The Life and Times of A Doctor Who Dummy : My Part In His Second Regeneration The Life and Times of a Doctor Who Dummy or Doctor Who : My Part In His Second Regeneration is an autobiography released by Robin Squire detailing more of his time before and after he became a Doctor Who Auton in Jon Pertwee ' s very first story " Spearhead from Space " . Publisher ' s summary . " The Life and Times of a Doctor Who Dummy " or " Doctor Who : My Part In His Second Regeneration " is Robin Squire ' s personal time - travel journey sans Tardis , revisiting the densely - packed years 1965 - 69 which he began by hitch - hiking to the South of France , meeting other freewheeling youth along the way and experiencing , among other things , Beatlemania at first hand in an echoing public hall in Nice , from which , as he puts it , his head is still ringing from the screams . Squire returned to a vibrant " swinging " London of psychedelia , bedsits , mini - skirted " birds " and a house shared with other lads near the Portobello Road , watched on black and white TV with an anguished German girl as England kicked the daylights out of her country ' s team in the 1966 World Cup , wrote and had his debut novel ( about the pop scene ) published , was interviewed on radio by a young DJ called Terry Wogan , became a husband and father for the first time and , as a crazy consequence of all of which , found himself , much to his surprise , attached to BBC TV on a show called " Doctor Who " , which at the time was falling from favour with BBC executives and in urgent need of a re - boot . In its humble and always modest way , Squire ' s was one of the boots applied . His position as " Doctor Who " director ' s helper in what was to be the first colour transmission of the programme , " Spearhead From Space " , and the only serial of the Time Lord ever made entirely on film , found him also pressed into service as the main monster , known as an Auton , for special close - ups while away on location during a BBC studio strike , becoming thereby the first Doctor Who alien ever to appear in colour on television . Throughout the shoot Squire was also the unit driver and general gofer , all of which provided a rich hoard of material to work on . He is a natural raconteur , drawing on his diaries and memories with insight and humour to weave anecdotes about colleagues on both sides of the camera , including his boyhood hero Jon Pertwee , director Derek Martinus , Terrance Dicks , Derek Sherwin , Peter Grimwade , Christine Rawlins , Stan Spiel , Nicholas Courtney , Caroline John and other " Doctor Who " greats , including Tom Baker who he met later and worked with in an easy - to - miss - if - you - blink role on " Logopolis " , as well as appearing in extremely small but what he likes to think of as beautifully formed parts in " The Daemons " , " Full Circle " and others . In pursuit of a screenwriter ' s life he once found himself alone with John Hurt for half an hour and had an enforced yet ultimately delightful impromptu chat with this extraordinary man and actor , and briefly came face to face with Richard Burton during the filming of Under Milk Wood , upon which the great Welshman gave him no more than a passing glare , yet the astonishing thing Burton then did has always intrigued him greatly . In fact it still intrigues him , so he mentions it in the book . As well as developing his career as screenwriter and novelist , Squire appeared as a " walk - on " or " extra " in most of the best - known British TV dramas , serials , series and sitcoms of the era . His book is a fascinating read for everyone interested in Doctor Who , the Sixties ' pop scene , the process of making television programmes , and British television since 1965 . Don ' t expect a dry documentary - style blow - by - blow account of those now classic times , the narrative is more impressionistic than graphically detailed , always entertaining , and an insightful look in sparkling colour at the life and times of a dreamy salesman , destined to be a writer , who found himself playing an animated dummy of sinister intentions in what has since become one of the most hugely successful television programmes of all time . External links . http : / / www . robinsquire . com / my - books / doctorwho - dummy /