Science FictionDramaAdventure

Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death

Astronauts rescued from a mission to mars are kidnapped when they arrive back on earth. They seem to have been irradiated, and can now kill people merely by touching them. But the Doctor discovers the astronauts have been replaced with Alien ambassadors who are being forced to behave in a hostile manner. With The Doctor traveling to the alien mother ship, and Liz kidnapped, The Brigadier is left wondering who to trust.

Release Date : 1970-05-02

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : BBC

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : The Doctor

Original Name : Jon Pertwee

Gender : Male

Character Name : Liz Shaw

Original Name : Caroline John

Gender : Female

Character Name : Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

Original Name : Nicholas Courtney

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ralph Cornish

Original Name : Ronald Allen

Gender : Male

Character Name : Carrington

Original Name : John Abineri

Gender : Male

Character Name : Taltalian

Original Name : Robert Cawdron

Gender : Male

Character Name : John Wakefield

Original Name : Michael Wisher

Gender : Male

Character Name : Miss Rutherford

Original Name : Cheryl Molineaux

Gender : Male

Character Name : Grey

Original Name : Ray Armstrong

Gender : Male

Character Name : Collinson

Original Name : Robert Robertson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Van Lyden / Alien Ambassador

Original Name : Ric Felgate

Gender : Male

Character Name : Quinlan

Original Name : Dallas Cavell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Control Room Assistant

Original Name : Bernard Martin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dobson

Original Name : John Moreno

Gender : Male

Character Name : Corporal Champion

Original Name : James Haswell

Gender : Male

Character Name : UNIT Sergeant

Original Name : Derek Ware

Gender : Male

Character Name : Reegan

Original Name : William Dysart

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lennox

Original Name : Cyril Shaps

Gender : Male

Character Name : Heldorf

Original Name : Gordon Sterne

Gender : Male

Character Name : Alien Ambassador / Lefee

Original Name : Steve Peters

Gender : Male

Character Name : Alien Ambassador / Michaels

Original Name : Neville Simons

Gender : Male

Character Name : UNIT Soldier

Original Name : Max Faulkner

Gender : Male

Character Name : Masters

Original Name : John Lord

Gender : Male

Character Name : Flynn

Original Name : Tony Harwood

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sergeant Benton

Original Name : John Levene

Gender : Male

Character Name : Private Parker

Original Name : James Clayton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Control Room Assistant

Original Name : Joanna Ross

Gender : Female

Character Name : Control Room Assistant

Original Name : Carl Conway

Gender : Male

Character Name : Technician

Original Name : Roy Scammell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Alien Space Captain

Original Name : Peter Noel Cook

Gender : Male

Character Name : Aliens' Voices

Original Name : Peter Halliday

Gender : Male

Character Name : Private Johnson

Original Name : Geoffrey Beevers

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-08-26

The "Brigadier" (Nicholas Courtney) is having trouble contacting the returning Mars probe so drafts in the "Doctor" (Jon Pertwee) and "Miss Shaw" (Caroline John) to try and get to the bottom of the mystery. With a bit of help from the space centre director "Cornish" (Ronald Allen) he quickly concludes that there is some extra-terrestrial shenanigans going on - especially when the crew do, eventually, arrive and seem to need enormous amounts of radiation in order to survive. A return trip to space to retrace their steps seems to be in order, but there appears to be an uncanny number of obstacles being thrown in the path of his scientific investigations. Is there someone on the inside who knows more than they are letting on - and is there an ulterior motive? This is another rather plodding seven-parter that takes it's time to get going, and when it does all rather underwhelms. It's fairly obvious who the antagonists are from episode three and until the tail end of the series, there's not really enough action happening. Director Michael Ferguson clearly hadn't the budget, or the notion, for special effects and this comes across as merely an half-decent murder mystery, with an underlying moral message, that only has a very slight sci-fi influence. It's not really a time-travelling adventure for "Dr. Who" with a solid story for us to get our teeth into. I'm still struggling to warm to "Shaw" too - though her role here is somewhat third wheel to Courtney's - and the military's - more prominent ones and to be honest I found this just a little bit of a wordy slog.