6.3: The Invasion
- Doctor: Patrick Troughton
- Companions: Jamie, Zoe
- Creators: Derrick Sherwin (Writer), Douglas Camfield (Director), Peter Bryant (Producer)
- Season 6
What's the rating?
Must See.
What's interesting about it?
The introduction of U.N.I.T., and the return of Lethbridge-Stewart, first seen in The Web of Fear, now settling into the role he'll maintain in the show. This is also the first appearance of Benton, who works in the military for Lethbridge-Stewart (the character is very well-regarded by fans; the actor, not so much). U.N.I.T. is the military organization that The Doctor will interact with over the decades of the show, though their appearances trail off after a few years.
This was the first attempt to restore missing episodes using animation, and the approach was a huge hit with fans. Surprisingly, the animation here seems more lively and to have more soul than the subsequent attempts in other stories. I suspect that this involved more hand-made work and that some later animation efforts just involved simplistic moving of shapes to save money, not unlike the He-Man comics and their famous flapping mouths. While the live-action episodes also have excellent direction, the visuals of the animation are actually more interesting than the live action.
The story opens with mysterious events, building suspension through excellent direction of the animation as well as some nice acting and music. The opening has the whole package.
The bad guy is excellent, oozing evil from every pore. Played by Kevin Stoney, he has a disturbing drooping eyelid, a compelling gravelly-yet-smooth voice, and the perfect villain name: Tobias Vaughn.
This is an eight episode story, which means it's doomed to boredom unless something changes mid-way through, and that's exactly what they do here. At the end of the fourth episode we discover the evil behind the evil that is Tobias Vaughn, the Cybermen. (No point avoiding mentioning it here, as the cover of the DVD spoils it anyway.)
The Cybermen and the invasion plot don't do much for me, except for the interesting dance for control that Vaughn is doing with the Cybermen. What makes this a Must See is a combination of the villain and some very nice directing from Douglas Camfield. Complex and subtle camera work heightens the suspense and helps flesh out characters. Tobias Vaughn engages in the most suspenseful and surprising "Go ahead, shoot me" sequence I've ever seen.
The making-of documentary -- Evolution of the Invasion -- is unusually long and in-depth, and worth watching as well.
What are others saying?
For many fans -- especially those who first saw this during their childhood -- this story seems to be what The Dalek Invasion of Earth is for me; that is, the first classic Doctor Who story that truly rocks. I can't begrudge anyone their childhood nostalgia, but I do gently nudge people to check out Dalek Invasion again...