The interior of Linx's ship was mainly constructed from a stock spaceship set that the series kept in storage, along with the TARDIS interior set.
The design was identified as a Sontaran space pod in The Sarah Jane Adventures serial " The Last Sontaran". This Sontaran ship design makes two more appearances in the classic series before returning in " The Sontaran Stratagem". It reappeared in the studio for the interior scenes. The prop was first used on location at Peckforton Castle. The polystyrene was scored to give the exterior a diamond pattern. Linx's ship - or cursitor, as it is described in the script - was a full-size prop made from sections of expanded polystyrene.The collar and helmet were made of fibreglass, with the helmet made to be the same shape as Linx's head. When other Sontaran costumes were required to be made for Doctor Who, it was found that the material used for Linx's costume was no longer being made. The costume Kevin Lindsay wears as Linx was heavily padded, quilted and made from a material known as lurex.All the scenes of the Doctor swordfighting were recorded with Terry Walsh doubling for Pertwee in the knight's costume.A new TARDIS key, designed as an ankh-like pendant, was introduced in this story.Addressed to "Terran Cedicks" from " Field Marshall Hol Mes", the proposal contained excerpts from the military journal of Sontaran officer "Jingo Linx." Holmes sent his story idea to Terrance Dicks in the form of a Sontaran military communication.Holmes reluctantly agreed to come up with such a story, but on the condition that no famous historical figures were to be used. This new commission had come about after a lunchtime meeting between Holmes, Dicks and producer Barry Letts, when one of the topics of conversation had been how long it had been since Doctor Who had done a story in a historical setting. On the same day, Holmes was given a brief to come up with another four-part storyline, this time titled "The Time Fugitive" (or just "The Fugitive" according to some sources), to be delivered by the 5th March, 1973.Not much is known about the contents of this particular storyline, but by 26th February, 1973, the production office had notified Holmes that they would not be continuing with this idea, and that they would not be commissioning scripts. On January 9th, 1973, Holmes was asked to come up with a possible four-part story titled "The Automata", with a brief to deliver a storyline by 26th January.Dicks and Holmes had been talking about a possible story to conclude the tenth season's recording block of episodes, but which would be held over until the beginning of the next season. He had contributed a story-a-year to the series since Jon Pertwee had taken on the role of the Doctor. Writer Robert Holmes had a good working relationship with the Doctor Who production office, and script editor Terrance Dicks in particular.Summary Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Background information