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The Invasion was the third story of Season 6 of Doctor Who. It featured the Cybermen in what became their established form for the next two decades. The Invasion also featured the second appearance of the Brigadier and formally introduced the organization known as UNIT and the character of Corporal (later Sergeant) Benton.
Synopsis
Escaping from the Land of Fiction, the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe find themselves on 20th-century Earth, where they assist Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT in their investigations of the suspicious operations of industrial leader Tobias Vaughn. They soon learn that Vaughn is working with an old enemy of the Doctor's in their plan to invade and conquer Earth.
Plot
Episode One
The TARDIS materialises in space over the dark side of Earth's Moon, and is promptly fired upon by a missile from an unknown spaceship. The Doctor rushes to affect an emergency relocation out of the missile's path. After rematerialising, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe find they have arrived in the late 20th century just outside London. However the TARDIS's visual stabiliser has become damaged, rendering it invisible. In order to have it repaired, they set out to find Professor Travers and ask for his assistance. When they arrive, they find that he has left for America, leaving his home in the care of Isobel Watkins and her professor uncle (also called Watkins). She explains that the Professor (Watkins) has disappeared, after he worked on an invention for International Electromatics. The Doctor and Jamie go to IE's head office in London to investigate.
When the computerised receptionist won't let them past, they seek out another point of entry; this leads them to being gassed and taken by security chief Packer to see IE's Managing Director, Tobias Vaughn. He apologises for the rough treatment the companions have endured, and explains that Professor Watkins was engrossed in a delicate stage of his worked and agreed to remain on site, — a statement which has piqued the Doctor's suspicions. After they leave, Vaughn opens a hidden panel in the wall of his office, revealing an alien machine. A decidedly inhuman voice speaking through the machine tells him that the Doctor and Jamie have been recognised from Planet 14, and are a threat to their plans.
Episode Two
The Doctor and Jamie are abducted by two men, later revealed to be Corporal Benton and Tracy, and taken to a EC-130H Hercules transporter plane, housing a complete operations room, where they are met by the Brigadier. He explains about UNIT, and the taskforce's investigation of IE.
Concerned about their failure to return, Zoe and Isobel leave for IE in search for them. They also encounter the receptionist, but, instead of seeking another method of entry like Jamie and the Doctor, Zoe destroys the computer by assigning it an insoluble equation in ALGOL, causing its circuits to overload. Vaughn is watching and orders Zoe and Isobel brought to him. Isobel is used to make her uncle, who is being held captive, co-operate.
The Doctor and Jamie return to Travers' house, to find a note from Zoe and Isobel, explaining their going to search for them. They return to IE, and find several packing cases being loaded onto a train. Part of a feather boa Isobel gave to Zoe is hanging out of one of the boxes, alerting the Doctor and Jamie to the fact that their friend is inside. But before they can rescue Zoe and Isobel, the Doctor and Jamie are again captured by Packer.
Episode Three
The Doctor and Jamie are taken to Vaughn, where the Doctor accuses him of kidnaping Zoe and Isobel, - a claim Vaughn flatly denies. Vaughn invites the two companions to come to the company's country compound, where the train will be arriving; it is here where they meet Professor Watkins, who has been warned to not mention Zoe and Isobel's whereabouts. He shows the Doctor his cerebration mentor, a teaching device that is capable of inducing emotional changes.
The Doctor queries Vaughn of the deep space communicator he noticed when he came into the compound; in return, Vaughn demands that the Doctor explain about the failed visual stabiliser, even threatening to hand Zoe to Packer if he doesn't co-operate.
The Doctor and Jamie escape onto a railway siding. Whilst in the crates, Jamie has a near encounter with an automated cocoon.
Episode Four
The Doctor and Jamie emerge from the crates, and overhear guards being ordered to take Zoe and Isobel to the tenth floor.
Vaughn confides in Packer that he intends to use the cerebration mentor to control the Cybermen once they have invaded Earth; he also intends to use the TARDIS as a "getaway car", should he fail.
Vaughn broadcasts over the intercom system to the Doctor that he has ten minutes to surrender or Zoe will be harmed. Using a communicator given him by the Brigadier, the Doctor calls for assistance from UNIT, who assist in rescuing Zoe and Isobel from the room in which they are locked. Realising how dangerous UNIT are to his plans, Vaughn exercises hypnotic control over Major General Rutlidge, and orders him to cease UNIT's investigations.
The Doctor examines photographs of UFOs over the IE factory, and reasons that those ships are bringing cocoons to Earth. He, along with Jamie, sneak into the London IE warehouse, where they witness the emergence of a Cyberman from its cocoon.
Episode Five
After witnessing the reactivation of the Cyberman, the Doctor and Jamie sneak back out of the IE warehouse. They return to UNIT HQ and warn the Brigadier that a Cyberman army are invading Earth, and that they are hidden somewhere in London. However, Rutlidge has ordered the Brigadier to cease all investigations against IE. Lethbridge-Stewart intends to gain authgority from Geneva, but requires proof to back his reasoning. Isobel offers her expertise as a photographer, but the Brigadier refuses.
Vaughn tests Watkins' device on an awakened Cyberman; however, the alien is driven mad by the machine, and escapes into the sewers. Vaughn reveals that in an hour's time, the Earth will come under the control of the Cybermen through a micromonolithic circuit built into every IE device; the Doctor discovers this same circuit when he opens up an IE radio, and sets about making a device to block the telepathic signal.
Meanwhile, Isobel, Zoe and Jamie have ventured into the sewers to obtain proof of the Cybermen's presence on Earth. There they encounter the insane Cyberman, which kills a police officer who has followed them down into the sewer, then begins menacingly approaching the intrepid trio.
Episode Six
Isobel, Zoe, and Jamie narrowly escape from the sewers, but not before Isobel has managed to snap some photos of the Cyberman. The photos, however, prove to be worthless as they look too much like fakes.
Watkins perfects his machine and delivers it to Vaughn, but discovers that the Managing Director has been partially cyberrised. UNIT manage to free Watkins from IE, during which time the Doctor creates a neurister, which neutralises the Cybermens' hypnotic signals. The Brigadier orders all the troops to have one of these taped to the back of each one's neck. At dawn, the signal is broadcast, causing people around the world to collapse unconscious; leaving the Cybermen able to take over London.
Episode Seven
UNIT plan to use a Russian rocket to destroy the source of Vaughn's signal, while using UK missiles to destroy the incoming Cyberfleet. Captain Turner is sent to Russia to organise the rocket, while the Brigadier goes to the Henlow Downs missile site. The Doctor stays back to try and dissuade Vaughn one last time. The missiles are successfully launched, with help from Zoe, and the Cybermen blame Vaughn for the setback in their plans, announcing that they will use a megatron bomb to destroy life on Earth.
Episode Eight
Furious, Vaughn uses the cerebration mentor to destroy the machine in his office.
The Doctor persuades Vaughn to now aid humanity instead of try to defeat it, and they take a helicopter to the factory, where they use Watkins' machine to battle the massed army of Cybermen; UNIT forces arrive later to assist. Vaughn is killed in the skirmish, but the homing signal is successfully shut down. The megatron bomb is destroyed by a missile, while the rocket destroys the last Cyberman ship, consequently stopping the hypnotic signal.
With the crisis now over, and the visual stabiliser circuits now repaired, the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie leave in the TARDIS.
References
Individuals
Races and Species
Geographic Locations
Devices
- ALGOL
- Cerebtron Mentor
- computer
- helicopter
- hypersonic jet
- lift
- magnet
- micromonolithic circuit
- missile
- radio
- rocket
- visual stabiliser circuit
Astronomical Objects
Cast & Characters
- The Doctor - Patrick Troughton
- Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines
- Zoe Heriot - Wendy Padbury
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
- Tobias Vaughn - Kevin Stoney
- Isobel Watkins - Sally Faulkner
- Corporal Benton - John Levene
- Captain Jimmy Turner - Robert Sidaway
- Packer - Peter Halliday
- Professor Watkins - Edward Burnham
- Lorry Driver - Murray Evans
- Tracy - Geoffrey Cheshire
- Patrolman - Walter Randall
- Gregory - Ian Fairbairn
- Sergeant Walters - James Thornhill
- Phone Operator - Sheila Dunn
- Major General Rutlidge - Edward Dentith
- Workman - Peter Thompson
- Policeman - Dominic Allan
- Private Perkins - Stacy Davies
- Major Branwell - Clifford Earl
- Sergeant Peters - Norman Hartley
- Cybermen - Pat Gorman, Ralph Carrigan, Charles Finch, John Spradbury, Derek Chaffer, Terence Denville, Peter Thornton, Richard King
Crew
- Assistant Floor Manager - Sue Willis
- Costumes - Bobi Bartlett
- Designer - Richard Hunt
- Film Cameraman - Alan Jonas
- Film Editor - Martyn Day
- Incidental Music - Don Harper
- Make-Up - Sylvia James
- Producer - Peter Bryant
- Production Assistant - Chris D'Oyly John
- Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
- Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
- Studio Lighting - Robbie Robinson
- Studio Sound - Alan Edmonds, Bryan Forgham
- Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
- Visual Effects - Bill King, Trading Post
Story Notes
- Together with "The Web of Fear," this story set the stage for the UNIT Era of Doctor Who, which began with the following season. Plans were already being made at the time to incorporate UNIT in future stories.
- While the Cybermen would continue to change their appearance on the series, as they had done since their introduction, this story set the basic design for them, first developed for this story by Bobi Bartlett, through the 1980s. Cybermen emerging from cocoons was also used in "Earthshock." They also operate in the London sewers in "Attack of the Cybermen." A mass invasion of london by Cybermen also features in the Season 28 stories, "Rise of the Cybermen," "The Age of Steel," "Army of Ghosts," and "Doomsday."
- The humorous touch of the TARDIS materializing in a cow pasture was also used in "Image of the Fendahl."
- This story was intially intended for four parts, but then expanded to eight after plans for what was to be the next story, the unproduced, "The Dreamspinner," fell through.
- Cybermats were to appear in this story, but later were written out.
- It was during filming of this story that Frazer Hines announced his intention to leave the series.
Influences
The influence of the various spy thriller films and television shows which were popular at this time are very clear. UNIT is in many ways similar to SHADO, the Earth security organization in Gerry Anderson's UFO which premiered the same year as this story. (And elements of which were incorporated in the BBC Past Doctor Adventures novel, "The Indestructible Man.") Tobias Vaughn is similar to villians featured in the James Bond films and The Avengers. The Doctor acting as advisor to a military group dealing with an otherworldly menace is highly reminiscent of the Quartermass serials.
Ratings
- Episode 1 - 7.3m viewers
- Episode 2 - 7.1m viewers
- Episode 3 - 7.1m viewers
- Episode 4 - 6.4m viewers
- Episode 5 - 6.7m viewers
- Episode 6 - 6.5m viewers
- Episode 7 - 7.2m viewers
- Episode 8 - 7.0m viewers
Location Filming
The cow pasture in which the TARDIS materializes was located at Williamstrip Farm at Coln St Aldwyns. Professor Wakins' house was located at St James' Gardens in Kensington. Kingston Minerals in Kempsford served as the IE compound, while the compound's roof was actually that of the Associated British Malsters' Guinness factory in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. Additional scenes at IE were filmed at the Guinness Factory in London. The canoe sequence was filmed at Lisson Grove and the helicopter sequence at Denham Aerodrome in Buckinghamshire. Other scenes were filmed at Ealing Studios and at various locations in Gloucestershire.
Continuity
- The first story to feature UNIT and introduce Benton. Lethbridge-Stewart is now a Brigadier, the rank he will hold in most of the UNIT stories. In "The Three Doctors," the Second Doctor refers to Benton as "Corporal," the rank he held in this story, and Benton points out to him that he has since been promoted to Sergeant.
- Dialogue places this story four years after the events of "The Web of Fear." This story is also placed "some months" before "Spearhead from Space" by dialogue in that story.
- The Cybermen mention an earlier encounter with the Doctor on Planet 14. They thus have had their first encounter with him before their first invasion of Earth, while the Doctor's first known encounter with the Cybermen was just before the end of his first incarnation in 1986. Similarly, the Daleks had already encountered the Doctor in his second incarnation before the events of "The Power of the Daleks." Cybermen at this point know of the TARDIS ("-he has a machine"-), but apparently don't know of its nature or that he is a Time Lord. They know both by the time of the events in "Silver Nemesis," assuming those Cybermen are not, like those in "Attack of the Cybermen," time travellers from the future.
- In "Dalek," Henry van Statten's collection of extraterrestrial artifacts includes the head of a Cyberman from this story. The plate on the display case says it was retrieved from the London sewers in 1975.
- The prologue of Virgin New Adventures novel "Iceberg" opens during the Cybermen invasion in this story. The Cybermen in that novel are said to be from Planet 14, which was first mentioned in this story.
- Tobias Vaughn returns in the Virgin New Adventures novel "Original Sin," in which it is revealed that not only did he survive by transferring his mind into a cybernetic body, but funded the development of BOSS, Operation Golden Age, and Professor Ketterwell's robot, and influenced the expansion and policies of the Earth Empire.
DVD, Video, and Other Releases
DVD Release
Released as Doctor Who: The Invasion, the DVD makes use of animated versions of the missing episodes 1 and 4 that were made by Cosgrove Hall for the defunct BBCi website.
Released:
- Region 2 6th November 2006
- Region 4 3rd January 2007
- Region 1 6th March 2007
Contents:
- Commentary on Episode 1 by James Goss (bbc.co.uk), Steve Maher (Cosgrove Hall films) and Mark Ayres (audio cleanup).
- Commentary on Episodes 2-8 by Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Nicholas Courtney and Chris O'Oyly John.
- Flash Frames - A featurette about the creation of the animated Episodes 1 and 4, including interviews with the animation team at Cosgrove Hall.
- Love Off-Air - An affectionate tribute to the people dedicated enough to capture the soundtracks of Doctor Who in the 1960s, enabling the recreated episodes on this DVD.
- Trailers - Two animated trailers.
- Character Design - Showcasing Steve Maher's character design drawings and animation tests.
- Evolution of the Invasion - Cast and crew recall the making of The Invasion, featuring contributions from Padbury, Hines, Courtney and D'Oyly John, plus Kevin Stoney (Vaughn), Sally Faulkner (Isobel), Peter Halliday (Packer), Edward Burnham (Watkins), Ian Fairbairn (Gregory) and Terrance Dicks (Script Editor).
- VHS Links - Nicholas Courtney's links from the 1993 video release of The Invasion
- Photo Gallery
- Production Subtitles
The animated Episode 1 on the DVD release makes some changes to the episode, as noted on the commentary:
- After the Tardis is attacked, a ship goes across screen (put in by the animators to cover a plot hole).
- The sequence after The Doctor leaves the van that takes them out the compound is shortened.
- The words "Bad Wolf" are put on the wall where Isobel Watkins leaves notes (a reference to the Bad Wolf meme in The 2005 series)
VHS Release
Released as Doctor Who: The Invasion in a two cassette set, with and introduction and linking material covering the missing episodes 1 and 4 by Nicholas Courtney.
Released:
- PAL - BBC Video BBCV4974
- NTSC - CBS/FOX Video 8251
- NTSC - Warner Video E1273
Audio Releases
Released as Doctor Who: The Invasion as part of the BBC Radio Collection. Includes the original soundtrack of the serial with linking narration by Frazer Hines. Released in a special tin that contains the soundtrack of The Tenth Planet and a bonus disc. Includes a bonus interview with Frazer.
- Unofficial Releases - Loose Cannon Productions have made a reconstruction of the missing parts, using audio recordings, authentic pictures, composite pictures, pictures from other stories and specially created material. Note that surviving episodes are not included on the recon.
- Bonus Material:
- Celebrity Introduction by Kevin Stoney (Tobias Vaughn)
- Production Featurette
- Celebrity Interview with Kevin Stoney.
- Bonus Extra - Re-enactment of the scene descending the steps of St Paul's Cathedral.
- Bonus Material:
See Also
- The Invasion Novelization
- Attack of the Cybermen
- Rise of the Cybermen
- The Age of Steel
- Army of Ghosts
- Doomsday
- Iceberg