The Invasion of Time (TV story)

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The Invasion of Time was the sixth and final story of Season 15. It marked the final appearances of Leela and K-9 Mark I.

Synopsis

The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, and his behaviour is somewhat unusual. He claims presidential rights and is crowned President. It soon turns out that he has led a group of aliens called Vardans to the planet, in order to eradicate them completely. After they are destroyed, the Sontarans take their oppurtuinty and follow them in their invasion, before being destroyed by the Doctor.

Plot

After a meeting in space with a group of unseen aliens the Doctor returns to Gallifrey and claims the presidency of the Time Lords. Leela meanwhile tries to work out why he is behaving out of character. At his induction, the Doctor is 'crowned' with a device giving him access to the Matrix. He then arranges for the transduction barriers around Gallifrey to be put out of action by K9. When this is done, his alien 'friends' materialise. They are telepathic invaders called Vardans.

The Doctor links K9 to the Matrix in order to determine their point of origin. His plan is to place a time loop around their home planet, but he must avoid arousing their suspicions - hence his erratic behaviour. He banishes Leela to the wastelands of outer Gallifrey for fear that she might unintentionally jeopardise his plans. There she meets a group of Gallifreyan outsiders, and together they organise an attack on the Capitol to fight off the invaders.

The Doctor finally springs his trap and the Vardans are banished. Then, however, Gallifrey is invaded by Sontarans who, unknown to the Doctor, were using the Vardans to enable them to conquer the Time Lords. The Doctor uses knowledge extracted from the Matrix by K9 to construct a forbidden de-mat gun, activated by the Great Key of Rassilon. He then uses this to kill the Sontarans, although his memory of recent events is wiped in the process.

Leela announces that she wishes to stay behind with Andred, one of the Chancellery guards, with whom she has fallen in love. K9 elects to remain with her. Inside the TARDIS, The Doctor constructs another robot dog-K9 II/ The Doctor smiles as the adventure ends.

Cast

Crew

References

Gallifreyan artefacts

Gallifreyan culture

  • Those who live outside the Citadel are the Outsiders.

Gallifreyan locations

Gallifreyan weapons

Planets and Timeline

Psychic powers

Races and species

  • The Vardans can travel along any broadcast wavelength and are telepathic. Their planet has the co-ordinates 3052 alpha 7, 14th span.

Time Lords

Story Notes

  • Leela remains on Gallifrey in the conclusion of this story. This was Louise Jameson's final ongoing onscreen appearance; she reprised the role in Dimensions in Time and later in the Big Finish Productions Gallifrey series of audio dramas.
  • Leela's romance with Andred is undeveloped in the story. Jameson was invited to continue her role. She was unsure whether she would stay until the end of recording, so a plot device had to be ready to allow her to stay on Gallifrey.
  • The Sontarans return in this story making it their third appearance on TV.
  • This story had a working title of The Invaders of Time.
  • Rodan is the first female Gallifreyan to appear on screen since Susan Foreman more than a decade earlier.
  • The Doctor breaks the fourth wall at the end of Part 6, by looking directly at the camera and smiling to the audience. He also breaks it earlier in the story, when trying to open the secret door in Borusa's office, saying "Even the sonic screwdriver won't get me out of this one!" to the audience.

Ratings

  • Part 1 - 11.2 million viewers
  • Part 2 - 11.4 million viewers
  • Part 3 - 9.5 million viewers
  • Part 4 - 10.9 million viewers
  • Part 5 - 10.3 million viewers
  • Part 6 - 9.8 million viewers

Myths and rumours

  • Rodan was the prototype for Romana. Related rumours include actress Hilary Ryan being unavailable for the following season, which resulted in Romana being created as a replacement for Rodan.

Filming Locations

  • Beachfields Quarry, Cormongers Lane, Redhill, Surrey
  • St Anne's Hospital, Redstone Hill, Redhill, Surrey
  • British Oxygen, Blacks Road, Hammersmith
  • Bray Studios, Slough
  • BBC Television Centre (TC8), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • There are gaps around the collar of Stor's armour.
  • When the Doctor is on the spaceship at the beginning of the story, he has his hat and scarf with him but when he enters the TARDIS, they are on the his hat stand, and not with the Doctor.

Continuity

Timeline

DVD and Video Releases

DVD releases

Bonus features:

    • Commentary:Louise Jameson, John Leeson, Anthony Read and Mat Irvine
    • Out of Time: the making of this story.
    • CGI effects: new CGI effects to accompany this story.
    • The elusive David Agnew: a feature on the writer (who is, in fact, a house pseudonym used by several Doctor Who writers)
    • The Rise and fall of Gallifrey: a feature on the planet of the Time Lords.
    • Deleted Scenes: scenes removed from this story.
    • Continuity Compilation: continuity announcements from the BBC.
    • Radio Times billings: artwork and articles for this story from the Radio Times.
    • Photo Gallery: a selection of rare production photos from this story.
    • Coming Soon: a preview of the K-9 Tales Box set.

Notes:

  • DVD Region 2 UK cover

    DVD Region 2 UK cover

  • DVD Region 4 Australian cover

    DVD Region 4 Australian cover

  • DVD Region 1 US cover

    DVD Region 1 US cover

Boxed set release

This story was released in the Bred for War DVD boxset on the 5th May alongside all the classic series Sontaran stories. The DVD is the same as the one sold seperately. Released 8th July in Australia.

  • DVD Region 2 UK cover

    DVD Region 2 UK cover

Video Releases

Released as Doctor Who: The Invasion of Time

Released:


  • VHS UK cover

    VHS UK cover

  • VHS Australian cover

    VHS Australian cover

  • VHS US cover

    VHS US cover

Novelisation

Invasion of Time novel.jpg
Main article: Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time

Novelised as Doctor Who and the Invasion of Time by Terrance Dicks in 1980.

See also

Concerning Gallifrey being invaded or destroyed

External Links

Template:Season 15 Template:Time Lord stories

v • e
Sontaran stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Sontaran story" is one in which one living, authentic Sontaran plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as The Halloween Apocalypse and Survivors of the Flux are not counted due to the Sontarans' appearance being defined by their importance to following stories. Stories like The End of Time and The Time of the Doctor are also not included due to the Sontarans' appearance being no consequence to the plot of the story. Stories featuring Strax of the Paternoster Gang are only included on the Paternoster Gang story template.
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