " gentle reboot " of the Jon Pertwee era , offering a number of elements which would remain prevalent for the next three seasons . It marked the debut of three new recurring characters : Jo Grant , Captain Mike Yates and the Master . Jo became the Doctor ' s new companion , while the Master made himself the most persistent archenemy of the Doctor for the remainder of this season and a major antagonist long after his first appearance . Furthermore , it was the first story in which John Levene , playing Sgt . Benton , was given an annual contract , rather than employment as a day player . It also introduced what became UNIT ' s standard , green uniforms — the replacements for what Barry Letts disparagingly called the " chocolates " of season 7 — and a new UNIT laboratory which was used by the Third Doctor until the end of his exile . It also featured the first return of the Auton s since their debut in season 7 and the first direct contact between the Doctor and his people since the end of season 6 . It was one of very few stories — and the first since " The Tomb of the Cybermen " in 1967 — in which each new episode drew more viewers than the one that had preceded it . Finally , it was also the only televised " Doctor Who " story to be at least partially adapted as a non - satirical comic strip , in DWM 164 . The Autons and the Nestenes did not appear on television again until " Rose " , the first episode of the revived series , in 2005 . Synopsis . The Earth is endangered by a renegade Time Lord known as , who steals a dormant Nestene energy unit from a museum . He reactivates it using the facilities of a radio telescope , then uses his hypnotic abilities to take control of a small plastics manufacturer , Farrel Autoplastics , where he organises the production of deadly Auton artefacts , including plastic doll s , chair s and daffodil s . The Master has an evil scheme to destroy humanity and to silence his old foe , the Doctor , forever . He plans to awaken the awesome power of the Nestenes , a ruthlessly aggressive alien life form . The Nestenes can control anything made of plastic , including killer Autons : plastic mannequins , faceless but possessing a shared consciousness . The Autons form an army of invasion , easily controlled by the Master himself . This is the terrible threat facing Earth — the terror of the Autons . Aided by the Brigadier , and by new companion Jo Grant , only the Third Doctor can combat their evil power , but first he must defeat the Master . . . Plot . Episode one . International Circus manager Luigi Rossini ( real name Lew Russell ) witnesses a horsebox materialise out of thin air in a field near his Big Top . Out steps , who quickly overpowers him by hypnosis . He enlists Rossini to help him steal a Nestene energy unit ( left over from the previous invasion ) from the National Space Museum . Liz Shaw has returned to Cambridge , having decided the Doctor doesn ' t really need her , so the Brigadier assigns UNIT trainee Josephine Grant as the Time Lord ' s new assistant . She immediately makes a bad first impression , by extinguishing a small fire on the Doctor ' s lab bench , thereby ruining six months work on his malfunctioning dematerialisation circuit . Dismayed at her lack of qualifications , he insists that the Brigadier reassign her . The Brigadier concedes , but only if the Doctor will tell her himself . The Doctor attempts to fire her , but faced with Jo ' s kindly and innocent disposition , he is unable to bring himself to do so . The Master infiltrates a deep space radio telescope at Beacon Hill , overpowering Professor Philips and his assistant , Goodge . He connects the stolen energy unit to the telescope and uses it to channel power from the Nestene Consciousness in space into the surviving unit . Investigating the theft of the energy unit and the disappearance of the scientists , the Doctor arrives at the radio telescope . Outside the control tower , a Time Lord arrives , " inconspicuously " , dressed in a discrete suit and bowler hat but hovering in mid - air , to warn the Doctor of the Master ' s arrival on Earth and alert him to a booby trap inside the door he is about to open . His warning delivered , the Time Lord vanishes . Disarming the trap , the Doctor opens Goodge ' s lunchbox , only to find his shrunken corpse inside . At a small plastics factory , production manager James McDermott confronts the owner , young Rex Farrel , about the mysterious Colonel Masters and the new line of products he has commissioned them to manufacture . The Doctor realises that the Master is in league with the Nestenes , and the Brigadier ( based on previous experience of their methods ) obtains a list of nearby plastics factories . Jo is assigned to investigate some of these , including Farrel Autoplastics . On arrival , she is quickly discovered by the Master and hypnotised . She returns to UNIT with a crate that apparently once contained the Nestene energy unit , but as she begins to unpadlock it , the Doctor realises it ' s a bomb and shouts for Yates and Benton to stop her . But Jo is determined to open it . . . Episode two . The Doctor throws the crate through the window , into the river , moments before it explodes . At the plastics factory , McDermott confronts the Master about his interference with production . The Master invites him to sit in one of their new products , a self - inflating plastic chair , which comes alive and smothers him . Rex Farrel is impressed with its effectiveness , but the Master realises that they should explore smaller products , noting that a simpler plastic device could kill humans with more efficiency . At UNIT headquarters , the Doctor frees Jo from the Master ' s control . She can remember very little about what happened to her , but the Doctor realises the bomb must have been the work of the Master . However , Jo cannot even recall at which factory she met him , due to the amnesia induced by the post - hypnotic suggestion . The factory ' s retire d owner , the elder Mr Farrel , is very upset over the death of Mr McDermott , who Rex claims had suddenly died while trying out the plastic chair and at the presence of " Colonel Masters . " When an attempt at hypnotising Farrel senior fails , the Master surreptitiously turns his car ' s heater to its hottest setting , then gives Farrel a new sample product , a demonic - looking plastic doll that is activated by heat , flinging it on the back seat as Farrel leaves . The doll suddenly comes to life , as the heater warms the car ' s interior , but Farrel takes notice of the heat and shuts it off , causing the doll to become dormant again . However , at his home he leaves it near a radiator . The doll comes to life a second time and kills him , lunging at his throat with its fangs . His wife screams when she happens upon his murder ed body . Sergeant Benton locates the missing Professor Philips ' car , and the subsequent enquiries lead UNIT to Rossini ' s circus . The Doctor insists on investigating it personally , despite the Brigadier ' s offer of an escort . Jo is ordered to remain at HQ . However , eager to prove she ' s not as useless as advertised , Jo hides in Bessie , the Doctor ' s vintage car , and so accompanies him without his knowledge . At the circus , the Doctor investigates the Master ' s TARDIS , which is disguised as a horsebox , but he is quickly captured by Rossini ; the Master left Professor Philips at the circus to lure the Doctor there . Meanwhile , trying to find the Doctor , Jo sees Professor Philips . She telephones the Brigadier at HQ , who tells her to stay put until he arrives . But Jo again disobeys and goes to find the Doctor . The circus strongman , Tony , is menacing him inside a trailer , but Jo sneaks into the trailer and knocks Tony out by shattering a vase on his head . The Doctor is upset that Jo didn ' t listen to him , but she points out that he needed her to rescue him . Professor Philips , under the Master ' s hypnosis , enters , holding a grenade . The Doctor attempts to reason with him , knowing Philips is still on some level trying to resist doing something against his nature . Philips breaks loose from the trance and tries to abandon the grenade outside , but it detonates , killing him . The Doctor and Jo find the Master ' s TARDIS ( still disguised as a horsebox ) but are confronted by an angry mob of circus employees led by Rossini . Rossini furiously accuses the Doctor of robbing the caravan and killing one of the circus hands with a bomb . He clubs the Doctor over the head before he can react , and the mob swarm toward him and Jo . They are rescued by an arriving police car . The Brigadier and Captain Yates arrive at the circus moments later , see what is happening , and follow them . But instead of being taken back to town , the Doctor and Jo arrive in a remote quarry . The Doctor , suspicions aroused , asks to see the officer ' s warrant card and is met with blank eyes . He peels off a face mask and reveals that the " policemen " are Autons in disguise . . . Episode three . The Doctor struggles with the two Autons , causing the car to crash . He and Jo escape from the car , only to be relentlessly hunted through the quarry by the Autons . But the Brigadier and Captain Yates arrive and rescue them . Back at his lab , the Doctor replaces his non - functional dematerialisation circuit with the one he has stolen from the Master ' s TARDIS , but they are incompatible . The Doctor ' s frustration abates when he realises that , as long as he has the Master ' s circuit , the Master , too , is trapped on Earth . Meanwhile , the Master is pleased by the factory ' s latest product , a realistic - looking plastic daffodil . The Autons , now wearing enormous carnival masks and matching yellow suits as an impenetrable disguise , tour the countryside handing out thousands of these daffodils to the general public . The Brigadier is alerted to a rash of unexplained deaths all over England . Jo ' s memory is jogged by the mention of Mr Farrel among the casualties . They meet his grieving widow and take away the hideous doll for examination . Meanwhile , a mysterious telephone engineer ( actually the Master in disguise ) replaces the cord on the Doctor ' s lab telephone . It seems the Doctor has simply ordered a longer flex because he paces about whilst on the phone , but the repairman ' s behaviour suggests otherwise . The Doctor and the Brigadier investigate the now - abandoned plastics factory and discover a leftover plastic daffodil ( and narrowly elude a killer Auton ) . Meanwhile , Jo and Captain Yates accidentally reactivate the doll with the heat from the Doctor ' s Bunsen burner , which they have borrowed to make cocoa . The doll attacks Jo , but Yates shoots it to pieces with his sidearm . The Master telephones the Doctor in his lab . The Doctor asks what he wants . The Master has simply called to say goodbye . He activates a signal device , and the Doctor ' s newly installed plastic telephone cord comes to life . It wraps itself around his throat and starts squeezing the life out of him . . . Episode four . The Brigadier hears the Doctor shouting for help and pulls the phone cable from the wall , cutting off the signal . The Doctor reminds the Brigadier that the Nestenes can put life into anything made of plastic . Then , examining the daffodil , the Doctor and Jo accidentally discover that it ' s activated by radio waves . The daffodil sprays an asphyxiating plastic film over Jo ' s nose and mouth , but the Doctor removes it in time to prevent suffocation . They realise the daffodils are to be activated by a signal from the Radio Telescope ; the wave of unexplained deaths were shortwave radio users who activated the daffodils prematurely . Although he now knows the cause of the deaths , the Doctor is puzzled by the fact that plastic film was not found on any of the bodies . On a hunch , he breaths on the plastic , and it shortly dissolves away into nothing . The carbon dioxide expelled from the dying victim ' s lungs acted to remove the evidence of murder . Moments later , a voice greets the Doctor from the lab stairwell . He turns around to face his old enemy . The Master trains his Tissue Compression Eliminator on the Doctor , ready to shrink him to death . The Doctor shows that he is holding the Master ' s dematerialisation circuit , which will be destroyed if he fires . Jo breaks the stalemate when she blurts out that UNIT has identified the Autons ' whereabouts and are planning an airstrike . The Master alters his plan , kidnapping them and taking them to the quarry as hostages , to prevent the airstrike . The Brigadier and Benton see this and cancel the strike just in time . But Jo now impresses the Doctor with her skills at escapology . While the Autons are holding off a UNIT force led by Yates and Benton , the Doctor and the Brigadier confront the Master in the radio telescope control room where he hopes to open a channel for the Nestene invasion force . But the Doctor convinces the Master that he ' ll be expendable once the Nestenes arrive . Together they reverse the radio signal , expelling the force into deep space . With the signal cut off , the Autons collapse . Unfortunately , the Doctor and the Brigadier are overcome by feedback , and when they recover the Master has fled . The Master escapes to the coach the Autons have been using . Cornered by UNIT troops , he emerges with his hands up . The Doctor warns the Brigadier the untrustworthy Master is trying to trick them . He feints a surrender , but draws his tissue compression eliminator . Captain Yates shoots him dead . The dubious Doctor examines the body and reveals it is actually Rex Farrel , disguised by a latex facemask . He was hypnotised to be a scapegoat and callously thrown to the wolves . The real Master escapes in the coach . UNIT later find the abandoned coach , but of the Master there is no sign . Jo suggests he has left Earth . But the Doctor has outsmarted him , having actually handed him the faulty dematerialisation circuit from the Doctor ' s own TARDIS , keeping the Master ' s . Now that both he and the Master are stranded on Earth , the Doctor admits that he will rather be looking forward to their next meeting . Home video releases . DVD release . This story was released as " Doctor Who : Terror of the Autons " Released : Special features : Notes : It was released as issue 101 of " Doctor Who DVD Files " . Digital releases . This story is available :