10 Greatest Classic Doctor Who Stories

Shop window dummies coming to life and a wax museum full of corpses. Legendary writer Robert Holmes kicks off his horror movie version of Doctor Who in earnest with his first bonafide classic, Spearhead from Space.

Spearhead took the alien invasion blueprint established by The War Machines and added a terrifying extension out of living plastic. The fact that it's all shot on film certainly works in its favor, as it adds a real cinematic sheen to Jon Pertwee's debut serial.

This is a very different show to the family sci-fi adventure serial that had aired just one year earlier. As Doctor Who shot in colour for the first time, viewers could see the whites of the Autons' victims' eyes, and the crimson blood of an unfortunate UNIT soldier.

Without Spearhead from Space, we wouldn't have Russell T Davies' Doctor Who, so influential was this 1970s period on RTD's vision. The recognisable locations, the flashes of abject horror, the focus on everyday people, and the goofy jokes. All of those elements are present in Spearhead from Space in their purest and freshest forms.

Doctor Who was on the brink of cancellation before this story, but it's still here 53 years later. That alone guarantees it a top ten place!