I remember quite well the first time I watched "The Invasion". It was based on your suggestion after the DVD was released with the animated episodes. It was the first full Troughton story I had ever seen, outside of "The Two Doctors" and "The Five Doctors". I liked him from those stories, but loved him after watching "The Invasion". It’s almost the perfect Second Doctor story.
Harry -
This is one of my favourites and I loved watching it again.
Incredibly, this is Patrick Troughton's fourth Cybermen story in three years, but it is easily the best one.
Sarah -
Absolutely! It’s another Cybermen-invasion-of-Earth story, but never has it been done so well. I love everything about this story! Oh dear, now that I've said that, I'm sure to discover things I don't love as we go along, aren't I?
Harry -
Considering that the first four episodes have a lot of running around in circles and the Cyber-reveal doesn't happen until the end of episode four, they were still entertaining. There's a lot of stuff going on outside the plot to keep things interesting.
First off, the animation of the two missing episodes is another moment of serendipity for Doctor Who. It's fun to watch our friends in animated form, and the black and white looks stylish as hell.
Sarah -
The animation is gorgeous. The animators did a fantastic job of capturing everyone’s look and facial expressions. I know an animated restoration of "The Massacre" is due out soon and I can’t wait to see it!
Harry -
There's a great musical score here too. The missile attack on the TARDIS is accompanied by eerie psychedelic chords reminiscent of early Pink Floyd ("Dark Side of the Moon", geddit?). Meanwhile the street scenes in and around London get jangly, film noir music like something from Portishead.
Sarah -
Yes, yes, I get it. You had to bring up Pink Floyd, didn’t you?
Harry -
I like the Pink Floyds! Anyway, visually, there's some fantastic location filming in this story, and the camera work stands out too.
Sarah -
It’s all shot so beautifully. Everything ends up looking so much more expensive than it actually was – probably because the BBC didn’t have to build so many of the sets. There’s just a great texture to the visuals, which we haven’t seen in a while.
Harry -
If it weren't for all these little extras that helped move the story along, I'd have gotten really tired, really fast, of everyone barking about "stupid computers" repeatedly. Yes, you all think computers suck - we get it!
Sarah -
That was a bit odd, wasn’t it? The Doctor was all pro-computer back in the WOTAN days, wasn’t he? I don’t imagine the First Doctor ranting about how “I hate computers and refuse to be bullied by them.”
The TARDIS crew arrives in London, having received a lift from an unknown man who meets a terrible end. We find out later that he’s a UNIT member, but everyone seems to think that he’ll be just fine. I felt very sad for him.
Then we meet Isobel, niece of Dr. Watkins, a computer scientist who is renting the home of our old friend the yeti chaser, Dr. Travers. Isobel. Oh dear, what to say of Isobel?
Harry -
Our friend Rob Shearman says quite a lot of nasty things about Isobel, oh my! His antipathy towards her might be a bit tongue in cheek, but he's not that far off.
Sarah -
That could be almost my favorite thing written by Rob in the entire book!
Harry -
She's an odd one, with her wall scribblings and marathon photo sessions. Later in the story, she sneaks down to the sewers to photograph Cybermen, and the photos don't turn out very good. It begs the question whether or not she's a capable photographer in the first place.
Sarah -
You would think she’d be able to get some aspiring models to work for free, wouldn’t you? Maybe she really isn’t very good.
I think my favorite Isobel moment is when she’s taking photos of Zoe and Jamie wanders into the frame, only to be dismissed with, “No, not you.” Poor Jamie can’t catch a break sometimes!
Harry -
If anything, she's a survivor. Photographing herself if need be, then ignoring military commands if need be. She makes it to the end of the story and hooks up with Captain Turner. They way they carried on flirting throughout the story, they probably nipped behind some shrubs for a shag as soon as the TARDIS vanished.
Children's programme? Oh yes, back to Doctor Who.
Sarah -
Looking at my notes, I wrote, “Get a room, you two!” Still, I hope it all worked out for them. I wonder how many fictional babies have been born because of the Doctor.
Harry -
This is a gritty story with lots of sinister goings on before the big Cybermen reveal, but there are also plenty of comic moments. Packer is an idiot. Almost too much of an idiot, the way he haplessly allows the Doctor and Jamie to escape from International Electromatics HQ. That scene where he's frantically using his wrist communicator, with his eyes desperate and his hair in disarray, and Vaughn barking at him all the while... it was pathetic really, but funny for the kids I'm sure.
Sarah -
What a pathetic lackey. I almost felt badly for Packer at times. He was just so inept. Even Vaughn knows he’s useless: “And please don’t fail this time. There’s a good fellow.”
Still, Packer has the sense to doubt that Vaughn’s plan will work. When Vaughn declares, “A few minutes, Packer, and I shall control the world,” Packer responds with, “You? Are you sure?” Maybe he’s not as dumb as we think!
Harry -
Also amusing was the canoe scene. Yes, a canoe scene, in the middle of London, in a Doctor Who story. Wild!
Sarah -
I love the canoe scene! A definite runner up for lasting image.
Harry -
Then there's UNIT, freshly minted, with their very own cheery, "can do" theme music.
Sarah -
The UNIT theme cheered me every time it played.
Harry -
Who better to lead this group but Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart and his magical moustachio? Why did the Brigadier become such a popular character? My theory is the moustache. It's all about the moustache. Whether on film or animated, it has a life of its own!
Sarah -
I suspect it’s the combination of his moustache and the smile that plays so easily upon his face. I found The Brig positively adorable whenever he smiled in this story. Is One allowed to find The Brig adorable?
Harry -
One is!
Sarah -
And don’t forget our new old friend Benton! He doesn’t have a lot to do in this story, but it’s Our Benton!
Harry -
The ultimate man for all jobs, Our Benton.
Sarah -
I find it hard to believe that we’ve come this far without mentioning what must certainly be one of the greatest performances ever in the history of Doctor Who – Kevin Stoney as Tobias Vaughn. Vaughn is the most interesting megalomaniac we’ve met since Mavic Chen in "The Daleks’ Master Plan". Oh wait, there’s a reason for that – Kevin Stoney also played Mavic Chen!
Harry -
And even though it's virtually the same role (megalomaniac human stooge for alien monsters), the performances could not have been more different. While Mavic Chen was something of a comic rogue, Tobias Vaughn is all icy charm.
Sarah -
I know we both loved his performance back in Season 3, but Stoney takes it to a whole new level in "The Invasion". Vaughn is smooth and charismatic – and so sure he’s in control. We know, of course, how foolhardy this will prove to be, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Vaughn whenever he was on screen.
Harry -
His moments of explosive rage were terrifying!
As pointed out by Rob and Toby, this isn't so much a Cyberman story as it is Tobias Vaughn's story. He is present throughout, and no matter how hard our friends try to escape him, we always end up back in his stylish office, watching him issue cold commands.
Sarah -
Vaughn is definitely the villain of this piece. The Cybermen are more set dressing then villains.
Harry -
The Cybermen could have been any alien entity really. They don't do all that much aside from some sewer skulking and marching around London landmarks. They look awfully nice and shiny in their new skins, though.
Sarah -
Don’t they just look stunning?
Harry -
Things got away from me a bit when we got to the final two episodes and the whole Russian rocket plot. And I might be a bit thick, but I kept forgetting that the UNIT HQ scenes were taking place aboard a plane.
Sarah -
We’re both a bit thick, then, because I did, too!
Harry -
There were so many new and interesting characters in this story that Jamie and Zoe seemed somewhat left out. Jamie was literally taken out of the action (another damned holiday!) and Zoe only came in at the end to put her math skills to work. Although I did admire the fact that she survived the ordeal in the sewers with her feather boa still intact.
Sarah -
Jamie did get some good action scenes – and the seemingly requisite ladder-climbing scenes.
Harry -
Always popular, those.
Sarah -
I found myself vacillating between loving Zoe’s boa and wondering why the hell she was still wearing it! Speaking of Zoe’s wardrobe, did you notice how she had a sudden costume change late in the story from her mini-dress back to her spangly jumpsuit? How did she manage that?
Harry -
That was odd. Oddest of all was how little the Doctor actually did here. He was reduced to the role of a messenger at times, conveying information between Vaughn and UNIT as Vaughn's plans disintegrated and all hell broke loose on the ground. The long missile launch / Russian rocket sequence at the end rendered the Doctor an observer with the rest of us. That was the only real sour note for me in an otherwise fantastic, stylish and compelling tale.
Sarah -
There was a definitely overuse of stock footage, wasn’t there? I guess we’ve got to expect some padding in these eight-parters.
Still, as long stories go, this is a cracker! Still one of my favorites and I savored the chance to revisit it.
Harry -
Me too!
Sarah -
Best Line: “If there’s trouble to be found, the Doctor and Jamie can’t miss it.”
Favorite moment: Vaughn calling Packer on his video screen, only to have a Cyberman’s face appear. Chilling!
Lasting Image: This one’s obvious: the Cybermen in front of St. Paul’s – one of the most iconic images in Doctor Who history.
10/10
Harry -
Best line: "Packerrrr!"
Favourite moment: The Cybermen open fire and the Doctor scrambles away, covering his arse and yelping in fear.
Lasting image: St. Paul's, yup!
9/10
Our marathon continues with Story #47 - The Krotons...
