The Sensorites

007 – The Sensorites
Doctor Who serial
Two of the eponymous aliens as they appear in the serial
Cast
Doctor William Hartnell (First Doctor)
Companions Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman) Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright) William Russell (Ian Chesterton)
Others Stephen Dartnell — John Ilona Rodgers — Carol Lorne Cossette — Maitland John Bailey — Commander Martyn Huntley — First Human Giles Phibbs — Second Human Ken Tyllsen — First Sensorite/First Scientist Joe Greig — Second Sensorite/Second Scientist/Warrior Peter Glaze — Third Sensorite/City Administrator Arthur Newall — Fourth Sensorite Eric Francis — First Elder Bartlett Mullins — Second Elder Anthony Rogers, Gerry Martin — Sensorites
Production
Directed by	Mervyn Pinfield (episodes 1-4) Frank Cox (episodes 5-6)
Written by	Peter R. Newman
Script editor	David Whitaker
Produced by	Verity Lambert Mervyn Pinfield (associate producer)
Executive producer(s)	None
Incidental music composer	Norman Kay
Production code	G
Series	Season 1
Length	6 episodes, 25 minutes each
Date started	20 June 1964
Date ended	1 August 1964
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → The Aztecs The Reign of Terror
List of Doctor Who serials

The Sensorites

Author	Nigel Robinson
Cover artist	Nick Spender
Series	Doctor Who book: Target novelisations
Release number	118
Publisher	Target Books
Publication date	February 1987 (Hardback) 16 July 1987 (Paperback)
ISBN

The Sensorites is the seventh serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 20 June to 1 August 1964. The story is notable for its demonstration of Susan's telepathy and its references to the Doctor's and her home planet.

The TARDIS travellers land on a moving spaceship and find the crew apparently dead. However, one of the crew members, Captain Maitland, regains consciousness and Ian Chesterton fully revives him and another woman, Carol Richmond. These two tell the travellers that they are on an exploration mission from Earth and are orbiting Sense-Sphere. However, its inhabitants, the Sensorites, refuse to let them leave orbit. The Sensorites visit and stop the travellers from leaving, while sending them on a collision course, which the Doctor diverts. The travellers then meet John (whose mind has been broken by the Sensorites) and find out that he is Carol's fiancé.

Returning to plague the crew, the Sensorites freeze Carol and Maitland once more. The Doctor breaks Maitland's mental conditioning, but cannot help John. Susan's telepathic mind is flooded with the many voices of the Sensorites who remain scared of the humans and are trying to communicate with her. Meanwhile, the Doctor works out that the Sensorites attacked the human craft because John, a mineralogist, had discovered a vast supply of molybdenum on Sense-Sphere. Susan reports that the Sensorites want to make contact with travellers, asking the crew to go aboard Sense-Sphere and reveal that a previous Earth expedition caused them great misery. The Doctor refuses but Susan, under duress, agrees and begins to leave the ship.

The Doctor deduces that the Sensorites need plenty of light, so Ian reduces the lighting on the ship, rendering the Sensorites helpless and rescuing Susan. The Doctor then asks the Sensorites to return his lock, and is invited to go to Sense-Sphere to speak with the leader. Susan, Ian, Carol and John join him, while Barbara and Maitland stay behind. John is promised that his condition will be reversed. On their journey to Sense-Sphere, the party learn that the previous visitors from Earth exploited Sense-Sphere for its wealth, then argued. Half of them stole the spacecraft, which exploded on take-off.