The Faceless Ones


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The Faceless Ones

Serial Code


First Transmitted

8 April 1967

Final ratings







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Regular Cast

Patrick Troughton (Dr Who), Micheal Craze (Ben), Anneke Wills (Polly), Frazer Hines (Jamie)

Guest Cast

James Appleby (Policeman) [1], Colin Gordon (Commandant), George Selway (Meadows) [1-3,5-6], Wanda Ventham (Jean Rock), Victor Winding (Spencer), Peter Whitaker (Inspector Gascoigne) [1], Donald Pickering (Blade), Christopher Tranchell (Jenkins) [1-2,4-6], Madalena Nicol (Nurse Pinto) [2,4-6], Bernard Kay (Crossland) [2-6], Pauline Collins (Samantha Briggs) [2-6], Gilly Fraser (Ann Davidson) [2-6], Brigit Paul (Announcer) [2,4], Barry Wilsher (Heslington) [3-6], Michael Ladkin (R.A.F. Pilot) [4], Leonard Trolley (Supt. Reynolds) [6].


Written by David Ellis/Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Gerry Mill
Produced by Innes Lloyd


The TARDIS makes a hazardous return to 1960s Earth, materialising on a runway at Gatwick Airport. The Doctor and his friends realise that all is not well when Polly witnesses a murder, and then both she and Ben vanish. The authorities refuse to take the matter seriously – but when Polly reappears, why does she claim not to recognise her friends? Aided by the plucky Samantha Briggs, and helped and hindered by Inspector Crossland of Scotland Yard and the airport Commandant, The Doctor and Jamie piece together a number of clues. A sequence of mysterious events seems to centre around Chameleon Tours, whose package holidays are designed to entice young people to foreign shores. Just how far-flung are the horizons they offer, and why are none of their passengers coming back? Who are the faceless ones, and what hideously deformed creatures are involved in the operations being conducted at the airport medical centre?

The Doctor believes thereís a connection between Chameleon Tours and the odd behaviour of key airport personnel – but in seeking to prove his theory, and rescue Ben and Polly, he becomes embroiled in a plot to steal the identities of thousands of young people.


  1. Episodes 2, 4, 5 and 6 are missing, but audio recordings and telesnaps exist. The soundtrack has been released as part of the BBC Radio Collection. 
  2. Final appearance for Ben and Polly
  3. Episodes 1 and 3 have been released on the second tape of The Reign of Terror video set.
  4. A short clip from Episode 2 is known to exist. It is from a reel of 8mm film shot at a TV screen. 
  5. Novelised as Doctor Who – The Faceless Ones by Terrance Dicks. 
  6. The scripts of the missing episodes are available on the Scripts Project page
  7. A photonovel of the story is available on the BBC Doctor Who website
  8. Fan-produced photovideo reconstructions of the missing episodes have been made Joint Venture and by Loose Cannon Productions
  9. Doctor Who Magazine Archive: Issue #213.
  10. Order the DVD in the BBC DVD Guide

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