Invasion of the Dinosaurs

"A prehistoric monster has turned up in Central London."

Writer: Malcolm Hulke

Format: TV

Broadcast: 12 January - 16 February 1974

Season: 11.02

Featuring: Third Doctor, Sarah Jane

Synopsis

The Third Doctor and Sarah Jane arrive in 1970s London to find it has been evacuated because dinosaurs have appeared mysteriously. As the line between friends and enemies wavers, the Doctor soon discovers the dinosaurs are being brought to London via a time machine to further a plan to revert Earth back to a pre-technological "Golden Age"...

Verdict

Invasion of the Dinosaurs was an excellent serial! I really enjoyed this one and whilst I remember it being very good the first time I watched it some eight years ago now, it exceeded my memory and improved to full marks! This was brilliant and for a six-part story, it didn't half go by quickly! That is the telltale sign of a good adventure. I loved the premise of the Doctor and Sarah Jane returning to an abandoned London following The Time Warrior and they really were a bit confused as to why there was nobody around. With all that's going on in society today, it must have been quite reminiscent of the London today during lockdown. I still think it's quite interesting that they didn't place the whole title on the opening credits for the first part to hide the fact that the serial featured dinosaurs, and then it really didn't take long for a dinosaur to show up! Now, considering this story was produced some 46 years ago, I was quietly impressed with the special effects of the dinosaurs. I mean, the T-rex didn't look all that imposing, but the other dinosaur variations were very impressive. I loved the whole premise of using dinosaurs to evacuate London and empty the capital city. The dinosaurs were contained to the area which was intriguing and when it seemed that there was some dabbling with time travel going on, Sarah Jane used her journalistic skills magnificently to find that Whittaker had been missing six months and was perhaps the man behind all that was going on. This story is a big one for Mike Yates as he was still reeling from what occurred in The Green Death and had gone rogue here against UNIT and was all for a new Golden Age. The idea of that age where Earth would not be ravaged by the developments of technology was terrific, but the method it would be implemented was barbaric. The Doctor wasn't impressed. They were going to revert the planet to its past and everyone alive now would not have existed! They would then guide humanity to the right path for a Golden Age. Yates playing a role was interesting as it is such a shift in character, but it was clear from the offset that he was up to something. I really loved the idea of things going wrong whilst the Doctor was away and he and Sarah Jane walking around the abandoned city was fantastic. One thing I feel like mentioning as it will be the only story from this season that I blog on this BritBox random watch-a-thon, I loved the opening titles design! Really impressive. Sarah Jane getting transferred to the spaceship that was supposedly en route to New Earth was intriguing, especially when it was said that she was there for three months before waking up! Of course, the truth was sublime as we found that there was no spaceship and in fact it was underneath Central London. They'd all been tricked and New Earth would just be the current planet reverted to the past. General Finch made a good villainous authority figure and the battle of wits and reputation between he and the Brigadier was superb. Benton also had a very good serial with the moment he let the Doctor 'overpower' him with Venusian aikido was wonderful and showed just how much he trusted him. It was clear that the Doctor wasn't the one responsible for bringing the dinosaurs to London! The conclusion was exciting and quite simple with the Doctor's being a Time Lord allowing him to overcome the time eddy and reverse the polarity which sent the culprits wanting a Golden Age back to that very time. I thought that was quite a fitting sendoff, and it also turned out that Yates would be resigning from UNIT quietly. Overall, a sublime story!

Rating: 10/10