The Invasion of Time

This is a really good episode - until it isn't.

I love the Doctor being creepy and unknowable in the beginning, the doubt and fear that he might be possessed or working for the bad guys. Trying to get Leela chased out of the citadel really leans in on that, but then you realise he did it to protect her, and I ended up rooting both for and against her - fantastic!

All the betrayal and misdirects start getting a little tiresome eventually, but by the time the Vardans are revealed it's obvious we're close to the end. (Possibly a nitpick, but they were described as Human, which makes me question how they got all their special powers, as the Sontarans don't have access to those either. They probably meant humanoid.)

But then the Sontarans arrive, and it feels like they were added in at the last minute when the writers realised they still have to more episodes to fill. I enjoy seeing more of the TARDIS, but this whole plot felt a bit tacked-on and meaningless.

I think my biggest gripe with the episode is Leela's send-off. She barely interacted with Andred up to that point and there was nothing leading me to believe she had any interest in him or in leaving the TARDIS.

I think that when I revisit this episode in the future I'll skip the last two parts and pretend they don't exist.

Mixed feelings towards the Invasion of Time. It's one of those Doctor Who stories that I kind of adore in spite of its very obvious flaws, but it is hard to overlook some of the shortcomings going on here.

Leela is often referred to or dismissed as little more than eye candy in her initial appearances, which is a shame because as a character she's simply bursting with potential. She's just so unique in the time period she represents compared to other companions, so her abrupt and unceremonious departure is not only awkward as hell but feels particularly insulting.

For someone who often bristles at the Time Lords being demystified, I didn't hate that part of the story, and since it's a big part of Invasion of Time, I do have mostly positive feelings towards the episode. Some of the effects are downright laughable and even some of the sets and costumes are not much better, but there's a fun story here where the Doctor gets to play chess master long before that became a major thing for someone like the Seventh Doctor. It's refreshing to see here and Tom Baker really gets to show off how much he can carry a scene even if sometimes the acting gets a little big.

The Sontaran reveal was a bit disappointing. Them almost taking Gallifrey is a cool as hell achievement for these aliens, but it feels undercut by their appearance being quite brief and very late into the story. It's a severe drawback and I yet another thing that holds back The Invasion of Time.

All told, these episodes are good and worth watching especially as a part of Doctor Who continuity since it is essential for Leela's story, but there are flaws, and the reviews here are far from wrong in pointing them out.

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Dalek Protocol

What a finale to a brilliant season, while it definitely had it's faults I think that it balanced the silly and the suspense quite well. Well maybe it was a touch sillier than suspenseful.

The first episode started bold, with the Doctor arriving in Gallifrey to claim his presidency. An absolute masterclass in acting from Tom Baker where you could never tell what was really going on with him, was he possessed, was he betraying the Time Lords, did he have a plan? It turns out, he was acting as a triple agent for the Vardans. The suspense in this and the second episode was absolutely brilliant. It had it's comedic moments and an infamous fourth-wall break.

I think the Vardans were underutilised in this one. Big Finish has showed that they could be a strong adversary for the Doctor. Unfortunately I think the production team at the time took on a fairly big challenge in the form of their design and the reveal of them being fairly normal once arrived makes them a little hard to take seriously.

I knew the Sontarans were supposed to be in an episode with Gallifrey but because of the Vardans taking up the majority of the first three parts, I had completely forgot about them so I think the twist of them appearing worked really well on me. Their silent appearance as the Doctor stares on in horror was much more effective than a regular cliffhanger.

This story was quite surreal and witty, which are two things I'm very much biased to. Since I'm reviewing these stories as part of a timeline including audio stories, I don't have as much of an issue with Leela leaving the TARDIS in the way she did. Her growing desire to leave was hinted at vaguely in a few stories and the precedent was already set for her falling in love. However, bringing up the timeline, this is surprisingly the first time I've encountered a contradiction that took me out of the story for a bit. Leela claims not to know who the Sontarans are despite meeting them in 'The King of Sontar'.

Obviously I can't fault the serial for this, as it was released years before the audio, so in that regard it's more of a critique of the audio not keeping in line with continuity, even then, it's a very short line so I really don't blame the writers for forgetting it, nor do I think it de-canonises either story.

"Even the sonic screwdriver won't get me out of this one."

Next Story: The Sinestran Kill

Given how intriguing the plot of The Invasion of Time is, with all its twists and turns, it is a crying shame that once again the production is a bit of a mess. The silvery tin foil monsters with the voices of preppy sixth formers make it impossible to take them seriously as a threat. I’ve never had consistent issues with Doctor Who’s production until season 15, but this series a lot of design and directorial choices have missed the mark and waster brilliant scripts and acting.

It’s Overlong. By part 5 it turns into a studio bound action adventure that I think could only be done justice by the new series’ budget. I actually rather enjoyed part 6 in many ways though, despite it being quintessential runaround by this point in the lesser seen, rather unconvincing quarters of the TARDIS.

Although Leela has the classic “I've suddenly found a man” send off, both she and the love interest play the scene convincingly - it’s touching. I will miss her. There’s a nice misdirect with the K-9 farewell… I do hope he is less noisy in season 16!

Doctor Who: The Tom Baker Years Season 15 Serial 6

It was a good Gallifrey story, seeing the Doctor acting mad with power was fun, but unfortunately, it got ruined by the ending. I loathe "companion leaves out of love" exits, they're boring and unoriginal, it was extremely out of place for a character like Leela, especially with another character she barely interacted with. It could have been a 4/5 story. but the ending removes half-a-star.