The Invasion of Time
Story 97, Episodes 474-480, Season 15 Episodes 21-27
Doctor: The Fourth Doctor
Companions: Leela, K9
The Invasion of Time takes us back to Gallifrey in what actually feels like a season finale, a rarity for a non-regeneration story in the Classic series.
The Review
There’s a lot going on in this story, but almost all of it is good fun. The episode starts with the Doctor signing a contract for unseen aliens, and returning to Gallifrey, demanding to made President. Never has it been more apparent the Time Lords were running on autopilot behind their incredible technology. After Goth’s death in The Deadly Assassin, it seems that as the only other candidate the Doctor is legally required to President, which is quite unfortunate for Gallifrey. A lot of the Gallifrey citadel still looks kind of dingy, the President’s office is pretty nondescript. The Doctor orders Leela banished to outer Gallifrey, and it’s clear that something is up. Our main Gallifreyan cast are the old and snarky Chancellor Borusa, the pathetic guard leader Castellan Kelner (every oligarchy gets its Castellan says the Doctor), the honorable guard Andred, and finally, a Time Lady, Rodan, whom Leela meets and sure seems to be an early attempt at Romana. When Leela and Rodan do escape to Outer Gallifrey they meet a group of Time Lords who rejected the citadel out in the orange sands of the planet. Rodan getting roasted by their leader is an amusing scene.
The main enemy are the Vardans, a race that can project themselves without fully materializing and are instead represented by some trippy crackling foil. The Doctor has the Time Lords bow before them, but when he gets in his now lead-lined office reveals that the Vardans read thoughts and he is playing along to find a way to defeat them. We never quite see why the Doctor thought the Vardans so much of a threat that Gallifrey couldn’t handle them, but he has to blow a hole in Gallifrey’s shields to get them to materialize so he can find out who they are. Once they’re just some fascist soldiers, it’s easy for the Doctor and K9 to see them off. The Doctor triumphantly heads back to the Panopticon where in a whammy of a twist, there are the Sontarans who were behind the Vardans all along. The whole time Castellan was actually working with the Vardans, and now sides with the Sontarans. After the Doctor shakes down Borusa for the Great Key of Rassilon, he retreats with the good guys into his TARDIS. The corridors of the TARDIS are hilariously plain and nondescript, looking like backstage at a theater. Even the pool is amusingly low-rent. The Sontarans bumble along through it until the Doctor has his final weapon, the De-Mat Gun.
The episode is a romp from start to finish, and I can see people disappointed if they expected a more serious tale of invasion. Tom Baker has many blowups under the stress of his deception, but has several fun moments including leering right over Andred’s shoulder as the latter gradually understands the plan. Instead of a dramatic showdown with Sontarans, we instead get an amusing chase through never before seen rooms of the TARDIS. Borusa’s dry wit contrasts perfectly with the madcap Fourth Doctor. It’s an entertaining story, and what more could you ask for? The Doctor loses his memory of this adventure because Rassilon didn’t want him to know of the De-Mat Gun or something. Leela decides to stay because she loves Andred, which is a fittingly random ending to a character the writers could never figure out. K9 Mark I stays with her too. So, Sarah Jane was dumped because no humans on Gallifrey, but here, a human gets to stay on Gallifrey and marry a Time Lord? It also raises questions about why the Doctor never stopped by to talk to Leela again. Is she long dead by the next story on Gallifrey? It’s weird. At least we have K9 Mark II on the way.
It’s a fun story, with the Fourth Doctor at his strangest, as we get a tour of Gallifrey and the TARDIS.
9/10 Way too much strangeness to get a 10, but it’s good alright.
Reviewing Doctor Who from Start to Finish 