Written by Peter R. Newman and directed by Mervyn Pinfield and Frank Cox, the serial was first broadcast on BBC1 in six weekly parts from 20 June to 1 August 1964.

Susan Foreman's (Carole Ann Ford) 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 calculates that the Sensorites attacked the human craft because John (Stephen Dartnell), a mineralogist, had discovered a vast supply of molybdenum on Sense-Sphere.

Susan reports that the Sensorites wish to make contact with travellers, asking the crew to board Sense-Sphere and reveal that a previous Earth expedition caused them great misery.

The Doctor asks the Sensorites to return the TARDIS' lock in exchange for visiting the Sense-Sphere to speak with the leader; Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Susan, Carol, and John join him.

Peter R. Newman developed the concept for The Sensorites in January 1964 and was officially commissioned to write the serial on 25 February by script editor David Whitaker.

[5] Stephen Dartnell, who had previously appeared in The Keys of Marinus, was chosen to portray John, while Ilona Rodgers played his fiancée Carol.

[8] The other human survivors were played by Martyn Huntley and Giles Phibbs, friends from drama school who knew the director's secretary and were scheduled an interview.

[9] Designer Raymond Cusick avoided the use of straight lines and right angles in his sets for the Sense Sphere, in deliberate contrast to the "alien" buildings of other stories.

[19] The second episode aired 25 minutes late on 27 June due to an overrun of the previous programme Summer Grandstand,[20] achieving 6.9 million viewers.

[19] While the third episode was provisionally scheduled to run two hours late on 4 July, due to extended coverage of the Wimbledon tennis championships and Ashes Test match,[21] it was replaced by Juke Box Jury and postponed to the following week,[20] receiving 7.4 million viewers.

In The Discontinuity Guide (1995), Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping wrote that "it veers from sinister to unintentionally hilarious, with everyone fluffing their lines".

[22] In The Television Companion (1998), David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker enjoyed the set-up of the first two episodes and the escalation of the threat, though noted that it contained a "classic piece of sixties sexism" in the traditional roles of Susan and Barbara; they praised the "bravura performance" of Dartnell, and felt that the characters of Maitland and Carol are "well defined".

[23] In A Critical History of Doctor Who (1999), John Kenneth Muir considered the Sensorites justified in their hatred of humans, appreciating that they "are not merely evil because the story demands it of them".

[24] DVD Talk's John Sinnott considered the story "well constructed" with impressive set design and an expanded role for Susan, but felt that there was "nothing special" about the serial.