The Faceless Ones

And now on to one of my favourite Troughton adventures: "The Faceless Ones". The TARDIS materializes in the middle of Gatwick airport where Polly witnesses a murder. It transpires that Chameleon Tours, a seemingly normal company, is kidnapping their passengers and transferring their body shapes to their own bodies.

The Doctor and Jamie are the real stars here, and they bond over this story, solving the mystery and convincing the airport staff that they are telling the truth. The serial turns out to be fast paced, quite dark, with some great plot twists, and the story moving on at the perfect speed. Never a boring moment, and with some great location work. The shots of Gatwick really give this story scope and a sense of importance.

The sets and costumes are good too. Captain Blade and the other Chameleon crew are all dressed immaculately, and the commandant's costume helps show his character. Samantha also is interesting, with her 'regional' accent and modern dress sense. The sets themselves look the part, from the airport hangars to the immigration desks. Even the Chameleon Tours aeroplane interior looks authentic for the small amount of screen-time it receives. 

After a gripping adventure and an exciting end, the commandant gives the Doctor back his TARDIS, before Ben and Polly decide to leave the Doctor and get on with their lives. Sadly, Jamie accompanies the Doctor over to the TARDIS, where upon close inspection, it isn't the TARDIS at all, but just a plain old Police Box. The TARDIS has been stolen!