Doctor Who: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Autons
5. The Autons Almost Got Doctor Who Banned
One of Doctor Who's creepiest antagonists, it wouldn't be long until the Autons found themselves as evidence that the show was 'too scary for kids'.
When taking over as script editor in the 1970s, Terrance Dicks relished in his role of terrifying kids and 'sending them behind the sofa'. After public outcry from the conclusion of the Third Doctor's first serial Spearhead from Space - shop mannequins coming to life and gunning down helpless bystanders - Dicks considered his job done. He had created terrifying and instantly iconic TV.
The Autons are a prime example of Doctor Who's ability to make audiences fear everyday objects - from the sink plungers of the Daleks to the gas mask of the Empty Child. However, the threat of household objects and fake authority figures would ultimately land the show in hot water.
After 1971's Terror of the Autons included a police officer being unmasked as an Auton, promptly launched off a cliff and simply get back up again, the programme's content came into question in the UK's House of Lords. Claiming this to be a step too far and the show to be far too frightening and immoral for children, Baroness Alice Bacon suggested banning the show to her peers. Also suggested was a careful moderation of what could be shown to children.
A media storm followed, but the Doctor Who production team saw this as good publicity. In fact, the ratings for the show even went up in light of the news.
Doctor Who would be further criticised in 1976 by reactionist Mary Whitehouse when The Deadly Assassin's Part Three cliffhanger depicted the Fourth Doctor being drowned by Chancellor Goth. Demanding that the scene was too terrifying for children, and citing other examples including Terror of the Autons, Whitehouse got her wish and the episode's cliffhanger was heavily edited. Doctor Who from then on would be more closely monitored.