"Well, in view of the facts that I’ve already presented - the ray gun, this pen and one or two other things - I think we’re dealing with people who are not from this planet."
Episode 35: The Faceless Ones.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Polly Wright, Ben Jackson and Jamie McCrimmon.
Air Date: Four episodes. 8th April to 13th May 1967.
The TARDIS arrives on Earth in July, 1966, on a runway at Gatwick airport. Polly witnesses a murder in a nearby hangar and is then kidnapped by the perpetrator, Spencer of Chameleon Tours. Ben also vanishes. The Second Doctor and Jamie are left to convince the sceptical airport Commandant there has been foul play.
Only the first part of this story currently survives. I have been able to watch that one episode and I am sad to say that it was pretty terrible, in script/story, acting and special effects. A real shame as the idea behind this one has potential I am sure. The story is based around a sort of invasion by the alien Faceless Ones who for some strange reason lost their identities in a "gigantic explosion" on their home planet, a condition that if not treated leads to death. To deal with this, they abduct people from other worlds and steal their faces. All of which sounds somewhat absurd to me. To make the concept of the story worse, the Doctor doesn't even defeat them. He's just nice to them basically and says that he has some ideas to help if they stop abducting people.
This story sees Ben and Polly leave as they have found themselves back home in London around the time that they left to travel with the Doctor in the first place. Having not really seen much of them due to lost episodes it is hard to rate them companions.
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