General Carrington was once a British astronaut, but during one trip into space his fellow crew members were killed by an alien race from Mars. Now a new mission to Mars has been launched. But all contact has been lost with Mars Probe 7 and the three astronauts aboard have been replaced with alien ambassadors that kill people they touch (The Ambassadors of Death). The Third Doctor, Liz Shaw and U.N.I.T are drafted in to help rescue the astronauts and capture the alien ambassadors. The Doctor uncovers a conspiracy by General Carrington to turn public opinion against the peaceful alien ambassadors because of his own personal bad experiences with them. Thankfully, the Doctor was able to unmask General Carrington and return the ambassadors peacefully to their spaceship in exchange for the human astronauts. The Third Doctor’s era of exile on Earth, working with U.N.I.T to defend the Home Counties from alien invasions, was inspired by Quatermass and the Pit, a cost-saving idea by Derrick Sherwin – the producer who cast Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. I grew up in Kent and spent most of my childhood and teenage years in the posh Home Counties where much of Classic Doctor Who was filmed and my hometown of Sevenoaks is one of the most Conservative constituencies in the UK. But, I hate the Tories! And I hate posh people! All of the conservative aspects of my life have been washed away by Doctor Who, the greatest show in the history of television! There is nothing remotely conservative in this website or in my life anymore. I don’t like Kent and I hate going back there.

The Ambassadors of Death

★★★★☆

TX: 21/03/1970 – 02/05/1970

Written by David Whitaker, Trevor Ray & Malcolm Hulke  Directed by Michael Ferguson

All radio contact has been lost with Mars Probe 7. The human astronauts aboard have been replaced with Martian alien ambassadors that kill people they touch. The Third Doctor, Liz Shaw and U.N.I.T are drafted in to recover the Mars Probe 7 capsule. Upon opening the capsule, the Doctor finds that the astronauts are not there and that the alien ambassadors have already been kidnapped by a third party. The third party in question is a group of mercenaries led by General Carrington. Carrington was once a British astronaut. However, during a previous mission to Mars, Carrington’s fellow astronauts were killed by the alien ambassadors. Now Carrington seeks to take revenge by turning public opinion against the peaceful ambassadors. The Doctor and Liz are captured several times and the Doctor learns the truth about the situation from the aliens themselves aboard their spaceship. The Doctor goes up in another recovery capsule where he finds the real human astronauts alive and well on the alien spaceship. The Doctor agrees to return to Earth, find the alien ambassadors and exchange them for the human astronauts. Back on Earth, the Doctor, Liz and U.N.I.T confront General Carrington moments before he can use a global broadcast to turn humanity against the alien ambassadors. The Doctor unmasks Carrington’s plot and subterfuge and he helps exchange the ambassadors for the human astronauts. Some plot elements of The Ambassadors of Death were reused for The Christmas Invasion, i.e. the Mars probe. The Ambassadors of Death was heavily influenced by the Lunar Apollo 13 rescue mission, which was ongoing at the time of the story’s transmission. I wish aliens would just come in peace for a change!