Harry -
After the awfulness of "Underworld", I was quite looking forward to "The Invasion of Time." There's so much on the surface to recommend it: it's a season-ending 6-parter, it's set on Gallifrey, it features a double alien threat, and there's also a double companion farewell. We also get to see much more of the inner TARDIS. So much win!
And yet when I watched it all in one go, it wasn't all that satisfying. Maybe I should have watched it in smaller portions?
Sarah -
I hear what you're saying, but I have a very different reaction to the story. Yes, it has its weaknesses. The story was written at the 11th hour and designed to be as inexpensive as possible, but I can't help loving the story. It's so much fun to watch -- as long as you don't think about the actual story too much.
Harry -
The most interesting thing here might be that we've finally found a story we don't completely agree on.
Sarah -
It had to happen eventually, I guess.
Harry -
I think this is one where the memories of it are better than the story itself. The opening scenes were intriguing, as we see the Doctor plotting an invasion of Gallifrey with some unseen cohorts. These are echoes of his erratic behavior in the opening of "The Deadly Assassin," but we know the Doctor too well to believe he'd get in league with anyone against his own people, doddering old fools they may be. And gosh there's a lot of doddering here.
Sarah -
We do agree on the doddering. The portrayal of the Time Lords in stories like "The Deadly Assassin" and "The Invasion of Time" is my preferred way to see them. In earlier stories, they're portrayed as god-like beings. Seeing the petty politicking of Gallifrey makes it easy to understand why the Doctor would choose to get the hell out of there.
Perhaps the story's greatest plot weakness is that we don't know why the Doctor is helping the Vardans in the first place. We don't know who they are, and neither does he. There's no indicating how or why they contacted him, we just sally forth into the story. I mostly chose to ignore the questions and enjoy the ride.
Fun fact: Mr. Smith has threatened for years to cover himself in plastic wrap and cosplay a Vardan at Chicago TARDIS. I should double-dog dare him to do it this year.
Harry -
That costume would be easy to make, and imagine how many people would ask him who he was!
When I started watching the story, it felt like we'd skipped an episode and walked into the middle of something already well underway. For a six-parter, the whole thing felt stitched together from odds and ends. There was the Doctor-betrays-Gallifrey angle, the Doctor-becomes-president angle, the Vardan invasion (which wasn't much of an invasion, as they got zapped away the moment they let their guard down) and finally the Sontaran runaround two-parter.
Sarah -
Yes, but: the TARDIS swimming pool, endless corridors, Storeroom 23A, Ancillary Power Station disguised as an art gallery!
Oh dear, I think I'm starting to talk myself down from my enthusiasm...
Harry -
Never curb your enthusiasm!
The TARDIS swimming pool was great, as was the art gallery. I wasn't as enthused by the corridors and staircases -- they seemed too grungy compared to the pristine white console room.
Sarah -
You're not the only one. There are plenty of disparaging comments about the Doctor's upkeep of the TARDIS from the visiting Time Lords.
Harry -
The show-runners also had to prepare a suitable exit angle for Leela. Now, I'm intrigued by a man in red tights as much as anyone, but was there enough in this story to make Leela's bonding with Andred believeable? I say nay!
Sarah -
It's one of the worst companion exits in the history of the series. Still, those were some tight tights.
Harry -
I wonder how much lead time "David Agnew" (hah!) got before he had to write Leela's departure. I know Louise had been clear about wanting to leave the show. Do you remember that video she played at our first Chicago TARDIS? It was a compilation of every time the Doctor had shushed Leela. And it went on and on! Who wouldn't have grown tired of that gig?
Sarah -
I do remember that. It was hysterical. Apparently, there was hope among the production team that Louise Jameson would stay on for another season, so they kept the ending open in case she changed her mind. She and Andred did manage to work in a few moments that at least hint at attraction, but they certainly don't lead the audience to expect her to stay with him.
Harry -
It would have been way more amazing had Leela chosen to stay and bond with Rodan. Their relationship was truly a case of opposites attract. I did like how Rodan evolved from being all haughty in her sheltered life inside the Citadel, to being shattered by the world outside, to donning animal skins and joining the Vikings as they stormed the Citadel.
Sarah -
I really like Rodan. She's more flexible in her thinking than the rest of the Time Lords. She should be the next president!
Harry -
Funny enough, we are about to meet another Gallifreyan character who does just that!
Sarah -
I did find myself wondering if Rodan was the inspiration for Romana. I believe she's the first Time Lady we've met, so why not introduce another?
Harry -
Back to the story, I can't think of those "outsiders" as anything but Vikings. There was a strong vibe of recycled costumes going on there.
Sarah -
I love that "dropping out" of Time Lord culture involves becoming shaggy warriors!
Can we at least agree that Milton Johns' performance as the obsequious Castellan Kelner is a delight? Such a toady collaborator -- Johns milks it for all it's worth!
Harry -
Oh, Milton Johns! That Castellan was so oily I wanted to wash my hands after each of his scenes. Epic toadying.
Sarah -
He had me giggling through the entire story.
Harry -
Equally reptilian was John Arnatt as Borusa. What a cold lizard he was, although his "running through corridors" moment with the Doctor was hilarious.
Sarah -
He was perfect. The caliber of the actors in this story often put me in the mind of Shakespearean drama -- minus the brilliant writing, of course.
Harry -
Something I have noticed cropping up -- especially in this story -- is Tom looking and acting directly into the camera. These moments create a kind of hammy self-reverence that I'm not wild about, because they make it seem like it's "The Tom Baker Show" and not Doctor Who.
Sarah -
Tom was very TOM in this story, wasn't he? The first one is amusing, but it gets tedious very quickly.
Harry -
Okay that's enough grumbling from me. Let's talk about the Sontarans!
...oh dear.
Sarah -
So disappointing. Could the costume department not manage to design a helmet that allowed the actor to look out both eye slots at the same time? At first it was awkward. Eventually, it became so distracting I couldn't look at anything else!
Harry -
The one eye through the helmet was creepy. I don't know what happened here. Was it really that hard to reuse or replicate the look of the original Sontarans? They are a race of clones after all. Stor, with his two black eyes, bad teeth and cockney lisp, was a pale imitation of Linx and Styre.
Let's not spend this entire review whingeing, Sarah. Surely there's some good in "The Invasion of Time." The title is cool. There's that. It's always fun to get a glimpse at Gallifrey, because it reinforces why the Doctor left it and never wanted to return. The show-runners obviously wanted to throw everything into this season finale. On paper it probably sounded great. For a six-parter it's one of the fastest-moving ones, even if the final product left me feeling a bit meh.
Sarah -
Considering some of the six-parters we've endured, there's a lot to be said for "The Invasion of Time". It really never drags.
Sadly, it's time to say goodbye to another companion. What do you make of the Leela Era?
Harry -
For the longest time I believed that Jo Grant spent her entire time with the Doctor as just a one-dimensional stock companion. As we saw earlier in our marathon, that was not the case. Instead, the one-dimensional stock companion mantle may fall upon Leela. She didn't really show much character development from her introduction in "The Face of Evil" to her departure here. It may have been a term of endearment, but the Doctor never rose above calling her "Savage" in most stories -- and that seemed to cement her status. She did a lot of heavy lifting and showed a lot of personal strength, but I wish we could have gone deeper into the character. In the end, she runs off unexpectedly with a man in red tights. Did I mention I was quite fond of those tights?
Sarah -
I can only agree that Andred knew how to rock those tights!
I disagree about Leela's character development, but only a bit. I would say that there was some growth in her character, but I suspect the bad feelings between Louise and Tom kept them from developing the rapport that he had with Elisabeth Sladen. I often found myself admiring Louise Jameson's performance when it was clear that she was doing all she could with subpar material. The writers often seemed unsure how to handle her character, but Jameson made the best of it and never allowed Leela to be anything other than a strong savage warrior.
Harry -
The fierce loyalty she had for the Doctor is what I will remember most about Leela.
Sarah -
She never lost faith in him -- even when he had her thrown out of the citadel!
Harry -
Best Line:
Vardan - "We have suspected the Doctor since we first made contact. We shall deal with him soon."
Doctor [elsewhere] - "Well at least they don't suspect me."
Favourite Moment: Castellan Kelner bowing and scraping before the Vardans.
Lasting Image: Stor's loony face.
6/10
Sarah -
Best Line:
Borusa : "You have access to the greatest source of knowledge in the universe."
The Doctor : "Well, I do talk to myself sometimes."
Favorite Moment: The Doctor's induction as President
Lasting Image: The Doctor, wearing the Sash of Rassilon, holding the Rod of Rassilon, and sitting on the Sofa of Rassilon! Wait, I think that last one was just my imagination...
7/10
Our marathon continues with Story #98 - The Ribos Operation...
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