The Invasion - Episode 2

The first non-animated episode of the story is where we can really start to judge the vibe of the story. We learn that this story takes place four years after ‘The Web of Fear’ which if you apply the UNIT logic (a UNIT story takes place five years in the future of transmission), means that this story is set in 1977. It’s always good when they film on the streets of London because it makes it feel different because so often they are either entirely in a studio or in a dusty quarry. The incidental music continues to impress me and credit should go to Don Harper.

Something I forgot to mention during the first entry was the introduction of Packer. He is quite funny to watch but not in a bad way. I think he can be a brut when needed to but his incompetence is what stops him from being on Vaughn’s level. At times he almost seems like a teachers pet, almost coming across as desperate to try and impress Vaughn. Speaking of Vaughn, Kevin Stoney’s brilliance shows from the very moment the episode starts.

It’s 5 minutes and 31 seconds before UNIT are properly introduced when Nicholas Courtney makes his return. There was a nice reference to the last time that Lethbridge-Stewart appeared and we know straight away that he’s going to be relatively co-operative with the Doctor. Billy Rutledge is one of the two people that Lethbridge-Stewart draws the Doctor’s attention to and he is someone that we will meet later on but its like its just a gentle reminder to us to remember this name. We know he is someone in power so he’ll be getting in the Doctor’s way later on. We then learn that the other picture belongs to the driver that the Doctor met in episode one. He works for UNIT so it makes his death somewhat more sad.

The directing is very good which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering its being helmed by Douglas Camfield is has clocked up the highest number of episodes so far as a director. The particular shot which stands out and that’s when the car that Benton, Jamie and the Doctor are in is driving along the airfield and without stopping manages to get on the airplane ramp and stop in exactly the right place. It’s a nice bit of directing.

I really enjoyed this episode. In fact when I was rating this episode like I do with the 220 episodes before this. This story currently ranks at number 3 just behind the first episode of ‘An Unearthly Child’ and the opening episode of ‘The Tenth Planet’ and its only the second Patrick Troughton episode to feature in the top 10  and the sixth to feature in the top 20. In terms of story rating, it is currently tied in second place with ‘Mission to the Unknown’. The only thing that lets it down slightly is the cliffhanger, here Packer is telling the Doctor and Jamie that they are like rats in a trap and it just dosent hit the mark for me but that’s the only thing that is wrong with the episode.