The Nestene Consciousness is a cephalopod creature made of living plastic. The Nestenes originate from a distant planet that was destroyed during the Time War. Now the Nestenes seek a new home on Earth. The Doctor has encountered the Nestenes and their terrifying soldiers the Autons, plastic shop window dummies come to life. The Autons and the Nestene Consciousness have become one of the most iconic and recognisable Doctor Who monsters as they are a key example of how something everyday and mundane can be turned into something scary.

Spearhead from Space

★★★★★

TX: 03/01/1970 – 24/01/1970

Written by Robert Holmes    Directed by Derek Martinus

The newly regenerated Third Doctor has been exiled to Earth by the Time Lords and arrives during a meteor shower. The meteors are Nestene energy units which contain the essence of the Nestene Consciousness, a creature made of living plastic. U.N.I.T cordons off the wood where the meteorites fell and guard the TARDIS. The Doctor is brought to a nearby hospital to recover from his regeneration, which means that Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart does not recognise him. The Doctor uses a shower in which we see that he has a tattoo denoting that he is an exiled Time Lord. I have had sex in the shower with multiple women! Eventually, the Doctor manages to persuade the Brigadier that he is the same man who he worked with previously. The Doctor and his new scientific assistant, Cambridge-educated Liz Shaw set to work trying to rig a device to destroy the Nestene Consciousness. Meanwhile, Autons have been attacking U.N.I.T and some of the locals in the area. U.N.I.T and the Doctor investigate a nearby plastics factory, which contains hundreds of Autons and is presided over by Channing, a Nestene duplicate. An activation signal is sent and all over the country, plastic shop window dummies come to life and start attacking people. The Doctor confronts the Nestene and with Liz’s help he is able to use the device they made to emit a frequency powerful enough to destroy the Nestene Consciousness. The Brigadier offers the Doctor a position of scientific advisor to U.N.I.T with Liz as his assistant. The Doctor accepts this offer on the condition that firstly, he has a car and secondly, that he is referred to as Dr John Smith.

Terror of the Autons

★★★★★

TX: 02/01/1971 – 23/01/1971

Written by Robert Holmes    Directed by Barry Letts

The Third Doctor is given a new assistant, the ditzy and bubbly Jo Grant, by the Brigadier. U.N.I.T have been investigating a nearby circus and also a radio telescope. The Doctor fears that there is a connection between the two. Events take a turn for the worst when a visiting Time Lord reveals that the Doctor’s childhood friend and enemy, the Master – a rival Time Lord, has arrived on Earth. The Master is working for the Nestene Consciousness and he has enlisted the help of the circus troupe. The Master hypnotises Jo and influences her to plant a bomb in U.N.I.T HQ, but the Doctor breaks Jo’s trance and throws the bomb out of the window. The Autons capture the Doctor and Jo but the pair escape. Battle breaks out between U.N.I.T and the plastic Autons whilst the Doctor reasons with the Master on the radio telescope. The Doctor convinces the Master that the Nestene Consciousness is not his friend that it will dispose of him once his usefulness has expired. The Master and the Doctor disable the transmission signal emitting from the radio telescope and the Autons collapse. The Master escapes in the Circus van. The Doctor tells Jo, the Brigadier, Sergeant Benton and Captain Mike Yates that he is confident that they will encounter the Master again soon.

Rose

★★★★★

TX: 26/03/2005

Written by Russell T Davies   Directed by Keith Boak

The Ninth Doctor meets his new companion Rose Tyler after he blows up the department store in London where she works. The Autons, living plastic shop window dummies, had infiltrated the department store and the Doctor narrowly saved Rose from being killed by them. Rose returns to her boring normal life in a council estate with her mother Jackie and her boyfriend Mickey. Intrigued by the mysterious Doctor, Rose decides to research him online. She contacts Clive who informs her that the Doctor is a dangerous figure. Rose’s boyfriend Mickey is kidnapped by the living plastic and duplicated. The plastic duplicate of Mickey and Rose eat out at a restaurant before they encounter the Doctor again. The Doctor rescues Rose from the plastic Mickey and brings her to the safety of his TARDIS, his time and space machine. The Doctor traces the source of the signal controlling the living plastic to an underground base beneath the London Eye. A giant vat containing the Nestene Consciousness resides within. The Doctor gives the Nestene Consciousness a chance to leave before destroying the creature with some anti-plastic solution. However, the Autons restrain the Doctor whilst the terrified Nestene transmits the activation signal to all the Autons on Earth using the London Eye. Everywhere, Autons begin attacking humans in the streets. Rose’s mother Jackie narrowly avoids being killed by some Auton brides. Rose uses some gymnastics skills to defeat the Autons and knock the anti-plastic into the Nestene Consciousness. The Doctor, Rose and the real Mickey escape the ensuing destruction in the TARDIS. The Doctor offers Rose the chance to travel with him in the TARDIS and have further adventures together. Rose accepts this offer after the Doctor reveals that the TARDIS can travel in time as well as space. Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston both give incredible performances in this fantastic first episode. Eccleston is on the podium of Doctors!

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

★★★☆☆

TX: 19/06/2010 – 26/06/2010

Written by Steven Moffat    Directed by Toby Haynes

The Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond arrive at Stonehenge in 102 AD after following a trail of messages left for them by River Song. River is posing as Cleopatra as part of a Roman Legion stationed by Stonehenge. The Doctor, Amy and River discover an underhenge cave beneath Stonehenge, which contains the Pandorica – a legendary box built to contain the most feared thing in the entire universe. A corroded Cyberman was stationed as a sentry to protect the Pandorica. The mystery deepens when the Roman Legion is revealed to be a squad of plastic Autons, one of which is Amy’s fiancée Rory – back from the dead! An Alliance of the Doctor’s worst enemies, including the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Silurians and the Autons, have come together to imprison the Doctor inside the Pandorica. The Alliance have deduced that the cracks in time that the Doctor and Amy have witnessed throughout the universe are the result of the Doctor’s TARDIS exploding and they have therefore incarcerated him to prevent this from happening. However, the TARDIS explodes anyway with River inside, causing the universe to end.

In an alternate timeline, a young Amelia Pond dreams about the stars even though there are no longer any left in the sky due to the TARDIS exploding. The young Amelia receives a note telling her to go to the museum where the Pandorica is kept. It opens revealing the adult Amy inside, who was placed in there by Rory and the Doctor because the Pandorica has a restorative effect. Rory freed the Doctor using his sonic screwdriver given to him by a future version of the Doctor. The Roman Auton Rory guards the Pandorica for 2,000 years to protect Amy from harm. In the present day, the Doctor, Amy and Rory reunite with the young Amelia Pond in the museum. They get chased by a Dalek restored by the light of the Pandorica. The Doctor uses the vortex manipulator to go back and give Rory his screwdriver. As the universe continues to collapse, Amelia disappears. The Doctor discovers that the “sun” is the still-exploding TARDIS. River, trapped inside the TARDIS, is being kept alive in a time loop. The Doctor saves River. The Doctor creates a diversion for the Dalek, allowing him to rig the Pandorica to fly into the TARDIS explosion, using what exists of the original universe inside the Pandorica to create a second Big Bang. Before this, the Doctor instructs Amy to focus on her family and Rory to restore them in the new universe. The Doctor begins witnessing events in his life in reverse as the cracks in the universe close. The Doctor has to stay outside this new universe for that to happen. After a final goodbye to Amelia on the night they met, he enters the cracks and disappears. Amy wakes in her home in 2010 to discover that her parents and Rory have been brought back into existence. Amy and Rory celebrate their wedding day. At the reception, River leaves her diary for Amy which prompts Amy to recall the Doctor. She interrupts her father’s speech, imploring the Doctor to come to the wedding. The TARDIS and the Doctor appear at the reception. Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor explains to Amy and Rory that unanswered questions remain about the TARDIS explosion. The Doctor is sent an invitation to travel on the space Orient Express (Mummy on the Orient Express).