The Randomiser: The Android Invasion
I was certain I had seen The Android Invasion before and even thought I had seen it with Tame Layman, but he denied all knowledge and it was distinctly unfamiliar once I was viewing it. Of course, there is a certain similarity between many early fourth Doctor stories and this one, in particular, is working with very similar tropes to its immediate predecessor (in UNIT terms), Terror of the Zygons.
It's very Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, much more so than Terror of the Zygons which isn't trying to evoke the feeling of a small but basically normal English village in the same way. It's pretty effective in the first couple of episodes and takes its time revealing what is actually going on. In fact, in general, the plot is well constructed. It does hinge on a few pieces of nonsense (most notably that it never occurred to Guy Crayford to look under his own eyepatch, but I'm also somewhat dubious about the need for a perfect replica village in which to test out android behaviour) but it gives the viewer a regular trickle of developments and clues to generally keep everything moving along while remaining interesting.
It tries to give its monsters, The Kraals, distinct personalities. I'd say this was a mixed success. The personalities are somewhat one-note and given the costumes are nigh-on identical I'm not sure I could actually tell you how many distinct Kraals we get to meet.
In a lot of eras of Doctor Who I think this would be considered one of the stronger stories, but it is surrounded by more compelling takes on classic horror movies. In some ways it suffers from a plot that rambles a bit, throwing in new developments and revelations, rather than fixing on one strong element. It is, to all intents and purposes, UNIT's final tale. The absence of the Brigadier is notable, and the fact that most of the UNIT regulars are androids for most of the story, strips it of the sense of camaraderie of the Pertwee years. For all its strengths, one feels it brings an important era of Doctor Who to an end, not with a bang but a whimper.
This entry was originally posted at https://purplecat.dreamwidth.org/601676.html.
It's very Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, much more so than Terror of the Zygons which isn't trying to evoke the feeling of a small but basically normal English village in the same way. It's pretty effective in the first couple of episodes and takes its time revealing what is actually going on. In fact, in general, the plot is well constructed. It does hinge on a few pieces of nonsense (most notably that it never occurred to Guy Crayford to look under his own eyepatch, but I'm also somewhat dubious about the need for a perfect replica village in which to test out android behaviour) but it gives the viewer a regular trickle of developments and clues to generally keep everything moving along while remaining interesting.
It tries to give its monsters, The Kraals, distinct personalities. I'd say this was a mixed success. The personalities are somewhat one-note and given the costumes are nigh-on identical I'm not sure I could actually tell you how many distinct Kraals we get to meet.
In a lot of eras of Doctor Who I think this would be considered one of the stronger stories, but it is surrounded by more compelling takes on classic horror movies. In some ways it suffers from a plot that rambles a bit, throwing in new developments and revelations, rather than fixing on one strong element. It is, to all intents and purposes, UNIT's final tale. The absence of the Brigadier is notable, and the fact that most of the UNIT regulars are androids for most of the story, strips it of the sense of camaraderie of the Pertwee years. For all its strengths, one feels it brings an important era of Doctor Who to an end, not with a bang but a whimper.
This entry was originally posted at https://purplecat.dreamwidth.org/601676.html.