Review of The Android Invasion (#83)
DVD Release Date:  10 Jan 12
Original Air Date:  22 Nov – 13 Dec 1975
Doctor/Companion:  Four, Sarah Jane Smith
Stars:  Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen
Preceding Story:  Pyramids of Mars (Four, Sarah Jane)
Succeeding Story:  The Brain of Morbius (Four, Sarah Jane)

We don’t often get to see a non-Dalek Who story by Terry Nation, but this is one of those times. It’s clear he’s got a good sense of plotting, and loves a good action scene. He also does a lovely job with a rather unexpected twist (as well as a couple of obvious ones). So right off, there’s some pedigree to recommend The Android Invasion.

Then there are the androids themselves. Maybe because it’s one of those idyllic English villages at the center of things, but the creepy behavior of the “villagers” in the local pub can really get under your skin. I suppose there’s a bit of the Uncanny Valley at work. There is, of course, one very well-known doppelgänger to watch out for (if you aren’t familiar with the face-falls-off-the-android scene to which I refer, I won’t spoil it further for you), and the performances of the individuals who have to be androids are actually quite well done.

In contrast, the poor actors forced to play the Kraals (the aliens of the piece) have to put up with heavy rubber masks that had to have been nigh-impossible to move (let alone act) in. Their obvious artificiality scupper any credence the Kraals had as a force to be reckoned with, and stretch the believability of pieces of the larger plot thereby.

None of this was helped by the initial impression – left by a partial glimpse of features – that a Kraal was, in fact, a Sontaran. “Funny,” I thought, “I hadn’t realized the Sontarans were in this one…” (Of course, I later realized my error.) And I couldn’t help but laugh when one Kraal advised the Doctor that “resistance is inadvisable!” Sometimes my nerdities collide…

DVD Extras (highlights)

The Village That Came to Life

The ubiquitous “making of” is presented by Nicholas Briggs. Among the topics of discussion are how the script was commissioned, flaws with the Kraals and other plot inconsistencies, the fact that the story ended up being the somewhat unintentional swan song for both Harry and Benton, and other actors’ impressions of working with Tom Baker and Lis Sladen.

Life After Who: Philip Hinchcliffe

In an interview conducted by his daughter Celina, producer Hinchcliffe discusses the various stages of his career after leaving Doctor Who (which he did at age 32 or 33).

It’s another one of those “put the blinders on” kind of stories. Overlook the Kraal costuming, and you’ll have another quite-good-but-not-utterly-classic story. This is one of those times Four really shines for me, rather than feeling irritating, so I could actually have done with a couple more episodes pretty happily. I’d have liked a bit more Harry, too, but at least Sarah Jane gets to be stereotypical, both falling & twisting her ankle and thinking (again!) that the Doctor has died in front of her eyes. It’s solid stuff.