Doctor Who - The Invasion of Time (Episode 97)
Starring: Tom Baker, Louise JamesonStudio: BBC Video
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, NTSC
Running Time: 150 minutes
DVD Release: September 2nd 2008
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DVD Review
Crystalline aliens lurk in their ship in the vicinity of the shield that keeps Gallifrey safe from its enemies, and the Doctor, in his Tom Baker incarnation, is engaged in highly suspicious negotiations with them. As he takes his seat as president of the Time Lords Council and displays ever-increasing signs of paranoia, expelling Leela (Louise Jameson) to the barren area outside the Time Lords' citadel, could it be that he has turned to the dark side? Or is this all a cunning plan?
This is one of the most inventive of the Doctor's adventures back home on Gallifrey, with nicely judged portrayals of the senior Time Lord bureaucracy, some suspenseful journeys through the Tardis's interior, and a surprise appearance by particularly unpleasant old enemies. The real high point, though, is Tom Baker's performance, more barnstorming than ever before, at times blazingly angry and at times even more terrifying when soft-spokenly whimsical; this is a story line that reminds us that the various incarnations of the Doctor are impressive as well as charming. --Roz Kaveney
User Reviews
WHAT IF... the Doctor became EVIL? This one has it all...Timelords, Sontarans, Barbarians and the Lord President Doctor. - Rating: 5/5
The premise of "THE INVASION OF TIME" is simple, but genius: WHAT IF... the Doctor became EVIL? "Invasion" is a sequel of sorts to the Doctor's last visit to his homeworld of Gallifrey in "Deadly Assassin" in which the Doctor saves the Timelords from the Master and in doing so becomes the sole surviving candidate in an election to determine the Timelord Presidency. The story opens with the Doctor apparently selling out his people to anonymous alien invaders. The Doctor berates and expels his companion, Leela and betrays his old Timelord mentor Borusa and before long succeeds in arranging the conquest of the planet. Once revealed, the invaders turn out to be B list, working for the Sontarans (as seen in this season's DW series 4, the "Sontaran Stratagem"). The Sontaran want control over time itself, via the relics of the President's office and the help of the Lord President of the Timelords a.k.a The Doctor...Once the Doctor's plan is revealed things really get complicated...a rebellion against the traitorous Doctor is underway, ultimately leading up to a battle for Gallifrey, even including a "unforgettable" chase through the deep recesses of the Doctor's TARDIS.
Some of the best moments of the story include conversations between the overbearing Lord Doctor and Borusa, his teacher's current & most memorable incarnation played by John Arnatt. Tom Baker is in top form when he in his over-the-top megalomaniacal glory for the first half of the story. The climatic TARDIS chase is memorable, not for the execution, which isn't so good, but the sense of the transdimensional nature of the Doctor's craft. The scenes in the TARDIS really convey the limitlessness and spark the imagination for the possibilities in store for the new series, hopefully. K9 mark I. and Leela say their farewells, but what's not so memorable, the unbelievable romance between the warrior woman Leela and the sheltered Captain of the Guard, Andred. Equally forgettable are some effects on the second string invaders, the Vardans, worse than their horrible shroud images is their actual physical form in some sort of cross between a WWII paratrooper and a TV news cameraman. One major flaw of the finale of the 6 part story is having the Doctor solve the conflict with a gadget, especially when that gadget is for all intents and purposes a big gun! Even fans new to the series, know "the Doctor just `ain't down with `dat!"
For all of it's script troubles, plot and FX flaws, Invasion is a must own for any Doctor Who fan, for it's many Timelord and Tardis milestones and because the Sontarans have just been revamped. Besides, this is history.
"Invasion" Drinking Game
Drink....
...everytime Gallifrey is saved from "the invaders."
...when Leela kills ( or throttles ) someone.
...everytime RASSILON is mentioned (the Presidential induction provides loads of these.)
...when you see the same BBC car-park stairwell in the TARDIS.
...when a Sontaran trips on patio furniture.
Tom Baker, 15th Season Finale - Rating: 5/5
Last episode of the 15th Season (1977) in 6 parts. Key words: Tom Baker, Gallifrey, Leela, K9, Vardans, Sontarans. Last episode with companion Leela.
