The Invasion [4.8]

Attacked by missile from the dark side of the moon, the TARDIS makes an emergency jump to earth, and the crew find themselves in the middle of a field in England. Setting off for London, things almost immediately go wrong. Shady security guards are roaming around; their driver is assassinated; there are rumours of an all powerful Company and a friend of a friend has gone missing.

All the threads lead back to International Electromatics and its mysterious CEO Tobias Vaughn. Meeting up with their old friend the Brigadier, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe set out to investigate. The truth, however, is worse than they feared, and the Earth is teetering on the brink of an invasion by the Cybermen.

The Majesty

At eight episodes, many stories would get bloated, but “The Invasion” has a complex enough plot to sustain itself. Time doesn't drag and the two missing episodes are brilliantly animated. Vaughn makes an excellent villain and his double dealing with the Cybermen almost pays off. The re-introduction of Lethbridge-Stewart is very welcome, especially now that he is a Brigadier, with U.N.I.T., Sergeant Benton, helicopters and the kitchen sink. At the same time, there is an entertaining, comedic tone that comes across in the dialogue or in some of the visual gags.

It's occasionally close to the line, but overall I don't think the humour undermines the drama in the story. The Cybermen are a serious threat in outer space, but bringing them into contemporary London is especially dangerous. The shots of the missiles launching are fantastic – obviously stock footage, but working perfectly in context. Isabel is a great supporting character as well – very bubbly and pro-active.

The Misery

Vaughn's Head of Security, Packer, is so stupid that he even makes Vaughn look foolish for hiring him in the first place. Surely such a criminal mastermind would partner with a man of slightly higher intelligence!

Some of the plot strands are left hanging, as far as I recall. What was the “Colony” of Episode One, for example? I don't remember hearing anything about that again. And what happened to all the Cybermen already on Earth. There was a bust-up in London and then the Brigadier says “The crisis is over”...

As with many older Dr Who stories, a global threat is spoken about but not seen on screen. It's great to see Cybermen in London, but it would have been great to have seen them in Paris, Hong Kong and New York also. Impossible of course, but maybe just a news announcer? The whole story with the Russian missile, for example, takes place off-screen, and we are forced to “see” it from the radio operator's tiny box room.

Magical Moments

• The moment where the lorry driver is shot in episode one is very shocking. It immediately establishes the dramatic range of this story. In this world, life is cheap.
• There's a fun sequence with Zoe modelling for Isabel and trying out feather boas. It's very sixties.
• In episode three, Jamie is quite impressed: “You know, Doctor, you're a clever wee chappie.”
• Two minutes later, he has lost faith: “What happens if the lift starts working again?” “Simple,” replies the Doctor. “We get squashed!”
• The rescue of Isabel and Zoe by rope ladder into a helicopter is very impressive.
• Vaughn achieves a new level of sadism by so radiating a Cyberman with the emotion “Fear” that it has a nervous breakdown and runs off screaming to terrorise the sewers. Very possibly it's still down there.
• The Brigadier refers to Jamie, Zoe and Isabel as “those crazy kids”
• There's a powerful moment when Vaughn challenges Professor Watkins to shoot him. After a strangled moment, Watkins does... but Vaughn only laughs, the bullet holes black on his chest.
• The Cybermen walking down the steps in front of St Paul's Cathedral remains as iconic as when it first aired.
• As the UNIT troops drive up into battle positions, surprisingly cheery banjo music is playing.
• In the middle of the climactic battle, the Doctor scuttles down an alley, leaping comically and grabbing his backside as explosions go off behind him. He then poses for photographs as the fight continues.
• With the emergency over, the crew have to find the TARDIS, which has now become invisible. Wandering around a field, arms outstretched, they make for a truly bizarre spectacle.

In Summary

This is one of the great stories of Patrick Troughton's time as the Doctor. In some ways it functions as a prototype of the Jon Pertwee/UNIT era. At the same time, there is something charmingly “sixties” about The Invasion, whether it's Isabel's photography; general delight about a new transistor radio, or the outrageous mini-skirts that sees Zoe and Isabel constantly flashing their pants. Ultimately though, “The Invasion” is a great standalone story: faced with a deadly threat, an unlikely band of heroes pull off an unconventional rescue operation and save the world

Overall: 4.8