The Invasion of Time Part Five

The one where the Doctor becomes the first President of Gallifrey since Rassilon to hold the Great Key - and then gives it to an alien savage...

The Sontarans have invaded Gallifrey! What a corking plot twist that is. I mean, it could have been a more likely race of monster, like the Daleks or Cybermen, but the Sontarans will do, I suppose. This is the first time the Sontarans have been shown in force, as The Time Warrior only had one (Linx) and The Sontaran Experiment just two (and one was on a screen). Unfortunately, these Sontarans are led by Cockney Stor, who speaks in fits and starts as if he's constipated. Stor is certainly no Linx, and actor Derek Deadman is definitely no Kevin Lindsay!

I like the musical theme Dudley Simpson has for the Sontarans though, a deep parping signature reminiscent of the one Malcolm Clarke comes up with for the Cybermen in Earthshock.

As nice as it is to see the Sontarans back (and in greater number), it would be nice to actually see them. They all spend the entire episode with their helmets on, and Deadman's dialogue is muffled as a result. We do get a tiny glimpse of what's under the helmet when Stor speaks to Kelner in the force field control area, but that doesn't look good at all, with the eyes beneath misaligned with the eyeholes in the helmet. Perhaps it's best they just keep their helmets on.

They might as well be any old monster; they might as well be the Vardans. The Sontarans do not do anything especial of their race. Stor seeks "victory", but is quite vague about his aims and objectives. It isn't until the Doctor suggests victory over time that Stor realises such a thing is possible. He just wants "victory over all", but seems to have no actual idea of how to achieve that. There is no clear reason for the Sontarans to be in this story. Why not just stick with the tin foil guys?

The whole episode degenerates into a chase, with the Doctor and his multitudinous entourage trying to stay one step ahead of Stor and his weaselly sidekick Kelner. I don't like Kelner. Milton Johns was perfectly cast as this cowardly, obsequious traitor (he could be said to be typecast as these characters), but I don't get enough characterisation to understand why Kelner is quite so much of a monumental snake in the grass, betraying his entire society, race and planet just to preserve his own neck. It doesn't seem enough to me. I can buy that Kelner is only out for himself, but what's made him that way?

As the Doctor rallies his troops in his lead-lined office, he adds Cardinal Borusa to his ranks, played with consistent remove by John Arnatt. It's all well and good Borusa talking of detachment and dignity, but he makes Borusa such an under-powered presence, a vacuum of personality, that it's like he's acting through treacle. He barely ever comes alive, his every move is soporifically slow, his delivery lethargically somnolent. Borusa is written to be circumspect, but Arnatt's performance sticks with this note rigidly to the point of indolence! I'm not a fan.

There are interminable scenes of the Doctor and co running along corridors, or up flights of stairs, followed by scenes of the Sontarans and Kelner running along corridors, or up flights of stairs, wasting time until the end of the episode is reached and very little has been achieved by anybody. Stor wants Kelner to lower the force field to allow more of his troops in, Kelner says this is not possible, until Kelner finds that there is a way to do it, but this is then bypassed by the Doctor in his TARDIS, so Kelner tries another way and... OH GOD MAKE IT STOP! It's like the script's been written by Alexa! It's just people saying words they don't believe or understand.

Credit where it's due though, director Gerald Blake knows how to frame an ensemble cast, and several times he achieves a beautifully composed shot which captures everybody well (and there's a lot of people to capture!).

Once everybody is inside the TARDIS, the Doctor rather wonderfully entrusts the Great Key of Rassilon to Leela, knowing what her strengths are and that she will guard the key with her life. "Leela, that's important," the Doctor tells her. "Then I shall look after it," she replies earnestly, and with that you (and the Doctor) know that the Great Key is in the safest place possible. I like that, it shows the trust and understanding that exists between this mismatched pair.

Leela leads everybody off into the depths of the TARDIS, leaving the Doctor in the control room with his new companion, Romana - sorry, I mean Rodan ("R-O-D-A-N"). They're great together, and Hilary Ryan gets the dynamic between Doctor and "assistant" straight away. Ryan is born to be the next Doctor Who companion, born to play Romana, and as much as I love Mary Tamm, I wish they'd gone with her instead (either as Rodan, or Romana, they're essentially one and the same). It's frustrating to know that producer Graham Williams issued a character outline for the new companion to replace Leela on October 10th, 1977 (the character was then called Romy), just weeks before recording began on The Invasion of Time. Why did Williams not think of Hilary Ryan at this time, as he obviously had a thing about female Time Lords whose names began with "Ro" (Romy, Rodan, Romana)!

This episode is a ball of frustrations. The Sontarans arrive, but you don't get to see them. The Doctor runs and hides in a room, then in the TARDIS, but doesn't achieve much. And Stor just wants Kelner to lower the force field around Gallifrey to let his men in, which is pretty much what the Vardans wanted a few episodes ago. This story is a creative black hole.

First broadcast: March 4th, 1978

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: That brief moment where the Doctor entrusts the Great Key to Leela is about the only bit that stands out.
The Bad: The Sontarans arrive but keep their helmets on. This might be seen as a way of building expectation for when - or if - they do, but judging by the constipated way Derek Deadman delivers his lines, I'm not sure it'll be worth the bother.
Overall score for episode: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 17

NEXT TIME: Part Six...

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

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: https://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-invasion-of-time.html

The Invasion of Time is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Invasion-Time-DVD/dp/B0015083PI