The Invasion

"Let's see how the Cybermen will react to fear!"

Writer: Derrick Sherwin

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 2nd November - 21st December 1968

Season: 6.03

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis 

Investigating the disappearance of an eminent scientist, the Doctor and his companions follow his trail to London headquarters of International Electromatics, a global supplier of electronic equipment run by the formidable Tobias Vaughn. Teaming up with the newly formed UNIT - under the command of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - it soon becomes apparent that Vaughn is working to his own sinister agenda. As Cybermen invade in cities all over the world, can the Doctor convince Vaughn to help him defeat their plan for global domination?

Verdict 

The Invasion is a wonderful serial of Doctor Who to continue the sixth season in fine fashion, setting the scene for the near future of the show in the meantime. At a mammoth eight parts long, this story is brilliantly paced and if people were lucky enough on broadcast to not have the surprise return ruined, then I imagine the cliffhanger of episode four would have been extremely memorable! I liked how we were kept waiting for the Cybermen to appear. If viewers were watching for the first time on DVD like I was back in around 2009, then it would keep us wanting to watch the next episode hoping that one of our favourite foes would make an impact. But even without the Cybermen, we had an outstanding villain acting alone for the first four episodes. I loved the return of the Cyber-Planner, or as it would rather be known here as the Cyber-Director, after the recent appearance in The Wheel in Space. I thought it was used effectively in that story but even more so here with the villain I was earlier referring to, Tobias Vaughn. What a wonderful performance and one of my favourite villainous characters ever in Doctor Who. The way he was so smooth and calm was magnificent. It was brilliant how when we first met him, the Doctor immediately suspected he wasn't quite what he seemed. Of course he was right, why wouldn't he be? Jamie though had fallen under the hood charm at first and had even been given a radio receiver on behalf of his company, International Electromatics. The idea behind that company was great and I liked how much this story was associated with factors of the real world. We'd seen the setup of UNIT (something I anticipate looking forward to reading in the upcoming Lethbridge-Stewart novel range) who would investigate in response to any sign of alien activity. After adventures like The War Machines and the referenced The Web of Fear, alien attacks were getting noticed and something needed to be set up to deal with them. UNIT was that answer and it was headed by a good friend of the Doctor and Jamie's, now Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. He was excellent in the aforementioned story featuring the Yeti attack of the London Underground and now this story laid down the foundations for the character to be a regular in the coming years of the series. Isobel was a lovely addition to the TARDIS trio for the story and I liked how flirtatious she was with Jimmy. Her little "dolly soldier". I liked how keen she was towards fashion and photography though I was quite surprised by how eager she was to get a snap of the Cybermen in the London sewers. Surely it can't have been that appealing! The mentions of Professor Travers and his daughter Anne were nice and it's splendid to see that the Doctor was hopeful of meeting up again with old friends. The debut of Benton was superb and I loved how he was just the same as how he'd become better renowned during the Third Doctor era. I was quite surprised by the sexist comments towards women in who was right for a particular job. Jamie agreeing with that fact was quite humorous though! Once the Cybermen had arrived, I liked how simply the Doctor showing a sign of panic sold how fearful they should be. Not much scares the Doctor. I thought this was one of Patrick Troughton's better performances as the Second Doctor and I loved the scene where he was running almost on top of the Cyberman gun shots. I also I loved the moment near the end where Isobel took photos of him just prior to the radio receiver's destruction. UNIT, and I therefore presume the UK, working in unison with Russia against the Cybermen was most intriguing given the date (of which we can't be certain). But with a Cyber ship on the other side of the moon, as we saw at the start of episode one after the TARDIS reassembled following the conclusion of The Mind Robber, the Russians had their missiles primed and ready. Once the fleet advanced, the missiles were sent. Zoe's immense calculations causing a chain reaction of exploding the entire fleet was sublime and there's no questioning how intelligent a companion she is! Absolutely brilliant. Tobias turning on the Cybermen, or perhaps the other way round is more fitting, was great and set up the exciting climax. The use of Professor Watkins' emotion machine throughout was fantastic. The ultimate defence against a Cyberman! My favourite thing about this serial though might have been some of the imagery. Now, it's no secret I absolutely love The Dalek Invasion of Earth but despite some memorable scenes with London landmarks there, the cliffhanger of episode six here was just incredible. I would argue it's the most iconic image in Doctor Who history (see my story photo above). It wasn't quite recreated to all its glory in Dark Water, but the fact that it was attempted once more shows how effective this has been across the years. It was a wonderful moment in a superb story. Overall - brilliant! 

Rating: 9/10