The Invasion

DVD NTSC
Region 1

DVD PAL
Region 2
VHS Video
NTSC
PAL
(Doctor Who Story No. 46, starring Patrick Troughton)
  • written by Derrick Sherwin
  • directed by Douglas Camfield
  • produced by Peter Bryant
  • music by Don Harper
  • 8 episodes @ 25 minutes each
Story: Seeking Professor Travers' help in repairing one of the TARDIS's electronic components, the Doctor is led to a leading electronics manufacturer named Tobias Vaughn. But Vaughn is hatching sinister plots with off-world allies, and coming under the suspicion of the newly formed United Nations' Intelligence Taskforce, or U.N.I.T. Is it already too late for the Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart to prevent the invasion?

The DVD's include:

The VHS videos include:

Buyers' Guide Review

by Martin Izsak

(A more in-depth analysis, containing "SPOILERS" and intended for those who have already seen the program, can be accessed here.)


As Douglas Camfield opens the sixth recording block with a landmark classic, several milestones in the Doctor Who program are reached, not least of which is a new level of sophistication in the editing and post-production of the show. Out of order recording replaces the earlier run-on minimal-edit method of studio video taping, (thank goodness!) although this too had its own set of teething trouble as production crews adjusted. "The Invasion" has a lot to offer both long-time fans and casual viewers, so much so that the BBC really should find some way to push this mostly-complete story into their syndication packages with or without the few missing episodes. Perhaps the new animated version coming to DVD will one day allow them to.

Once more, Camfield is forced to clean up the loose ends of a previous story in his opening scene, and writer Derrick Sherwin's dialogue is not too great on informing viewers exactly what concerns our three travellers are so relieved about. The story seems to take quite a bit of time to really get interesting, despite the outer space danger, mystery and action. The music is not too loud this time around, but neither is the dialogue in many cases, and thus "The Invasion" doesn't seem to have the same high-energy that "The Web of Fear" (story no. 41) had. Don Harper and Co. manage to provide interesting music that stands out as very unique in the Doctor Who program, doing an effective job of covering the suspenseful, mysterious aspects of the story. The more light-hearted UNIT theme heard here doesn't really work when first introduced, but the same music is perfect during the good-bye scene at the very end of the story when a more humourous mood is on the menu.

The TARDIS sound during episode one's landing appears to be quite muffled and distorted, but we unmistakably get the one last great higher-pitch wheeze followed by a thud that signified the end of a satisfying materialization all through the 70's and 80's on Doctor Who. Douglas Camfield brought it to you first, masked under too much echo and possibly at the wrong speed as well. Oh well. More luck at getting it perfect next time.

Sally Faulkner manages to make Isobell quite ditzy, but not altogether very watchable unfortunately. More hair than face, more flightiness than charisma. Not much of a substitute for Professor Travers or Anne. Packer is not the most inspired of characters either, although Peter Halliday does a fair job of portraying him.

The story picks up a bit once Tobias Vaughn is introduced. Kevin Stoney plays the part superbly: cool, suave, and under control for the most part, yet capable of explosions of greater magnitude as well. Then of course John Levene's Sgt. Benton turns up, and we meet Nicholas Courtney's always enjoyable Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. His introduction of his promotion and the formation of the UNIT organization add extra interest to the usual dynamics of a UNIT story, which work particularly well this time around.

Jack Watling's Professor Travers has been replaced by Edward Burnham's Professor Watkins. Burnham puts in a good performance, much more serious and believable than his more eccentric role in Tom Baker's first story, "Robot" (story no. 75).

The cyber-planner is back, looking better than in "The Wheel in Space" (story no. 43), but not sounding so great this time around. Peter Halliday, already playing Packer, was not the best choice for vocalizing all things cybernized in this story. At least the few lines spoken by real cybermen sound a bit better. The planner, while still not being the best of ideas to begin with, seems to serve a much better role in this story where it can be mistaken for just a communication device rather than any real kind of "leader".

The cybermen themselves finally look good as they gain the full set of rings on the sides of their heads. Much better. Their introduction seems a bit out of place though, as if it was planted there artificially. Perhaps it was originally meant to occur earlier in the story, before "The Invasion" was expanded in length.

"Missing in Action"

Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines both take holidays during this story, in episodes 3 and 8 respectively. The timing seems a bit premature, as they've only just come back from a holiday break between recording blocks, but in each case their absenses fit into the plot seamlessly. In particular, Jamie's sidekick role is more than adequately filled by the Brigadier, Benton, and the host of UNIT troops.

Benton's role is quite minor early on, although he still manages to make an appearance of some kind in most episodes. Captain Jimmy-Boy is the one who's got the Brigadier's ear in this one, not the worst of characters by any means, but he and Isobel manage to get less and less interesting as a substance-less bit of flirting develops between them, detracting from the main story. To their credit, they get a good scene at the end of episode six, neatly counterpointing the horrific audio-visual imagery of the cliffhanger. Not enough to stop me cheering when Jimmy-Boy goes flying off near the end, and Sgt. Walters disappears, allowing Benton to move forward and take a much more major role in the playing out of the final episode.

UNIT sees a lot of Camfield location action in episode four, but unfortunately episode four doesn't get to be seen these days (not in its original format anyway) with it still ranking amongst Doctor Who's list of lost episodes. Episode Six also has an action beat, but this ended up happening off-screen as Camfield ran out of time to film it. Today's viewer has to wait for episode eight to see a good UNIT battle, which is actually extremely satisfying. Although a rather lame re-use of the Dalek negative effect is used for the Cybermen throughout most of the story, as it was in "The Wheel in Space", the final episode's battle scenes see the cybermen switch over to much more effective hand-held armaments, which deliver a far more satisfying punch. Good job!

Also absent from the usual cyber story is the traditional round of coffee, giving way to tea and a patti-cake biscuit. UNIT may be an international organization, but the familiar contingent led by Lethbridge-Stewart is defined as British as ever here (which is just the way we like it!)


The Doctor has a uniquely dangerous role to play in the concluding episodes, which offer an interesting number of plot-twists and stake-raising. Season Six's pre-occupation with homing signals begins here, and the idea is dealt with best in "The Invasion". (I'll save the details and spoilers for the In-depth Analysis version of this review.) When it all boils down to the final moments though, the Doctor (and Zoe) seem uncharacteristically more interested in posing for pictures than in putting an end to the menace, and the timing of the plot's concluding blows and these humourous moments leaves much to be desired. The script just doesn't put the cameras in the right places for the right amounts of time, and Camfield himself seems to have done little to rectify this problem, allowing moodiness and confusion to obscure the excitement that the climax should have.

The story thankfully wraps itself up without attempting a between-story cliffhanger, allowing a mood of satisfaction during its finish. "The Invasion" is a classic for sure, and very enjoyable at that, but still not quite the best that the Troughton era has to offer.


This story is now available on DVD, VHS video, and audio CD:
DVD NTSC
Region 1
in the U.S.
in Canada 		DVD PAL
Region 2
for the U.K.

DVD Coverage on The Invasion includes:

Doctor Who: The Invasion (1 VHS video tape)


NTSC for North America
PAL for the U.K.

VHS Coverage on The Invasion includes:
Audio CD - Doctor Who - The Invasion.

This audio CD set features the complete audio tracks of all 8 television episodes of this story, narrated by actor Frazer Hines (who also played Jamie McCrimmon) to help listeners follow what used to be visual aspects of the story. This version is playable in any normal audio CD player.

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Read the Buyers' Guide Review for another story: "The War Games"



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