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Editorial Reviews
The Android Invasion: When the TARDIS lands in the sleepy English village of Devesham, Sarah Jane thinks the Doctor has finally got her back home. But all is not as it seems - the village is unusually deserted and deadly white-suited spacemen patrol the countryside. When the dead begin to come back to life, the Doctor decides to contact UNIT. But their UNIT friends are also dangerously changed. Who is Senior Defence Astronaut, Guy Crayford, and why is he in charge of UNIT? Who are his true masters, the Kraals, and what insidious plans are they concocting behind the scenes? The Doctor soon discovers the invasion of Earth has already begun, and if he doesn't stop it mankind will be utterly wiped out. Invasion of the Dinosaurs: Returning to London, the Doctor and Sarah Jane find a city almost completely devoid of life. The civilian population has been evacuated in the wake of an unimaginable event: somehow dinosaurs have returned to terrorize the Earth. As the Brigadier and UNIT fend off increasingly vicious attacks from gigantic prehistoric reptiles, the Doctor investigates just how these monsters are appearing without warning. But when Sarah Jane is kidnapped, the Doctor realizes perhaps even his oldest friends can't be trusted. Who is responsible for the devastating carnage? And what will Sarah Jane do when she awakes aboard a spaceship many light years from home?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By "adalek"
Format:VHS Tape
I truly enjoy the earlier Tom Baker (Sarah Jane) episodes. "The Android Invasion" is a wonderful example (when he actually wore the hat) and a great performance by Liz Sladen as they arrive and explore a seemingly deserted English village. When I sit down to watch a Dr Who, I often find myself reaching for this tape. The story has a special charm that is difficult to explain. I would recommend that all Dr Who fans add "The Android Invasion" to their library. It is one of my very favorite episodes!
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:VHS Tape
I loved it when I first saw it in 1984 and it remains one of my favorites today. And the reason is simple: it remains one of the best companion episodes of all time. Baker and Sladen have the best interaction (second only to the Seeds of Doom). It highlights why Sarah Jane Smith remains one of the Doctor's best companions to this day. The aliens were slightly hokey, but the plot was interesting (I refuse to give out plots) and the execution was superb. Watch it, you'll like it or, at least, appreciate the interaction between the Doctor and Sarah Jane.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
The Android Invasion is a very fun Tom Baker story. The village setting was an excellent location for this creepy story. The outside location shots give parts of this story a cinematic feel. The return of the UNIT makes this story even more interesting. A definitive Tom Baker era story.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By M W Wick
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
My background: long time Whovian who was watched Baker since the old US PBS broadcasts.
I was excited to get yet another Baker episode to add to my collection, but this story was definitely not one of my favorites. I put it into the "watch it once" category as I had trouble paying attention and found the villains and general "menace" in the plot to be boring and drawn out, much more than is found in other serialized programs from the 70s. Each episode had 5-10 minutes of real "meat", and it seemed to be a very repetitive run-hide-run-hide pattern. I never felt the Doctor had a true battle of logic and reason as has become one of his combatitive trademarks when confronting villains.
Happy to watch it? Yes, but just once. I felt zero need to re-watch and I'll probably flip this copy back on eBay on Amazon down the road.
I am always fascinated with the extras as a television history buff, so I do feel that I'm a bit slanted when I say the extras were enjoyable. I feel this is only a DVD for the most die hard fans.
They can't all be winners, and if you are deciding between this or another Who episode, I hope this review will help your decision to prioritize watching something else first.
But do give this a shot. Once.
I was excited to get yet another Baker episode to add to my collection, but this story was definitely not one of my favorites. I put it into the "watch it once" category as I had trouble paying attention and found the villains and general "menace" in the plot to be boring and drawn out, much more than is found in other serialized programs from the 70s. Each episode had 5-10 minutes of real "meat", and it seemed to be a very repetitive run-hide-run-hide pattern. I never felt the Doctor had a true battle of logic and reason as has become one of his combatitive trademarks when confronting villains.
Happy to watch it? Yes, but just once. I felt zero need to re-watch and I'll probably flip this copy back on eBay on Amazon down the road.
I am always fascinated with the extras as a television history buff, so I do feel that I'm a bit slanted when I say the extras were enjoyable. I feel this is only a DVD for the most die hard fans.
They can't all be winners, and if you are deciding between this or another Who episode, I hope this review will help your decision to prioritize watching something else first.
But do give this a shot. Once.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Slagged as the worst of the season, it's actually a very good action-thriller. It starts off with a very creepy first episode, then an extremely hostile second episode, a devious third episode, and the fourth is the resolve. What's so bad about it? Almost nothing, aside from some small questions let go at the end of the last episode leaving the viewer to assume how everything was tidied up.
One of the greatest strengths of this episode is that it moves. Most Doctor Who stories dwell and retrace in order to save money on sets and costumes. Android Invasion cleverly revisits familiar areas in the final episode, but they are now actual locations instead of imitations. There's always a chase or some gun play or confrontation through the entire story, which is Terry Nation's strength as a writer. All the elements are bizarre, the entire world twisted to be completely hostile toward the Doctor and Sarah. It makes this story highly entertaining.
The DVD will most likely not have the best possible commentary they ever could have had on a Doctor Who DVD: Hinchcliffe, Letts, Baker and Sladen. Sadly, Sladen and Letts passed away in the last year.
One of the greatest strengths of this episode is that it moves. Most Doctor Who stories dwell and retrace in order to save money on sets and costumes. Android Invasion cleverly revisits familiar areas in the final episode, but they are now actual locations instead of imitations. There's always a chase or some gun play or confrontation through the entire story, which is Terry Nation's strength as a writer. All the elements are bizarre, the entire world twisted to be completely hostile toward the Doctor and Sarah. It makes this story highly entertaining.
The DVD will most likely not have the best possible commentary they ever could have had on a Doctor Who DVD: Hinchcliffe, Letts, Baker and Sladen. Sadly, Sladen and Letts passed away in the last year.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:VHS Tape
The Doctor and Sarah land on what appears to be Earth, in the town of Devesham. But not all is right, a soldier falls off a cliff, only to return to a pub minutes after his death. All this and more in Terry Nation's second non-Dalek script. The story, at times, can be very irritating, and tedious. There are too many flaws(Crayford never taking his eye-patch off, ect). But on the other hand, there are some enjoyably scenes. The location footage REALLY helps this one, a semi return of UNIT(sans Lethbridge-Stewart), and some great humor(which also really helps). With a few more helpful and clever explanations, this could have been a lot better.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By buckbooks
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
"The Android Invasion" is an easily overlooked gem from midway through Tom Baker and producer Philip Hinchcliffe's second season. Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes were phasing out the classic villains and UNIT-centered adventures that had dominated the Jon Pertwee years and started bringing in gothic horror- and steampunk-inflected stories that would so transform the series in the next two years.
The Doctor and Sarah land in a wood outside the village of Devesham, located near an important space defense station, which may be leaking radiation. Strange men in white spacesuits take pot shots at them with guns that fire from their fingertips. A soldier from UNIT runs headlong off a cliff. His wallet contains new, uncirculated coins all minted in the same year. Similar coins are found at the pub in the village, which appears completely deserted. Expressionless villagers are later trucked in like mannequins by the white spacemen, and the dead UNIT soldier comes back to life. Meanwhile, the TARDIS mysteriously takes off without the Doctor or Sarah inside. Somebody's obviously up to no good--but who and what?
The above-average script by Terry Nation combines elements of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with the best of The Avengers, a series for which Nation contributed scripts and was script editor its final season. Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen turn in chilling performances as copies of themselves in a story that relies heavily on mystery and psychological menace rather than sophisticated special effects to convey action and suspense.... Read more ›
The Doctor and Sarah land in a wood outside the village of Devesham, located near an important space defense station, which may be leaking radiation. Strange men in white spacesuits take pot shots at them with guns that fire from their fingertips. A soldier from UNIT runs headlong off a cliff. His wallet contains new, uncirculated coins all minted in the same year. Similar coins are found at the pub in the village, which appears completely deserted. Expressionless villagers are later trucked in like mannequins by the white spacemen, and the dead UNIT soldier comes back to life. Meanwhile, the TARDIS mysteriously takes off without the Doctor or Sarah inside. Somebody's obviously up to no good--but who and what?
The above-average script by Terry Nation combines elements of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with the best of The Avengers, a series for which Nation contributed scripts and was script editor its final season. Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen turn in chilling performances as copies of themselves in a story that relies heavily on mystery and psychological menace rather than sophisticated special effects to convey action and suspense.... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not sure why some say this is a bad episode
I haven't seen these episodes for several years until I bought the DVD. I found The Android Invasion to be a good story. There are some good moments between the Doctor and Sarah. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michael Ciavarella
4.0 out of 5 stars
Is that finger loaded?
"Is that finger loaded?" LOL!! Yes, the Tom Baker years were full of hilarious one-liners like that. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Amazoner-since-1998
4.0 out of 5 stars
I knew you weren't the real Sarah Jane
Another great Tom Baker episode with everyone playing a doppleganger. Tom's acting is wild and unexpected as always. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Cosmically Concsious
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nice
The last time I got to see this episode was in the 80's on PBS. Technology has improved a lot making this a delight to watch. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Christopher
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quality Doctor Who
I always liked this story, even though it didn't have the same feel as the earlier Tom Baker stories on Earth, it's still a good one. Read more
Published 14 months ago by E. Borgman
5.0 out of 5 stars
DOCTOR WHO THE ANDRIOD INVASION
I LIKE ALL DOCTORS I HAVE DVDS FROM THE OLD DOCTORS TO THE NEW DOCTOR AND SARAH JANE IS ALWAYS A PLUS TO THE MOVIE
Published 15 months ago by LWW
5.0 out of 5 stars
Goodbye to friends
As the commentary and notes point out, this is the last show in which we see Benton and Harry. Sadly, neither of them has any kind of farewell -- at the time, no one knew that... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Richard Reader
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Kraals Invade!
This story was the last to feature UNIT (until the Brigadier comes back at a later date). The Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith landed on what they thought was Earth but turned out being... Read more
Published 16 months ago by BONBLU330
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dr Who Android Invasion
Great video with high quality on the longest running si-fi show in the world! There are six parts to the show and the cost for the dvd makes it a great buy, over two hours of tom... Read more
Published 16 months ago by J. K. Wayner
4.0 out of 5 stars
First-rate release of Doctor Who story
As has become normal, the BBC has done an excellent job of refurbishing the original Doctor Who series. Good extras, especially the commentary track.
Published 16 months ago by Harold W. Cornelius
