Invasion of Earth (TV story)
Invasion of Earth was the first skit included amongst the interviews within 30 Years in the TARDIS, and later More than 30 Years in the TARDIS. It broke the fourth wall, depicting not a straightforward adventure in the Doctor Who universe, but the daydreams of a young boy watching the programme itself (for which reason it is not considered a valid source on this Wiki). New footage was intermingled with archival footage from the Doctor Who stories referenced.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
A young boy is walking around London with a toy gun, pretending that he is fighting Doctor Who monsters. To his horror, as he walks past a shop window, some shop window dummies actually start coming to life as Autons. Running away from them, the boy goes past the web-covered, cadaverous newspaper salesman from The Web of Fear, and up the very same stairs climbed by the Cybermen in The Invasion, he turns a corner to find himself faced with a postbox which, after a second look, begins to look like an angry Dalek — jolting him out of his daydream as he finds that he had simply dozed off while watching Doctor Who from behind the sofa.
Later, he dreams that, as he sleeps on the sofa, he is being hugged and watched over by Sarah Jane Smith — but, just as a Sontaran enters the room, her eyes begin to glow a frightening green.
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Boy - Josh Maguire
- Newspaper seller - Adrian Rigelsford
- Black-haired Auton - Heather Barker
- Auton - Gary Russell
- Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The "monsters" the boy pretends to be shooting at include Monoids, Dalek Troopers and Vogans.
Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The skit did not have an on-screen title, with the bulk of it essentially serving as a pre-credit sequence for the documentary itself, and the final stinger shot with Elisabeth Sladen appearing near the very end, but one was given in the "chapters list" of the VHS edition of More than 30 Years in the TARDIS.
- Josh Maguire also played "The Boy" in several narrative-less "reaction shots" to classic series clips shown throughout the documentary. Additionally, he played a boy in Susan and the Daleks [+]Loading...["Susan and the Daleks (TV story)"], one of the other skits in More than 30 Years in the TARDIS, but this did not seem narratively connected to the opening sequence.
- The name of the shop from which the Autons emerge is "Magister and Splink", hinting at the involvement of the Master.
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