The Invasion of Time Part One

The one where the Doctor claims his right to be President of Gallifrey...

The opening shot of this episode is basically the opening shot of Star Wars, but done on a Doctor Who budget. The scene was actually filmed in November 1977, before Star Wars had premiered in the UK, so I'm not sure whether it's an influence or a massive coincidence that this story opens with a huge spaceship dwarfing a smaller one. What does puzzle me though, is what these two ships are? We see that the Doctor is talking to some aliens on one ship, but what's the other one? It's not clear at all.

And who are these aliens? They look like giant talking cones, but I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be the chairs the aliens are sitting in, and we can't see the aliens (although you do glimpse the tiniest scrap of a mint green knee at one point). Again, Gerald Blake's direction doesn't make it very clear. I mean, they could be talking cone aliens for all I know, this is Doctor Who after all.

Meanwhile, Leela and K-9 await the Doctor's return inside a very cramped and dimly lit TARDIS. I don't know what went wrong with the TARDIS interior in Season 15, but there's barely any room in the control room, which is wrong for a time and space machine that's renowned for being bigger on the inside. Plus, Mike Jefferies lights it really oddly, from below rather than above, resulting in shadows being cast across the set and actors in all the wrong places. I realise that this is because a lot of scenes which would normally be shot in a BBC studio were actually shot at a hospital in Surrey (including the TARDIS), but I'm still surprised the technicians couldn't achieve better.

The Doctor signs some kind of agreement with the cone aliens which will give him complete control of the Time Lords, so obviously something's amiss right from the start. The Doctor is very cagey and circumspect, refusing to share what's going on and being quite unpleasant toward poor Leela. I don't blame her for going for a swim, although the location filming at the British Oxygen gas factory in London is very jarring. I'm not used to seeing the TARDIS interior on film, on location, and especially without any of the usual tell-tale design clues, such as roundels. It wouldn't have been too difficult for designer Barbara Gosnold to take a few TARDIS set panels to the pool location to give an aesthetic indication that this is indeed the TARDIS, and not just a random swimming pool in Hammersmith. Again, Blake's direction doesn't make it very clear that Leela is immersed in H2O inside the TARDIS, rather than having been dropped off at some intergalactic spa planet. Also: WHY is Leela in a swimming pool?!

And all these scenes of K-9 giving the definitions of things, or acting literally to passing remarks like "shut up", is so tiresome, and not at all funny.

Meanwhile, on Gallifrey, the approach of the Doctor's TARDIS is detected by the lick-the-mirror handsome Commander Andred, played by the dashing Christopher Tranchell. He liaises with Castellan Kelner, played by the ever-marvellous and ever-wily Milton Johns, who operates a console of very poorly designed switches which don't press, or even remotely look like buttons. There's also a terribly unconvincing little yellow ball which Kelner gives to Andred in order to activate amber alert. It's not good. I've nothing against a designer trying to come up with a new or unique look for boring old switches and buttons - this is an alien planet after all - but what Gosnold comes up with is hardly Herman Zimmerman's touchscreen innovation for Star Trek, or even the organic pizza controls of Nigel Curzon's Zygon tech. These controls aren't even glued on straight, and look like something a seven-year-old would knock up in his bedroom.

Once the TARDIS arrives on Gallifrey, things don't improve all that much. The fact The Invasion of Time had to be shot almost entirely on location (I think only the Panopticon set and the alien cruiser are in a BBC studio) due to a technicians' strike makes everything feel "off". There are odd echoes, or unusual design choices which make it clear "something" is different. The Gallifrey corridors, for example, are really narrow and cramped, with the actors having to navigate around the physical obstacle of Gosnold's set. The Gallifreyan corridors are actually the second floor corridor of St Anne's Hospital in Redhill.

The Doctor meets with old friend and mentor Cardinal Borusa, and claims his right as President-Elect of the High Council of the Time Lords of Gallifrey, which is all very surprising for a man who likes to wander rather than rule. Borusa is played with a bizarre detachment by John Arnatt, who looks like he's having to force himself to stay awake throughout his scenes. It makes Borusa come across as aloof and disengaged from what's going on.

Tom Baker makes the Doctor very, VERY angry as he tries to get Borusa to comply with his wishes, almost too angry really. He explodes with rage, and we know there's bound to be a good reason for all this subterfuge, but at the moment, Dr Who is being a really unpleasant ass and the younger viewers might be feeling a little perturbed.

The appointment of the new President is arranged super-quick, and the ceremony is staged in the Panopticon with cardinals of all colleges gathered to observe (including two very gossipy old queens called Gomer and Savar!). Leela watches with pride as her Doctor is honoured by being made President of Gallifrey, and the ceremony seems to take an age as various references are made to the Sash of Rassilon, the Rod of Rassilon and the Great Key of Rassilon (presented on naff inflatable cushions). All of this is haphazardly intercut with scenes of the cone aliens getting ready for victory ("The first phase is nearing completion", "We are near victory" and "Now we have them"), building up a sense of expectation that something is going to happen, but which never comes. The cliffhanger is the Doctor falling to his knees after receiving the Coronet of Rassilon, but it's not altogether clear what's happened. Is he in pain, or just overcome with emotion? Again, Blake's direction doesn't make it very clear.

Who are the chatty cone aliens, and what are they waiting for? Why is the Doctor being such an arse, and why does he demand a lead-lined room? This opening episode is very strange in that it features a very unfriendly Doctor who's obviously up to something we're not yet privy to. On the face of it, that something doesn't feel right. I think it might have been better if we'd not been shown the Doctor liaising with the cone aliens at the start at all, and just have him go to Gallifrey and demand his right to the presidency. It'd be more straightforward, but make the ultimate reveal more surprising?

First broadcast: February 4th, 1978

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The idea of having the Doctor in cahoots with aliens who want to take control of Gallifrey is a brave and pioneering step.
The Bad: I've really taken against Barbara Gosnold's Gallifreyan control panel! And her inflatable cushions.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 15 - The Doctor offers a ball bearing to K-9 (I'm sure he only has jelly babies though), and also offers a jelly baby to Andred.

NEXT TIME: Part Two...

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