Army of the Nestenes

Army of the Nestenes is the fifth episode of the first season of the BloodLoomis Productions Lego Doctor Who Series which was first uploaded on 8th December 2015. It is the second of a two-part story, which began with 'The Plastain Operation'.

In the episode, the Doctor, Jess and Baxton unite to try and stop Dr Sarker's plan of a takeover of the Vanguard. It is revealed that his Plastain serum has the capability to transform anyone who has it in their system into an Auton, as part of a plan for creating a new army for the Nestenes.

Plot
The needle is about to reach Jess, but the Doctor rushes in with the device he went to retrieve and activates it. The serum escapes and slithers away. Sarker threatens the Doctor before letting him run off with Jess. He contacts his Autons to kill them both. The Doctor and Jess head to the bar to find Baxton, who's drowning his sorrows after realising he is the most incompetent spy ever. They manage to instil a bit of confidence in him again, and the trio set off to find Hank.

They find Hank and the four head through the vents back to the chamber they found. Once inside, the Doctor finds a number of stasis pods containing sleeping Autons. Sarker surprises them and explains that he was once an ordinary plastic surgeon before coming into contact with one of the Nestenes' energy units, which bonded with him, forming a human/Nestene hybrid. He invented the serum and set up shop on the Vanguard, drawing guests in to provide test subjects. He stored the Autons in the chamber. The Doctor tries to use the device to kill Sarker, but Hank breaks it, revealing himself to be a facsimile. Sarker revives the Autons and activates the devices he put in the vents.

A signal relayed through the vents reacts with the Plastain inside each patient on the Vanguard, turning them into Autons, who kill all unaffected visitors. The new Autons make their way to the chamber to be united with Sarker to put their plans of colonisation of nearby planets into actions. The Doctor, Jess and Baxton escape and try to find a way of stopping several of the Autons. The Doctor theorises that as they are newly formed they will be more malleable to outside forces. To this end, he uses a blowtorch to melt the Autons. In the atrium, they run into the Hank facsmile, who is destroyed by Baxton. The real Hank meets with the trio again and they head to the chamber one last time.

The Doctor talks with Sarker whilst the others distract some of the Autons. The Doctor manages to repair the device he used before and melts Sarker into a puddle of ooze. They use explosives to blow up the Vanguard to ensure the Plastain can't spread across the universe. Baxton and Hank are dropped off at home and the Doctor plans to deliver the device to UNIT. He promises to take Jess to Egypt when they are done.

Continuity
The device used to attack the Autons was invented by the Doctor in Spearhead from Space. It was also used to attack an army of Autons in the BBV film Auton, which is referenced by the Doctor at the end of the story. The energy units are also mentioned. The intention to visit Egypt is followed up on at the start of the subsequent story.

The Doctor references the Sensorites.

Writing
The origin story relating to Sarker was inspired by the character of Winslet in the BBV film Auton. His ability to revert to a slime form is one of the traits embodied by Winslet. The continuation of the story from part one and balancing the action proved difficult, as this episode features much less plot development and more of a runaround. Baxton's redemption was a significant part of his character arc that led to his increase in self-belief. Facsimiles were an obvious inclusion due to their commanding presence in several TV stories.

Filming
This story proved more taxing to film due to its many action scenes and use of play-doh prosthetics.

Trivia

 * When the Hank facsimile is killed, it melts in various stages.
 * It is unknown why Baxton reacts with shock at seeing Sarker, as he hadn't even met him.