The Invasion Episode Seven

The one where the Cybermen seem to totally disappear...

Ah, so the Doctor's OK and will be in this episode after all! I suspected that Patrick Troughton was due an untimely week off when I saw the Doctor collapse toward the end of episode 6, but it was just a bluff! However, numerous other characters do take a substantial back seat in this episode, namely Jamie, Isobel and Professor Watkins. After they've escaped the attack on Travers' house early on, none of them appear again.

It's a strange turn of events, some of which makes sense, some of which doesn't. Frazer Hines had a week off during episode 8, and so only appears in pre-filmed inserts for that episode, but quite why he's totally removed from the action here is a little bewildering (plus, Packer's men shoot at Jamie four times, but if one bullet hit him at that proximity, surely all four could have?). Isobel is said to be tending to her wounded uncle, who we still haven't seen speak to one another, and it seems we never will, because Edward Burnham doesn't appear at all in episode 8. All very curious...

Something else noticeably absent from episode 7 is the Cybermen, who are seen only in the reprise from episode 6, and then not at all again. This is a really strange decision by Derrick Sherwin, seeing as the mass invasion has begun, is constantly referred to, and needs to be seen to get across its impact. But we see absolutely nothing of the invasion, just a lot of people talking in rooms. Was it really not possible to slip some pre-filmed location shots in of Cybermen on the streets? It's pretty rubbish for them to start the invasion in episode 6, and then completely vanish in episode 7. The kids at the time must have been monumentally disappointed!

I've only just got around to noticing this episode how underwhelming designer Richard Hunt's set is for Travers' lab and hallway. Almost bare walls and sparse furnishings suggest very little effort or thought has gone in to it, despite the fact it's somebody's home (a photo of Travers with his niece on the wall would have been a nice touch). A fair amount of set dressing went into Isobel's room in episodes 1 and 2, but here, the house is like an empty shell.

There's loads of military shenanigans in this episode, making it rather dry and dull. I suppose it might have been more impressive back in 1968, thanks to the stock footage of missile launchers and what-not, but it doesn't amount to very much more than padding in the grand scheme of things. It's bemusing how the Brigadier has to send men to Russia to liaise with them on using their orbital launch technology. This is UNIT - ie, United Nations - so why can't Russia's equipment be used as part of an international operation? Or America's for that matter.

I do like how the Brigadier finds the spookily abandoned Henlow Downs base, with its personnel unconscious through lack of neuristers. Good old Zoe manages to bring Major Banwell round with a solid shoulder massage, however!

Wendy Padbury gets far more to do in this episode than she has for weeks, revisiting Zoe's finely honed computing skills (while also revisiting her sparkly jumpsuit) and proving herself essential to wiping out the Cybermen's advance fleet in space. The scene where she rushes around the control room, clipboard in hand, making notes, is hilarious if only for the fact all the men take the opportunity to ogle her mercilessly! Subtlety is obviously not the RAF's strong point!

The strongest part of the episode is the Doctor's meeting with Vaughan (which he's doing to buy time until episode 8 arrives). Two acting juggernauts head to head in a scene which feels relaxed and knowing, each intellect circling the other, sizing one another up. The Doctor is trying to give Vaughan one last chance to try and stop the Cyber-invasion by confronting him with the fact that they will wipe out humanity, but he seems not to be moved by this, proving that despite his mind remaining human, it remains a psychopathic, megalomaniacal mind.

By the end, with Vaughan physically repelled by the Cyber-planner and discarded as no longer necessary, he realises the trouble he's in. He's been a blind fool not to anticipate this. As the Doctor says: "Is this what you wanted? To be ruler of a dead world?"

First broadcast: December 14th, 1968

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Kevin Stoney and Patrick Troughton get to bounce off one another beautifully.
The Bad: Where have the Cybermen gone? After building up to the invasion for six entire episodes, they now totally disappear! Unforgivable production choice.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

NEXT TIME: Episode Eight...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Two; Episode Three; Episode Four; Episode Five; Episode Six; Episode Eight

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-invasion.html

The Invasion is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Invasion-Disc-Set/dp/B000GH2VOK.