Latter - Day Pantheon The First Doctor encountered the Latter - Day Pantheon , a group of alien s in 1965 New York City . Nature and abilities . The Latter - Day Pantheon were completely controlled by the beliefs of the human s around them . They had no natural powers or personalities , but were shaped by what people believed they should be like . Even their true form ( either smoke or a puddles ) might be what people expected of them . When first discovered , the Latter - Day Pantheon shaped themselves to be god s in response to the general desire for higher powers to come and save mankind from itself , forming their goals and purpose on Earth from that point onwards . ( PROSE : " Salvation " ) History . At least two groups of these alien s came to Earth in 1965 . Though only one survived from the crash - landing in London — this one eventually travelling to New York City after its initial identity as Joseph , the God of Peace , was shaped by an encounter with Dodo Chaplet — five survived the crash in New York City . They were discovered by Alexander Lullington - Smythe , who tried to take advantage of their powers , claiming they were god s . Although the First Doctor initially believed that they were invading aliens , a conversation with Dodo and General Marchant — the head of Project Blue Book , a US government agency responsible for monitoring extra - terrestial activity on Earth — about their differing perceptions of Jennifer , the Goddess of Free Love , helped the Doctor realise what the Gods truly were . The problem was that the human inhabitants of New York City had far too many conflicting beliefs . This meant that the Latter - Day Pantheon had trouble deciding which ideas to follow , resulting in them becoming internally divided on issues such as the " inferiority " of the negro . The Doctor encouraged further dissent among their followers by provoking the Patriach into attacking him after Joseph stood up to him , the Doctor ' s faith in himself outweighing the current audience ' s belief in the Patriach . Eventually , they decided to end the Vietnam War , but they were stopped by the US Army before they could finish with their plan . The Doctor convinced Marchant that they would become too powerful if they went public . On the Doctor ' s advice , the army drove the Gods off by dropping a dud bomb on them ; although the bomb wouldn ' t actually hurt anyone , the gods ' remaining followers believed that it could hurt the Gods , and so they were forced to retreat . ( PROSE : " Salvation " ) Aftermath . In November 1980 , a science fiction film entitled " Prey for a Miracle " , which was inspired by these events , was released . The film ' s screenplay was based on Lullington - Smythe ' s book " How I Saved the World " which was published by Aphrodite Press in 1976 and was " very publicly discredited " in 1978 . This led to the production of the film being shelved for over a year . A film critic for the magazine " Film in Focus " commented that upon the film ' s release that it was far from being the " rational , methodical investigation into the events of 1965 " which was required . He criticised the film ' s director , a newcomer named Anthony Jones for buying " wholesale into notions of alien shape - changers and government conspiracies , " which resulted in the film devolving into a B - movie . The veteran science fiction and horror star Peter Cushing played the lead role of " the mysterious government adviser , Doctor Who , " a character loosely based on the Doctor . However , the critic noted that Cushing ' s " endearingly eccentric professor [ was ] as fictional as the rest of " Prey for a Miracle " " as what little was known about the real life " Doctor " suggested that he was " a shadowy , manipulative figure . " ( PROSE : " Salvation " )