227 The Invasion: Episode Eight

EPISODE: The Invasion: Episode Eight
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 227
STORY NUMBER: 046
TRANSMITTED: 21 December 1968
WRITER: Derrick Sherwin & Kit Pedler
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Peter Bryant
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Invasion

At missile control the crew celebrate Zoe destroying the Cyberfleet. The Brigadier is contacted by Benton who tells them that they overheard on the Doctor's radio that the Cybermen will send their Megatron bomb to Earth. Vaughan destroys cyber machine with the Cerebration Mentor . The Doctor says Vaughan must turn of the radio beam that the cyber ships was using as guidance to stop the Cybermen delivering their bomb. Packer is killed by a Cyberman which is in turn killed by the Doctor with Cerebration Mentor. The Doctor calls UNIT in to attack the transmitter at the IE compound and have the Cyber ship attacked by missile. The Brigadier sends a helicopter for them. Captain Turner reports the Russians are ready to launch their rocket with a warhead attached. The rocket is launched. The Doctor and Vaughan are taken by helicopter to the IE compound where they attack Cybermen with the Cerebration Mentor. They find their destination is guarded by Cybermen. UNIT arrives and battle Cybermen on the ground. Rocket launchers and grenades prove successful. The Doctor & Vaughan reach the transmitter control but Vaughan is slain by Cybermen and the Doctor chased away. However he meets UNIT who destroy the Cybermen and the transmitter. The Cybermen spaceship approaches earth to avoid the Russian rocket and deliver the megatron bomb. The Russian Rocket is diverted. The Cyber Megatron Bomb is launched, but Henlow Downs fires it's missiles destroying the bomb and the Russian Rocket destroys the Cyber ship. Later Captain Turner drives Isobel along with The Doctor, Zoe & Jamie to the field in which they left the invisible Tardis. The Doctor makes it visible and they dematerialise to the astonishment of Isobel & Captain Turner.

I'm sorry, but apart from the location filmed battle sequences this episode is struggling a bit. UNIT troops vs the Cybermen looks good, but there's large amounts of stock footage used, two from the previous episode, one of which I could swear is used twice in this episode but flipped, and a new section of the rocket launching. A lot of the important action, mainly the destroying of the transmission control, happens off screen presumably another casualty of the locations problems that cost us Watkins' rescue previously. Sergeant Walters disappears this episode, replaced by Benton. John Levene's elevation to speaking role in this story is sometimes reported as he replaced another actor who was continually late but it maybe this story just applies to this episode. The Cybership design in this episode returned to our screens recently in "A Good Man Goes To War"

Making it's Doctor Who debut in this story is the TCC Condensers round the corner from "The Acton Hilton", the BBC's famed rehersal rooms. It'll be back twice in Pertwee's first year!

This is Patrick Troughton's last meeting with the Cybermen, and in fact the last Cybermen story until Revenge of the Cybermen in April 75 by which point Tom Baker will be the Doctor. Jon Pertwee, barring cameos, never encounters the Cybermen during the five years he was in the title role. Having waited six plus years for their next major appearance the Cybermen then wait seven more till March 1982 when they return in Earthshock.

The Invasion is the longest Second Doctor story so far, beating the seven part Evil of the Daleks. But as things turn out it won't even be the longest story this season!

The Invasion was adapted for book form by Ian Marter and published in October 1985. The cover is one of my favourites of the entire range and the only book to have an Invasion style Cyberman on the cover to actually feature them - they also appear on the covers of The Cybermen (Moonbase) and Tomb of the Cybermen. The Invasion was released as a double pack video during the 30th anniversary year 1993 with links recorded by Nicholas Courtney replacing the missing episodes 1 & 4. The Soundtrack to all eight episodes was released on CD in a box with The Tenth Planet as Doctor Who: Cybermen in 2004 and a solo release followed in early 2006. A DVD of the six surviving episodes and animated reconstructions of episodes 1 & 4 was released in 2006.

226 The Invasion: Episode Seven

EPISODE: The Invasion: Episode Seven
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 226
STORY NUMBER: 046
TRANSMITTED: 14 December 1968
WRITER: Derrick Sherwin & Kit Pedler
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Peter Bryant
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Invasion

Zoe repairs the Doctor's neuristor, restoring him to conciousness. Captain Turner checks in with the Brigadier who is OK and sends transport. The Cyber Machine reports that a full invasion force is on the way. Vaughan wishes to retain control of the Invasion and sends Packer to retrieve Professor Watkins from Unit. Sergeant Walters arrives with a jeep for the Doctor and co but as he gets there Packer & some guards show up to abduct Watkins. In the ensuing battle Watkins and Jamie are injured. The Brigadier sends a helicopter to rescue them. Packer is reprimanded for their failure to retrieve Watkins and blames the Doctor. UNIT has lost radio communication to major the major world cities. The Doctor works out that Cyber control is coming from their fleet near the moon and they need to stop it. The Brigadier knows the Russians were going to send a rocket up: Captain Turner is sent to get a warhead onto the rocket. The Brigadier says that there is a Missile base nearby at Henlow Downs that they can use to shoot incoming Cyberman ships down. The Doctor says he needs to talk to Vaughan but will go with a radio on so Vaughan's plans can be broadcast to UNIT. The Doctor plans to go through the sewers, now empty of Cybermen. He drives a jeep from the airfield to the nearest manhole cover. Vaughan & Packer are discussing plans then the Doctor arrives: Packer wants to kill the Doctor but Vaughan reminds him that the Doctor and his TARDIS is their insurance policy. Vaughan tells the Doctor how he masterminded the operation and how he believes the Cybermen will be under his command. At the missile base the staff are brought round by the UNIT troops. The Doctor tells Vaughan that the Cybermen will destroy all humans. Vaughan takes no notice and summons the invasion fleet. The missile base begins preparations to launch their missiles. The Doctor wants Vaughan to stop the Cybermen. The missile base sights the incoming Cyber fleet and are ready to fire when Zoe calculates a way of destroying 90% of missiles. Given 30 seconds to make her calculations the missiles are fired destroying the Cyber fleet. Their machine tells Vaughan he has betrayed them and attacks him saying they are sending a Cyber megatron bomb to destroy everyone. The Doctor challenges Vaughan asking him if he wants to be ruler of a dead world.........

Oh dear we've got to the missile base. This section of the story really annoys me with the stock footage of the missiles being prepared and then launched reused a few times. The footage is used twice and once here respectively, but I'm sure it'll be back some more tomorrow. Other than that, good stuff, though I wonder if we were meant to see more of the Doctor's retreat from Watkins attacked house but they ran into problems filming like with the sequence for Watkins' rescue by UNIT troops in the previous episode. I think we've got a first in this episode: The Doctor drives a jeep off the UNIT jet. Id this the first indication we've had that he can drive a car? There's one technical element of the show I have to question: when Major Branwell fires the rocket he has two keys to trigger the system. Now I've seen a few war movies: aren't control key for missile systems usually carried by two officers as a failsafe to prevent one insane officer from firing them?

Both of the credited missile base personnel have form with Camfield: Major Branwell, the commanding officer, is played by Clifford Earl who was the Station Sergeant in The Daleks' Master Plan who Norman Hartley, who played Ulf in The Time Meddler now plays Sergeant Peters.

225 The Invasion: Episode Six

EPISODE: The Invasion: Episode Six
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 225
STORY NUMBER: 046
TRANSMITTED: 07 December 1968
WRITER: Derrick Sherwin & Kit Pedler
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Peter Bryant
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Invasion

Captain Turner arrives with UNIT troops who descend into the tunnels with Benton. Jamie, Zoe & Isobel hide at the side of the tunnel as the deranged Cyberman passes them. Captain Turner calls for Isobel but Jamie gets her to be quiet not to alert the Cyberman. The UNIT troops encounter a group of Cybermen, but these Cybermen are attacked by the deranged Cyberman. UNIT destroys two Cybermen with grenades but the deranged one survives killing a soldier. Jamie keeps guard as the others leave. Last out the manhole his foot is grabbed by the Cybermen, but Sergeant Walters clubs it with his rifle till it lets go then Benton drops a grenade on it. The Doctor examines the IE circuits at Watkins' house, the Brigadier asking him if he's had success. Isobel develops the photos that she took in the sewers, but the results are smeared and blurry. The Brigadier doesn't think they'll be good enough to convince UNIT command in Geneva. At IE Packer is worried about UNIT, but Vaughan says in a few hours time the invasion will be complete. Gregory brings Professor Watkins and the Cerebration Mentor machine. Vaughan tells Professor Watkins that Isobel is free. Vaughan uses the Cerebration Mentor on Professor Watkins to produce fear but Gregory intervenes. Professor Watkins says he'll kill Vaughan so Vaughan offers him Packer's gun which Watkins uses to shoots Vaughan, but the bullets don't penetrate his chest: he's half Cyberman. Professor Watkins faints and is taken away. The Doctor works into night. Isobel brings him tea as Jamie sleeps. Captain Turner has set up base at Watkins' house. When UNIT control reports that Benton has seen guards taken Professor Watkins out of the building, Isobel & The Doctor persuade the Brigadier to mount a rescue mission using Captain Turner. Later Gregory reports what happened to Vaughan how UNIT grabbed Professor Watkins. Vaughan turns Gregory loose in sewers where he's killed by Cybermen. A shaken Professor Watkins tells the Doctor he doesn't know what the circuits are for and tells him about the Cerebration Mentor. The Doctor realises that Vaughan will use it as weapon to induce emotion, alien to the Cyber nervous systems and that the circuits are emotional controls. The Brigadier leaves for UNIT control. Cybermen patrol the sewers during the night. The Doctor discovers that the Cybermen will use communications satellite to activate the emotional circuits producing a cyber hypnotic force bringing everyone under Cyber control. The Doctor says they must build depolarisers to break Cyber control. The Cyber machine tells Vaughan that there is 1 hour till the invasion and that the Cybermen are moving into position. The Doctor tells the Brigadier to fit depolarisers to all his staff. Zoe can only make 3, so they hunt for more neuristors, the key missing component. The Cyber machine says there is 30 minutes to the invasion. Packer asks if Vaughan is sure he will control earth after the Invasion: Vaughan replies that he is certain. Morning: quiet, empty streets. Isobel looks out of the window of the house and tells Captain Turner how peaceful it is. An odd sound echoes through the air. The Doctor's depolariser falls off and he collapses as do people in the street. Captain Turner & Jamie see hundreds of Cybermen coming out of the sewers. Manholes are flung back effortlessly as the Cybermen emerge all over London, walking down steps of St Paul's Cathedral as masters of the land.

Another cracker. We start off with some action down the sewers, then we move to the waiting game as we get a real sense of the hours ticking by as the Doctor tries to solve the problem of the circuits and finally we get the invasion started with one of he seminal Doctor Who moments as the populace collapses and the Cybermen emerge from the sewers to walk down the steps of Saint Paul's Cathedral. This piece obviously owes a certain debt to the Daleks parading round London but it's just so good. The bit that does it for me is when the Cyberman coming out of the sewer throws the heavy man hole cover aside and it hits the floor with a resounding clang emphasising the strength of these creatures. I first saw this sequence on a 1982 edition of Did You See, which did an article on Doctor Who to celebrate the Cybermen's return in Earthshock (It's on the Earthshock DVD) and it made a big impression on the nearly nine year old me confirming the Cybermen as one of my favourite monsters.

Several locations are used in the course of this episode but the most famous one, St Peter's Steps to St Paul's Cathedral has been substantially changed in recent years to improve disabled and Dalek access to the site. More location work would have been used, including a battle between UNIT troops and and Vaughan's forces leading to the freeing of Professor Watkins. Camfield's day on location didn't go 100% to plan so the sequence was dropped leading to Gregory, who would have been killed in the battle, retelling the sequence to Vaughan and then getting killed in the sewers. This extra piece would have changed the tone of the episode considerably turning it into an all action piece.

224 The Invasion: Episode Five

EPISODE: The Invasion: Episode Five
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 224
STORY NUMBER: 046
TRANSMITTED: 30 November 1968
WRITER: Derrick Sherwin & Kit Pedler
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Peter Bryant
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Invasion

Seeing the Cyberman reactivated the Doctor & Jamie leave, returning to their canoe. Back at UNIT HQ Captain Turner asks Isobel out for dinner as the Doctor & Jamie arrive and tell them that the Cybermen are here. The UFOs sighted are Cyberman spaceships homing in on Vaughan's deep space dishes. The Doctor speculates if the people observed going into IE are now controlled by the Cybermen. Major General Rutlidge tells the Brigadier not to investigate IE any further. The Brigadier wants to know what hold Vaughan has on Rutlidge. The Brigadier says he will over Rutlidge's head and go to UNIT HQ in Geneva to allow him to proceed. When he leaves Rutlidge calls IE. Vaughan has ordered Gregory to work with Professor Watkins on the Cerebration Mentor. When Rutlidge calls he reports tat there will be UNIT interference. Vaughan instructs him to come to IE, worrying that his control over him is weakening. Vaughan interrogates Rutlidge, wanting to know how long it will take UNIT to take action: Rutlidge says one day. Vaughan orders the Cerebration Mentor taken to the warehouse where the Cybermen are being revived. Vaughan reports to the Cyber Machine in his office that he needs the invasion plans advanced to dawn tomorrow. More Cybermen are revived and told to proceed through sewers the to their positions. Examining maps of the area the Doctor concludes that the Cybermen are hiding in the sewers, but the Brigadier thinks that they need proof. The Doctor once again examines Jamie's radio, and asks the Brigadier if UNIT has any IE equipment. Vaughan has a Cyberman revived and uses the Cerebration Mentor on it to produce fear. The Cyberman goes mad and follows other Cybermen into the sewers. Isobel comes up with idea of going into the sewers for photos of the Cybermen. The Brigadier won't let her do it as she's a woman but she, Jamie & Zoe go anyway, getting Benton to take them to London. The Doctor finds additional circuits in all of UNIT's IE equipment and on examination finds the same circuit in every one. The Cyber machine plans for the conversion or destruction of all humans but Vaughan disagrees: This is not as planned, he will be in control of Earth and it's population after the Invasion. He says that while his body is now cybernetic, his mind stays human. Vaughan tells Packer that the IE staff will protected from Cyber control by an implanted capsule. The Doctor needs use Professor Watkins laboratory facilities at his home to analyse the circuits he has found. Preparing to leave for London he realises that Jamie, Zoe & Isobel missing. Benton has dropped them off but is ordered to find them and Capitan Turner is sent to help. Jamie, Zoe & Isobel descend through a manhole into the sewers but are spotted by a policeman. Benton arrives as the policeman also enters the sewers. The policeman calls out for them attracting the attention of a group of Cybermen who kill him. Jamie, Zoe & Isobel find themselves trapped between these Cyberman and the deranged Cyberman that is wandering the sewers......

With the mystery element removed there's a little bit of sag this episode until the trip down the sewers at the end. Sadly even though the Cybermen are revealed you still don't see that much of them with most of the communication still being done through the machine in Vaughan's office. The Cybermen in the sewers are obviously reminiscent of the Yeti in the Underground but although comparisons are frequently made between The Invasion and it's predecessor The Web of Fear, especially the element of having the army/UNIT with the Doctor, they're quite different. In Web the Invasion has happened and London stands isolated. In the Invasion we're witnessing the build up to the alien invasion and trying to prevent it.

Following his appearance in the office Rutlidge completely disappears from the story. The insinuation is Vaughan's had him killed.

The canoe scenes at the end of the last episode and the start of this were filmed on the Regent's Canal while Fore Street, near Moorgate tube station provides the entrance to the sewers. I'm pleased to see there's still a manhole cover in the same street. The "Cybermen in the sewers" element is resurrected in the Eric Saward/Ian Levine "Attack of the Cybermen" along with elements from Tenth Planet and Tomb of the Cybermen.

This episode is the first of a run of 14 episodes. It's the best run since the 23 episode run (1-3-6-2-4-6-1) at the end of season 1/start of season 2. The start of the series has a run of 13 existing episodes to Edge of Destruction 2, there's a 19 episode run from the start of Keys of Marinus to episode 3 of Reign of Terror. Episode 6 of the same story starts the 23 episode wrong, the longest in the sixties, which ends with Crusade 1. The Space Museum 1 to Time Meddler 4 give a 14 episode run. After that the longest run of episodes in seasons 3-5 is the 5 episodes made of the last of the Celestial Toymaker to the last of The Gunfighters. There's 11 episodes from the last episode of season 5, Wheel in Space 6 to Mind Robber 5. This current run takes us through the end of the Invasion, through the Krotons to the end of Seeds of Death. The following story, The Space Pirates, has one exiting episode, the second. After that we reach the War Games and from there onwards every episode exists.

223 The Invasion: Episode Four

EPISODE: The Invasion: Episode Four
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 223
STORY NUMBER: 046
TRANSMITTED: 23 November 1968
WRITER: Derrick Sherwin & Kit Pedler
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Peter Bryant
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Invasion

Jamie tells the Doctor something moved in crate. The Doctor & Jamie hear that Zoe & Isobel are to be moved and follow. Vaughan berates Packer for not finding the Doctor & Jamie. Vaughan tells Packer he will be in control after Invasion, using Professor Watkins' machine to produce emotions and destroy the Invaders. Does P wish to be totally converted? V thinks even if they fail they could escape in the Doctor's Tardis. The Doctor & Jamie see Isobel & Zoe's crate taken inside, and notice the UNIT helicopter nearby. Captain Turner reports the activity to the Brigadier. Packer thinks Doctor is with UNIT. Vaughan makes a loud speaker announcement giving the Doctor 10 minutes to surrender or Zoe will pay the price. Isobel & Zoe are trapped in a room high in the building. Isobel wonders why they are being kept there. They see the Doctor & Jamie out of a window. The Doctor & Jamie climb a ladder to the roof. Isobel & Zoe realise they're being watched by a camera. The Doctor warns the Brigadier that they may need some assistance from the helicopter. Vaughan & Packer see the helicopter approaching and Vaughan orders it shot down. The helicopter lowers a rope ladder, which Jamie climbs down, opening the window in Zoe & Isobel's room allowing them all to escape up the rope ladder. The Brigadier is concerned but Captain Turner reports mission's success. Packer is angry at the UNIT helicopter. Vaughan orders the Cerebration Mentor brought to London: he is bringing the Invasion plans forward for 24 hours time. He calls the Ministry of Defence and asks to speak to Major General Rutlidge. Vaughan tells him to stop UNIT from interfering. On the Hercules The Brigadier says they were lucky to get away with it, while Isobel wishes she had her camera for some photos which Captain Turner says would have provided proof of Vaughan's activities. The Doctor is concerned by who fired missile at them and why there are deep space radio transmitters at Vaughan's compound. Sergeant Walters wonders if it's linked to recent UFO sightings, which the Doctor asks for pictures of. Vaughan tells Professor Watkins, who still believes Vaughan holds his niece, that he has 24 hours to complete the Cerebration Mentor or Isobel will be hurt. The Doctor thinks the UFO pictures are significant. They started about a year ago but the UFOs vanish over South England, roughly the area covered by Vaughan's factories. He asks Jamie if he recognised what's in crate, guessing it was brought in on UFOs and then taken to Vaughan's London headquarters. The Doctor looks at map and finds underground river into Vaughan's London HQ. The Doctor & Jamie canoe in and enter the headquarters. They witness a Cylinder being worked on by technicians. There is a pulsing noise and light as the thing inside begins to move, a tall silver figure bursting out of it's container: A Cyberman!

This episode is all about two of the big sets pieces in the story: the helicopter rescue and the reveal of the monsters. We can't see what happened with the helicopter of course and have to rely on the animators' interpretation, but my faith in Douglas Camfield's abilities makes me think it looked rather good. The monster reveals we can see as it's on the reprise at the start of episode 5. They've been hinting at it being the Cybermen all along: the device in Vaughan's office is similar to the Cyberplanner, the insinuation with the packaging crates and Vaughan's comment to Packer is that Vaughan's staff, Packer included have already been partially converted to Cybermen like Toberman was in Tomb of the Cybermen while the form moving in the crate is reminiscent of the Cybermen in storage in both Tomb and Wheel in Space. We know the Cybermen have no emotions so using emotions against them is a sensible trick and another hint.

Like episode one, this episode is missing from the BBC archives. You've got to feel sorry for the Cosgrove Hall animators who produced these episodes: Given a famous Doctor Who monster story to work with this is the only occasion they get to animate the monster and the bit they get to do already exists so will inevitably suffer in comparison!

Fraser Hines tells a story that when the helicopter scene was filmed (and photographed - there are pictures out there) the female members of the cast were having trouble with their skirts being blown up and the camera angles inevitably showing their underwear. Not so our Scottish character: he'd had lead weights sewn into his kilt!

The Cybermen have had a major makeover since the Wheel in Space: The chest unit is a similar design and stays the same way up with the circle at the top, but the top of the unit is now rounded. The rods on the limbs are changed but are broadly similar to the Wheel in Space Cybermen. A new large head has been cast for the Cybermen adding some ribbed padding to the side of the head which completely changes the look. This head will be the basis for all Cybermen from now on appearing in Revenge of the Cybermen with some extra ribbed tubing round the head pipes and used as a starting point for the Earthshock style heads. Interestingly the Revenge chest units are the same as the older Moonbase/Tomb ones and mounted that way up with the circle at the bottom.

You wonder if the Cybermen could have been revealed a little sooner in the story and suspect when the story was stretched to eight episodes their reveal was delayed. I can see the reveal as being in the middle of the story still. If we take Peter Bryant's advice and cut the story down to four episodes then I see episode one ending with Jamie in the crate, episode two being similar to the existing episode four and ending with the Cybermen's reveal and episode three climaxing in the famous sequence from the end of the existing episode six. There's lots of padding from episodes 1-3 that could go leaving episode 4 at Vaughan's London HQ. It's been a few years since I watched the Invasion so I'm not sure what could easily be excised from episodes 5 & 6 but I recall there's a lot of waster in episode eight spent mucking around with missiles.

This episode was broadcast on Doctor Who's fifth anniversary.

222 The Invasion: Episode Three

EPISODE: The Invasion: Episode Three
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 222
STORY NUMBER: 046
TRANSMITTED: 16 November 1968
WRITER: Derrick Sherwin & Kit Pedler
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Peter Bryant
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Invasion

The Doctor & Jamie explain to Vaughan they're looking for Isobel & Zoe. Vaughan says they left denying they were put in the box. Vaughan says he'll show them inside a box but as they arrive at the train yard the boxes are drawing away on a train. Vaughan takes them to his other factory to meet train. Benton sees them leave in Vaughan's car who reports back to the Brigadier who gets Captain Turner sent to monitor things in a helicopter. The Doctor, Jamie, Vaughan & Packer arrive at factory where they go to Vaughan's office, an exact duplicate of that in London. The Doctor gets his circuits back. Jamie spots the UNIT Chopper through a window, while the Doctor sees what looks like a deep space communications array. Taken to see Professor Watkins, the Doctor blocks monitoring device with magnet so they can talk to Professor Watkins who shows them his Cerebration Mentor, a teaching device that can induce emotions. Vaughan sends Packer to get them but they give him the slip escaping in lift, then when it's stopped climbing the shaft onto the roof, then escaping down fire escape. They make their way back to the railway sidings searching for Isobel & Zoe but are found by guards. Jamie hides in a crate and is alarmed when the contents start moving .....

Right I know that at eight parts The Invasion is a little longer than expected or planed. In fact when Peter Bryant saw the material Kit Pedler had supplied for a six parter he reckoned that Derrick Sherwin should turn it into a four parter but when Paul Wheeler's “The Dreamspinner” went Tango Ultra on them, the Invasion ended up being eight parts and the "reserve script" Terrance Dicks had been knocking into shape got brought into play. So you might expect the Invasion to have a little padding. So when I see characters escaping from a stalled lift through the roof and climbing out which is the oldest trick in the book I'm pretty sure I'm able to identify some of the padding (and when you think about it was all the stuff with the lorry driver necessary?) Fortunately it's terribly good padding and everyone involved is sticking to the adage "if you're going to do something do it well". Troughton and Hines are on fine form, the latter getting to have a bit more comic fun as he gets in the back of the car, leaps out the other side and climbs in the front. The ending to the episode is absolutely top drawer, Jamie is trapped in the crate with something that starts to move. Again this might be a bit of foreshadowing reminding you of previous stories. It's episode 3 and we still don't know who the villains are yet!

The former Guinness Brewery in Park Royal provides the Railway sidings seen in this story. I've got a 1955 railway atlas of the UK but am struggling to find precisely where the railway siding are on the London Map, despite knowing exactly where Park Royal is from the Underground Station. I guess it links to the main line somewhere near Paddington Station. The story has it that Patrick Troughton & Fraser Hines enjoyed a fine lunch courtesy of the Guinness directors and had some trouble with the one brief scene they filmed in the afternoon requiring them to look round a corner. Troughton would later be sent a Christmas Pudding from the company, laced with their famous product, which exploded in his agent's office!

221 The Invasion: Episode Two

EPISODE: The Invasion: Episode Two
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 221
STORY NUMBER: 046
TRANSMITTED: 09 November 1968
WRITER: Derrick Sherwin & Kit Pedler
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Peter Bryant
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Invasion

We're back to proper pictures this episode and the next one. Don't worry though because the animation is back in Episode 4.

The Doctor & Jamie walk down street, followed by the men in the car that we saw in the last episode. Realising they're being pursued they start to run.... Meanwhile Zoe is posing for Isobel's photos but is starting to worry about where The Doctor & Jamie have got to. They've been cornered by two cars and surrounded by the occupants before being forced into the car and driven away. Vaughan's chief scientist Gregory has been examining the circuits taken from the Doctor but doesn't recognise their function. Zoe & Isobel decide to go to International Electromatics to look for their missing friends. The car containing the Doctor and Jamie drives onto an airfield and into the back of a waiting Hercules transport plane. Once inside the Doctor & Jamie are reunited with Lethbridge Stewart, who they met in The Web of Fear. He's now been promoted to Brigadier. Four years have passed since the Yeti incident and is now heading the UK branch of UNIT, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. His men have been watching IE. People go into IE but some don't come out and some of those that do come out changed. The Brigadier's regular army superior Major General Rutlidge supported his investigation of IE but after a visit withdrew his support. Zoe & Isobel arrive at IE. Tobias Vaughan shows a photo of the Doctor and Jamie to the machine which recognises them from Planet 14 and states the Doctor & Jamie are dangerous and must be destroyed. Their Invasion plans near completion. Zoe gives the reception machine an ALGOL problem which overloads it, but alerted to their presence they are soon captured by guards taken to Vaughan. The Brigadier shows the Doctor & Jamie photos of visitors to IE and they recognise lorry driver who was a UNIT agent. UNIT has no power to search IE, but the Doctor & Jamie decide to investigate. The Brigadier lends the Doctor a radio transceiver should they need help. Returning to the London flat the Doctor & Jamie find Zoe & Isobel gone. The Doctor examines the radio Vaughan gave Jamie and identifies a number of circuits inside that aren't necessary to it's function. They find a note written on the wall saying where Zoe & Isobel have gone. Zoe & Isobel are questioned by Vaughan. Isobel's uncle Professor Watkins won't co operate with Vaughan so he decides to use Isobel to get him to help. The Brigadier confirms his men saw the girls go in. The Doctor & Jamie break in to the IE complex through railway sidings at the rear of the building. Gregory still doesn't understand the Doctor's circuits which don't make sense to him. Vaughan asks his machine for more data on Doctor which replies saying he must be destroyed. Vaughan argues with it wanting more info saying he is in charge of the Invasion on Earth. Vaughan's machine says the Doctors has a machine which got him to Planet 14 and repeats that the invasion must succeed. The Doctor & Jamie see large heavy cylinders being carried into the IE Complex with ease. Jamie says that the worker must be a superman. Packer spots them and reports to Vaughan, who orders Isobel & Zoe taken to the warehouse. The Doctor & Jamie hear Isobel & Zoe's screams as they're knocked out. They are placed into a cylinder and loaded onto "the return van". Jamie jumps Packer hoping to escape but they are easily captured by guards.

A cracker again this week, again minimising the science fiction elements of the story. One of them, the worker carrying the load with ease, is a hanging plot thread that's never explained. The intention was to show that the factory workers had been enhanced by Vaughan's allies but that element never made it on screen. Here it merely serves as another hint towards the identity of the alien force and that element of the story, stringing out the mystery of just who is invading works well. It's a shame that the Radio Times at the time decided to spoil it by printing a photo of the foes against the listing for an early episode. Zoe uses the computer language ALGOL in this episode. I sense the hand of Kit Pedler in it's inclusion and Derrick Sherwin's dramatic licence in it effect! There's a couple of lovely comic pieces with the Doctor & Jamie first as they sit down to play cars while they wait for capture by the Unit soldiers, then as they set about the plate of sandwiches they find in the flat and finally as they dash round a corner to evade Packer's guards only to tear back 2 seconds later followed by more of them!

This episode sees the return of Colonel, now Brigadier, Lethbridge Stewart and the first appearance of UNIT. This story was very much written with an eye on the future. Aware of the cost of constantly building new alien worlds for the Doctor to land on Derrick Sherwin planned a revamp of the show with the Doctor marooned on contemporary Earth. The addition of UNIT to the show gives the Doctor an organisation behind him to back him up. Nicholas Courtney had appeared twice in Doctor Who, once as Lethbridge Stewart, and was more than keen to appear regularly. Lethbridge Stewart, at this point not possessing a first name and you'll be surprised how long it takes him to get one, thus becomes the second returning human character in Doctor Who after Travers, and the third recurring character after the Monk & Travers. The fifth, Benton, is also in this story. But should you count The Brigadier and Benton as companions? Maybe, when they're in nearly every story. But here there's been nearly a good few months between Lethbridge Stewart's appearances and a year until his next one, so not yet. Interestingly he's not seen the Tardis yet and not been inside it: It will be some time before he does and Benton in the end gets there first!

Two new characters join the tale this week. Robert Sidaway had already played Avon in The Savages before appearing as Captain Jimmy Turner here. Ah that's really funny: The first Unit Captain has played a character called Avon in Doctor Who while the third, Captain Hawkins in The Silurians, is played by Paul Darrow who goes on to play a really famous Avon. That's amused me. Vaughan's chief scientist Gregory is played by Ian Faibairn, who'd previously been in The Macra Terror as Questa. He becomes a favourite of director Douglas Camfield returning to appear in Inferno as Bromley & provide the voice of the Penetration Announcer and also appear on screen in The Seeds of Doom as Chester.

The main location for the International Electromatics Headquarters is The Millbank Tower in London. It'll reappear in Douglas Camfield's final story The Seeds of Doom. Some may find it amusing that an evil organisation was using Millbank Tower as it's HQ in the 1960s as it's now the home of the Parliamentary Labour Party. The Hercules scenes are filmed down the road from me at RAF Fairford, and locations nearby provide the field and country roads seen in the first episode.