Invasion of the Dinosaurs - Episode 1

It could be argued that ‘Invasion of the Dinosaurs’ is a watershed moment in the Jon Pertwee era. It’s also a story that is used when people try and knock the show. To be fair it’s a show that has its problems but I could quite happily argue in its favour but there are aspects that don’t quite work. However the good points are shown straight away. The opening shots are of London with nobody around. It’s very reminisant of shots in ‘The Invasion’ and ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’.

I love the eerie feel that this stage of the episode gives. No people, no cars, nothing apart from birds singing. It’s just past the three minute mark before someone other than the Doctor and Sarah Jane appear. Great Britain always closes on a Sunday is a dated line because I work in retail and occasionally have to work on a Sunday. Everytime I do I think of that line.

The moment when the looter that the Doctor and Sarah encounter dies in a car accident is quite a grim moment. In fact you cant really say that this episode has much humour despite Jon Pertwee trying his best in several moments towards the end of the episode. It’s good that we have UNIT back as their appearances are becoming even more rare as the stories progress. Nicholas Courtney plays the Brigadier with a certain degree of weariness as he is under a certain amount of pressure trying to maintain law and order.

This is a Malcolm Hulke story and is his 42nd episode. Hulke is the most prolific writer in the shows history and has a very strong track record and the faults with this story shouldn’t be laid at his door. Neither should they be laid at the directors door. This is Paddy Russell’s second serial with her first being way back in 1966 with ‘The Massacre of St Bartholomew Eve’. Both have done well with this story and the thing that I will probably mention throughout these reviews is that when the dinosaurs aren’t on screen then the story works really well and considering that Dinosaurs are in the title, it’s a big problem with the story.

It’s 11 minutes before the problem with this episode become evident and its when the Dinosaurs of the title appear. It’s quite frankly the biggest problem that this serial faces. Everytime they appear it just ruins any hope that it will be better than I previously thought. Another problem is the noise that the UNIT guns make, its clear that there aren’t any bullets coming out yet we are suppose to believe that they are proper guns. As an opening episode it shows perfectly well just whats good and whats bad about this story. I think as a six parter it has plenty of things to keep us entertained and I am looking forward to the rest of this story to try and see what percentage of the story is good and what percentage is bad. Only time will tell.