When is a theme park not a theme park? When it's the staging point for a unique alien incursion of Earth! The mostly Earthbound Third Doctor with his relatively new companion in plucky magazine reporter Sarah Jane Smith and his trusty UNIT sidekick in Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart investigate a mysterious and savage murder discovered within the spacious and intriguing grounds of the brand-new Spaceworld theme park, full of diverse alien creatures to wow the potential crowds and two strange behind the scenes managers orchestrating unusual events during the pre-opening press launch for the much-anticipated attraction, located on the grounds of the popular Hampstead Heath. Soon enough, our heroes go beyond Earth and find themselves in all kinds of danger on the far-off realm of Parakon...
Barry Letts' radio drama turned novelisation from 1993 (which fondly brought back icons Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney, this time to a London recording studio) - The Paradise of Death - enjoyably translates itself to an all-new BBC Physical Audio release. Despite his once producer-ship position, Letts' new story doesn't quite fully re-capture the nostalgic flavour of the Pertwee era to which he once held such a firm and capable creative grip during the early seventies (further hindered by an unwanted new assistant to Sarah Jane - the irritating 'Jeremy'), and it also proves a little overlong in its plotting (breaking established TV series continuity in several places), but there's enough fine sequences to carry it through (including the idea of the TARDIS not landing in the right place when vitally needed (and the consequences that follow from it!), plus the Brigadier (in best 'Colonel Blimp' fashion) going into battle on an alien planet no less, atop a Pterodactyl!). Ongoing Who fan and vocalist supremo Jon Culshaw once again does a fine job capturing the inimitable voices of our main trio within his experienced and enthused telling of the tale.
Heroes, villains and monsters galore, the colourful and exciting Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who cemented the show's popularity with audiences for years to come, of which all are well showcased in this lovely image composition by Lee Johnson.
His attempt to destroy the world through the ancient powers of the mighty Daemon Azal thwarted, The Master's swift escape attempt in Bessie is equally stopped in its tracks by the Doctor's unique control of the vehicle. Surrounded by UNIT troopers, the renegade will surely face international justice for his many crimes against Humanity...
A classic posed image of Roger Delgado at his devilish best as The Master, from the lovely Aldbourne, Wiltshire location filming for The Daemons in 1971.
Jon Pertwee writes to a fan about his friendship with the late, much-missed Delgado.
With the Doctor behaving rather oddly after his regeneration, the Brigadier finds the research centre under attack after a robot steals the plans for a new disintegrator gun. Could the members of the mysterious Think Tank be responsible for the giant invader? How sinister are the intentions of the shadowy Scientific Reform Society? More importantly, can the Doctor recover in time to save the Earth from Atomic War?
Original BBC Video UK VHS sleeve notes
Robot was the story that genuinely cemented my affection for the original Doctor Who series, would see me making the show a regular staple of my TV watching choices, and solidified my memories of the Fourth Doctor's era for the rest of my life with great affection. And Tom Baker immediately made an impact with me as that young child back in the day - I loved the way he looked and acted, mixing humour and heroism, against foes old and new, and especially in this first story from the ever reliable Terrance Dicks (whose name I was starting to remember and look out for now that I had one of his first Target paperback adventures to hand), making sure that the new figure (I wasn't really aware that he was a Time Lord back then) was amongst old friends at UNIT, so as to remind viewers that they were still watching the show they had adored since 1963, or even 1973. Of these four episodes (aired from 28th December, 1974 - 18th January, 1975) , it's the opening and closing ones I recall the most, the former where Tom stole the limelight, and the fourth for its major use of the K-1 robot (Michael Kilgarriff bringing it to great on s screen life) in its threatening, super-large form, holding onto Sarah Jane Smith (the ever-gorgeous Elisabeth Sladen) in memorable King Kong fashion. I even remember the Action Man tank used onscreen against the Robot, as my older brother had had one for a Christmas present a year or so before!
Now with an extra companion in the lovable old-fashioned Harry Sullivan (the gone from us far too early Ian Marter), the Doctor and Sarah's all-new adventures in time and space, beyond Earth and UNIT, were ready to begin. And I couldn't wait to see what happened next...
Tom Baker in an early behind the scenes photo for the story, garbed in Jon Pertwee's wardrobe from Planet of the Spiders.
A lovely on location image of Elisabeth Sladen later used for publicity.
Publicity images sent to merchandisers during location filming.
The Radio Times charts the regeneration whilst promoting Robot.
The dying Third Doctor's regeneration is underway.
The Fourth Doctor's regeneration is complete.
At UNIT, the Brigadier and Sarah Jane Smith converse with the newly regenerated Doctor, persuading him not to depart the Earth just yet.
With the new Doctor confined to hospital, a keen Sarah Jane obtains a pass from the Brigadier to visit the intriguing Think Tank scientific facility. A photo taken during studio rehearsals.
Still Unstable, the Doctor challenges the patience of UNIT's new Doctor, Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter)
A variety of costumes for the new Doctor before he settles down to his familiar look.
In his new wares, the Doctor helps UNIT investigate the theft of the disintegrator gun.
In the hands of the giant K-1 Robot (Michael Kilgarriff), Sarah shows concern for the enslaved artificial creation.
The Robot is sent to kill the Doctor in its creator's laboratory. A rehearsal shot from the story.
UNIT to the rescue, as Warrant Officer Benton leads the heroics.
The Robot escapes UNIT assault.
The robot with its inventor, Professor Kettlewell (Edward Burnham), soon revealed as a traitor working against humanity with an elite group of dangerous scientists.
With Sarah captive, the Robot, deflecting UNIT fire, is led out of the Think Tank facility.
The former Think Tank villains Jellicoe and Miss Winters (Alec Linstead and Patricia Maynard) are thankfully stopped from destroying the world, as the Robot escapes its underground bunker confines.
The Brigadier's use of a laser gun backfires as the Robot increases its size to even more destructive effect, whilst its ongoing concern for Sarah soon puts her in greater danger.
The Doctor and Harry, in Bessie, attack and sadly destroy the unique Robot with a special metal virus. Art by Daryl Joyce.
Helping Sarah get over her grief for the robot, the Doctor plans his next trip in the TARDIS.
The bumbling but lovable Harry soon joins them.
Original K-1 Robot designs by James Acheson.
Acheson on location with the Robot.
Joan Noakes, Lesley Judd and Peter Purves on the set of Robot, as one episode of Blue Peter is disrupted by BBC industrial action.
Tom Baker gets first impressions from younger viewers when making a surprise house call during part one's transmission.
The original Target novel cover art spread, by Peter Brookes.
Young Readers edition adaptation - 1979. Art by Harry Hants.
First UK VHS BBC release sleeve. 1992 art by Alister Pearson.
UK DVD release cover composition by Clayton Hickman.
UK DVD files release cover.
Formidable cover art by Jeff Cummins, originally for the 1979 Target Books reprint.
Now arrived in the Earth of our dimension, the warrior queen Morgaine discovers the female UNIT 'warrior' that is the injured Flight Lt. Lavel (Dorota Rae), whose call for assistance in the local pub at Vortigern's Lake has seen her take on the intimidating forms of both Morgaine and her bolshy son, Mordred. Though impressed with Lavel's bravery, Morgaine soon drains the young woman's mind of all knowledge so as to learn about the unknown abilities of the UNIT soldiers. A chilling scene highlight from the Season 26 adventure, Battlefield.
Extinct no more, as the Invasion of the Dinosaurs begins. Art by Daryl Joyce.
Arriving back on modern-day Earth, the Doctor and Sarah discover London is deserted and under martial law. They eventually find an army patrol but are arrested as looters, and are sent to a detention centre as prisoners. But as their journey begins, their transport comes under attack by a tyrannosaurus rex. Dinosaurs have invaded London!
UNIT has been called in to assist the army with the running of the city, and to try and find a solution to the problems. Released from captivity, the Doctor takes up his old role of UNIT's scientific advisor in order to help try and discover why dinosaurs keep appearing and disappearing from London's streets.
The Doctor suspects a deliberate plan is causing the dinosaur menace, but who is behind the scheme? Who amongst his allies can be trusted? And when Sarah vanishes, just how does she find herself on a spaceship carrying hundreds of people in suspended animation towards a new life on a distant New Earth...??
BBC VHS official release sleeve synopsis - 2003
Invasion of the Dinosaurs has a special place in this writer's heart, being the first Doctor Who story that I can pretty much fully remember seeing back during its original transmission. As a near four-year old I was discovering the magic of the series starring Jon Pertwee, alongside my beginning obsession and fascination with dinosaurs at that early age (as all children especially do for the intriguing and powerful creatures between the impressionable ages of four and eight years old). I wouldn't fully enjoy the whole of Malcolm Hulke's splendidly conceived tale again until young adulthood in the mid-eighties (thanks to Australian copies of copies on VHS) but I never in 1974 thought that the now-derided special effects work was of a poor standard. I was intelligent enough to know that the dinosaurs weren't real, of course, and that they were puppets or models, but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy seeing them in slow, very slow action over the course of the next month of Saturdays, especially the T-Rex versus the Brontosaurus confrontation. All-in-all, the story rightly remains a fan favourite, and there will be a fully CGI makeover at some point when Season Eleven comes to Blu-ray as part of The Collection Range. I just hope that I'll still be alive to see that at the rate the range release is going of two seasons a year...
This story was also a great one for actor Richard Franklin, whose character of Captain Mike Yates was developed further and even became a traitor of sorts opposing the Doctor and UNIT in his quest, alongside other renegade scientists, to bring to reality their plans for Operation Golden Age on planet Earth. I was very sorry to hear of Mister Franklin's sad passing at this past Xmas, and after a long illness. I met the actor and writer/director several times, once in 1985 and in 2007, where he was always very amiable and talkative about all kinds of things, and not just about his four year tenure on Who. He will be missed, though his contribution to the series will be forever celebrated and remembered as part of its own very special Golden Age linked to the 1970's.
Back in present day London, the Doctor and Sarah are caught up in violent past time incursions.
The classic image of the Doctor being terrorised by a Pterosaur.
Sarah, now brandishing a continuity conflicted hairstyle after The Time Warrior, is also terrorised by the creature in a classic image.
Reunited with UNIT, our heroes try to find out who is behind the Dinosaurs appearance.
The Doctor soon locks horns with the bullish General Finch (John Bennett) and his liaison Captain Mike Yates.
Jon Pertwee debuts the Whomobile as he searches London for the culprits behind the time scoop operation.
Great image of a Triceratops trapped in the London Underground.
Sarah watches the Doctor at work developing a weapon that should stun a dinosaur.
Another classic posed image from the story, promoting Jon Pertwee in his now confirmed final season.
Though prior captured, the T-Rex escapes thanks to human sabotage, and almost kills Sarah Jane.
A T-Rex and Brontosaurus clash in a memorable scene.
Conspirators gather in their underground base - Butler (Martin Jarvis), Yates, and Professor Whitaker (Peter Miles).
Having been prior captured, Sarah tries to convince new friend Mark (Terence Wilton) that he and others have been duped into finding a New Earth from a fake spaceship.
Sarah tries hard to convince another space ship believer in Ruth (Carmen Silvera) of the fraud.
Posed shot of Pertwee and Sladen especially taken on set for a UK Doctor Who Holiday Special magazine for 1974.
Classic Radio Times artwork promoting the story, whose first episode was originally transmitted under the truncated title, Invasion. Art by Peter Brookes.
Wonderful art by Chris Achilleos for the first Target printed adaptation of the story. With such memorable art, its no surprise that the original book release was a huge sales success.
Equally striking cover art for a later 1978 reprint edition, by Jeff Cummins.
1993 Target Books reprint cover by Alister Pearson.
American Pinnacle Books paperback releases art, by David Mann, that is equally memorable.
T-Rex unleashed in this fine cover for An Adventure in Time and Space issue 86. Art by Steve Rogers.
One of the last UK VHS releases with photo montage cover.
The unusual but interesting art for the US VHS release.
Clayton Hickman's ingredients packed UK DVD release photo composition.
Doctor Who Magazine issue 335 celebrates the story with a fine cover.
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