Product Details

• Actors: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison
• Writers: Sydney Newman
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: BBC Warner
• VHS Release Date: September 19, 2000
• Run Time: 150 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004W21U
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,915 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dr.Who has a cunning plan!!, July 1, 2002

By 

"waymakerjim" (Mars Hill, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who - Invasion of Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A terrific performance by Tom Baker. Dr. Who arrives unannounced on Gallifrey and claims his title as Lord President of the Time Lords. He moves so swiftly that no one challenges him and he is sworn in. He then turns around and invites the Vardens, an alien race that can travel along EM waves, to take over Gallifrey. He banished Leela and appoints a toady sycophant as Vice -president. A civil war erupts between the Time Lords, with Leela leading the revolt. Dr. Who creates a hole in the force field around Gallifrey for the Vardens to bring their invasion fleet.
Dr. Who learns of the Vardens home planet and traps it in a time loop, freeing Gallifrey and becoming the hero.
Suddenly, THe Sontarans appear, wrecking havoc. During the battle, Dr. WHo creates the most powerful weapon in the universe to destroy the Sontarans. He succeeds in turning the invasion and promptly forgets everything. Leela decides to stay on Gallifrey with Ardend, and K-9 stays to look after the mistress.
It is a satisfying adventure but it does leave many questions and possibilities unanswered. Tom Baker is superb as the manipulating Dr. Who, playing everyone against each other in order to destroy the Vardens and Sontarans. The violence is high as several people die that Dr. Who should have been able to save but in war etc...Gallifrey is depicted as 2 distinct cultures, the Citadel, full of bureaucrats and self-important Time Lords and those who have dropped out, living on the outside at a primitive level. Full of possibilities never followed up and the outsiders are never mentioned again in later episodes.
Leela's departure is abrupt and unexpected, with no hint until the end.
The last episode drags in places.
It is worth getting

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Crown of the Tom Baker Doctor Who, July 12, 2000

By 

"foxbard" (Levittown, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who - Invasion of Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This has always been my favourite of The Dr. Who series. Finding out that it was coming to video was very exciting, and I anticipated its release with much vigor.

Tom Baker really shows his ability to play dual-natured characters--a considered mark up, in reference to his already excellent portrayal of the hobo time lord. In the start of the show, as he arrives on his home planet, you believe he is there to hand it over to a trio of power hungry alien beings, who are going to pay him very much. Then, you discover it was a set up, to defeat these aliens.

The plot is quilt of secrets, characters, powers in conflict; and diverse, settings of intrigue. The discovery of an all powerful weapon of Rassilon, the invasion of the Sontaruns and the betrayal of the High Council are just some of the interesting twists which keep the plot fresh, alive and exciting until the final moments, when the doctor says goodbye to an old friend.

Saving his home planet, the same planet that cast him off, exiled, imprisoned him on earth and constantly pressured him into doing their dirty work, showed the great goodness the doctor was capable of.

Buy this one. The Invasion of Time is one of the best Dr. Who videos, and it is the start of a great set of seasons: The Key to Time and The E-Space Trilogy.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting return to Gallifrey for the Doctor, July 7, 2003

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doctor Who - Invasion of Time [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The closing story of FDoctor Who's fifteenth season begins with the unthinkable. The Doctor signs a contract with three unknown and unseen aliens in space. He has ordered Leela inside the TARDIS. When he comes in, she is bursting with questions. The Doctor tells her to ask K9 to tell her to shut up. When she starts to comply, she catches herself with an angry "How dare you?"

His behaviour becomes more erratic. He sees Borusa, his former teacher and now Chancellor, played with dry and acerbic aplomb by Leonard Arnatt, and arrogantly claims his birthright, demanding to become inaugurated president of the High Council of Time Lords. The presidential investiture ceremony echoes that of a bishop or pope being sworn in. And when he's told, "I give you the Matrix," the network containing the sum total of knowledge and memories of dead Time Lords, I found myself thinking, "Good thing it doesn't have Keanu Reeves in it."

With the aliens fully in control, he then instigates a full-scale purge of Time Lords who could be construed as troublemakers to his regime, even ordering Leela banished into the "barbaric garden" of Outer Gallifrey. He is aided in this by the Castellan Kelner, whose obsequious surface masks motives of self-preservation, as he is quick to switch allegiances. Kudos to Milton Johns for his portrayal.

Like The Deadly Assassin, there's another incompetent Guard commander, Andred. He's played by Christopher Tranchell, who previously appeared in the no-longer existent Who story The Faceless Ones. However, he isn't as brutal as his predecessor.

The interior of the Doctor's TARDIS, and I'm not just talking about the control room is one of the best reasons to watch this story, as one finally gets the idea of dimensional transcendentalism. The scene involving the storage room is reminiscent of Monty Python's deja vu sketch, giving it a surreal edge. However, for a real design triumph, the Doctor's funky-looking presidential office is a masterpiece.

Along with the usual manic grins and jokes by the Doctor, there are two funny exchanges. When the Doctor's bodyguard protests that he'll be shot by the Castellan for leaving his side, the Doctor responds with. "That's all right. I'll have him [the Castellan] shot." Later, Andred tells him, "You have access to the greatest source of knowledge in the universe." Doctor: "Well, I do talk to myself sometimes, yes." Andred: "I mean the Matrix." Doctor: "Oh, that old thing."

The Invasion Of Time sees the farewell of two popular companions, and an unrewarding one on the part of Leela. She really proves her mettle here, being the tough warrior, believing in the Doctor despite his odd behaviour, and overall, has been one of the most intrepid and fearless companions of the Doctor, yet she suffers the fate of companions Susan, Vicki, and Jo Grant. WHY?? Her scenes with Rodan, a young Time Lord, not a gigantic double-crested barking pterodactyl from Toho Studios, are great. Rodan seems to be a prototype for Romana I, who would be the Doctor's companion in the following season. Hilary Ryan does a good job being the technically-skilled but sheltered counterpart to Leela's hardy experienced person.

This six-parter is one of the all-time classics, although it's probably best to first watch The Deadly Assassin, probably more classic than this story, in order to remember Gallifreyan institutions and Borusa. The Invasion Of Time adds more information on Gallifrey.