The Doctor and Sarah reach Earth and try to warn the research centre about the Kraal invasion before Styggron unleashes his virus.The Doctor and Sarah reach Earth and try to warn the research centre about the Kraal invasion before Styggron unleashes his virus.The Doctor and Sarah reach Earth and try to warn the research centre about the Kraal invasion before Styggron unleashes his virus.
- Director
- Writers
- Terry Nation
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- Donald Wilson(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFinal appearances for both Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) and Sergeant Benton (John Levene). Both actors felt let down by this serial, as their once-prominent characters were given very little to do in the plot, and had very little screen time.
- GoofsThe staff in the control room monitoring the return of Crayford noticed a second image on their radar, which appeared to break up. They describe the fragments as 'meteorites' . As the objects were still in flight and just entering the earth's atmosphere, the correct description should have been 'meteor'. An object entering earth's atmosphere does not become a meteorite until it actually impacts the earth.
- Quotes
Doctor Who: Nobody knows who's who around here.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Living with Levene (2012)
Featured review
S13: The Android Invasion: Solid enough but doesn't stand out, and feels like it is going over
Returning to Sarah-Jane's own time, the traveling pair emerge from the TARDIS to find a soldier acting very odd, and some white suited men firing at them from their fingers. Going into the village they find an even odder situation of the place being deserted before becoming artificially filled. From here we learn of an experiment by a non- human species, using android copies of humans, and of course the Doctor sets out to foil them.
Following the neat but expansive narrative of Pyramids of Mars, this serial feels a bit messy in its motivations and devices. The plot moves along well enough I guess, and generally provides enough moments of danger, movement, and peril to do the job, but there was something about it that just didn't excite me. Specifically I think it was the way that the material felt quite familiar; I am sure there have been at least two serials before where we had androids (Autons) walking around firing out of their fingers. Okay the twist here is that these androids are replicants of humans – which is an interesting idea and one that throws up at least one memorable moment (fake-Sarah-Jane's face flying off to reveal circuitry and, well, ping-pong balls) but generally it feels like a wasted opportunity. There is no real use of this beyond this, and I would have liked to see more done with the androids we know – specifically the conflict of seeing Benton and Harry being 'baddies'. This is on the table to be had, but is never really delivered upon, which is a shame.
Instead the main villains are the Kraals, and while they are visually interesting, I confess they did not make much of an impact on me. The cast are variable. Baker and Sladen are good value as is mostly the case, however the supporting turns less so. Most surprising is that Marter and Levene seem to know they are poorly served by the material, so their performances are bit lacking – perhaps this 'robotic' feel was directed, but there is that feeling of apathy from them both. Meanwhile Courtney isn't there at all, instead a cookie-cutter 'blustering brass' performance is dropped in from Newell.
In the end it was a serial that did the solid basics well enough to entertain and have some good moments, but didn't really build on or around these to the point where it managed to be more interesting.
Following the neat but expansive narrative of Pyramids of Mars, this serial feels a bit messy in its motivations and devices. The plot moves along well enough I guess, and generally provides enough moments of danger, movement, and peril to do the job, but there was something about it that just didn't excite me. Specifically I think it was the way that the material felt quite familiar; I am sure there have been at least two serials before where we had androids (Autons) walking around firing out of their fingers. Okay the twist here is that these androids are replicants of humans – which is an interesting idea and one that throws up at least one memorable moment (fake-Sarah-Jane's face flying off to reveal circuitry and, well, ping-pong balls) but generally it feels like a wasted opportunity. There is no real use of this beyond this, and I would have liked to see more done with the androids we know – specifically the conflict of seeing Benton and Harry being 'baddies'. This is on the table to be had, but is never really delivered upon, which is a shame.
Instead the main villains are the Kraals, and while they are visually interesting, I confess they did not make much of an impact on me. The cast are variable. Baker and Sladen are good value as is mostly the case, however the supporting turns less so. Most surprising is that Marter and Levene seem to know they are poorly served by the material, so their performances are bit lacking – perhaps this 'robotic' feel was directed, but there is that feeling of apathy from them both. Meanwhile Courtney isn't there at all, instead a cookie-cutter 'blustering brass' performance is dropped in from Newell.
In the end it was a serial that did the solid basics well enough to entertain and have some good moments, but didn't really build on or around these to the point where it managed to be more interesting.
helpful•13
- bob the moo
- Dec 18, 2015
Details
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content