Gallifrey is being invaded!
The most infamous, powerful and secure planet of galactic legend under the control of the thick-headed Sontaran war fleet? It's an unbelievable scenario but a genuine one, as the Fourth Doctor's success in eradicating the equally power-mad Vardan's plans for conquest of the Time Lords' home planet instead creates an unexpected 'back door' entrance for the squat clone warriors' ultimate arrival and take-over...
The fun end to a mostly successful though production-challenged first season produced by Graham Williams, The Invasion of Time has its faults within six written-in-desperation parts, and had to be emergency cobbled together in a hurry by that enigmatic fella by the name of 'David Agnew', but overall the story is great fun - it's interesting to see Tom Baker playing the Doctor as an untrustworthy and seemingly corrupt leader (at first) - living up to Terrance Dicks idea that, of all the Doctors, it would be Baker's incarnation that could turn to the dark side. There's also the return of the excellent Roger Murray-Leach created sets from the previous year's The Deadly Assassin, and it was a genuine surprise when the Sontarans arrived at the cliffhanger end of the story's fourth episode- the kind of return from an old enemy not handled in such a great way until Peter Davison's Earthshock in 1982. I remember watching he story back in the day and leaping in the air with the first view of the returned Sontarans, and couldn't wait to see what happened next!
Great image composition by Lee Johnson for the Doctor Who - The Complete History partwork series, now bring reissued online.
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| Original Radio Times cutting for the opening episode. |
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