Day 114 — April 24th 2021
The Invasion Episodes Five and Six
The Invasion — Episode Five
When the Cybermen debuted a new look for The Wheel in Space I commented that I wasn’t a fan of the two-part body suit they wore there, and said I didn’t like it when it was reused for The Invasion, either. I’m here today to tell you that I’m an idiot, because seeing it again properly here I really like this design of the Cybermen. I’ll stand by my assertion that it looks naff in the previous appearance, but with all the other modifications to the design made here everything clicks into place, and I think this is probably my favourite 60s Cyberman design.
I can see why I thought I wasn’t so keen, though. Looking at some photos of these Cybermen today I’m surprised to find that I’m not as keen on them in static images. There’s something about the way they look on screen that really brings these costumes to life and makes them work.
The introduction of the Cybermen gives this story a bit of a shot in the arm, too. I wasn’t getting bored of it in the slightest — the first four episodes have averaged 7.75/10, after all — but things really step up when you start getting some Cyber-action thrown into the mix.
And we get plenty of it, too. After the Cybermen were revealed in The Wheel in Space they continued to be a bit of a background presence. Heck, even in The Tomb of the Cybermen they only really show up for the cliffhangers until we’re well through the story. This episode seems to revel in having the Cybermen present, and gives us as much as possible. It’s almost like we’re being rewarded for waiting so patiently for their arrival.
I love — really love — the Cyberman being driven mad with emotion. The way that Vaughn is so cold about it (‘Fear! Let’s see how the Cybermen will react to fear…’) and then watched impassively while the creature begins to scream in pain is incredibly effective, and that continues into the cliffhanger when the screaming Cyberman stumbles down the tunnel towards our heroes. We’ve never seen anything quite like this, and it’s all the more effective as a result. The ‘emotionless’ part of the Cybermen sort of got forgotten after The Tenth Planet, so it’s nice to see it brought back here.
The Cyber Director reveals some of their invasion plans in this episode, which together with Doctor Who discovering the hidden circuits in IE equipment tells us a little of what they’re up to;
Cyber Director: ‘One hour before invasion, the Cyber-transmitter units will be launched into orbit around Earth.’
Vaughn: ‘The effect will be immediate?’
Cyber Director: ‘Yes. Transmissions will penetrate all areas.’
Vaughn: ‘And if it doesn’t work?’
Cyber Director: ‘Humans cannot resist Cyber-control. Our forces will penetrate all areas and select suitable humans for cybernetic conversion.
Vaughn: Conversion to Cybermen?’
Cyber Director: ‘Yes. The unsuitable humans will be destroyed.’
Is it just me or is that actually a pretty sensible plan by Cyberman standards? They’re not relying on sheer luck, or getting their hands on a Gravitron. They don’t need to sneak in anywhere via eggs… I’m impressed! It feels like a fairly real thing which I can actually believe in, and that’s more than can be said for a lot of invasion plans in Doctor Who!
It’s also another mark of how good Camfield’s direction is that the shots of Vaughn talking to the Director are so visually interesting, given that it’s really just an actor spouting lines at a pile of bric-a-brac…!
Elsewhere, I suppose I’m going to have to talk about the treatment of women in this episode. It’s oddly shocking to hear Isobel and the Brig have their row about her going off to get photographs of their enemies;
Isobel: ‘All I need is my cameras from the house and then I’m all set.’
The Brigadier: ‘Now, wait a minute, This is hardly a job for you. ’
Isobel: ‘Why ever not?’
The Brigadier: ‘Well, you’re a young woman. This is a job for my men.’
Isobel: ‘Well, of all the bigoted, anti-feminist, cretinous remarks!’
The Brigadier: ‘This is no job for a girl like you. Now that’s final.’
Isobel: ‘Oh, you, you, you man!’
But the episode doesn’t drop it there. The thread carries on for the rest of the running time, taking the Brig out of the equation and substituting him with Jamie instead. He plays it much lighter, and Hines gives a bit of a knowing smile to suggest that Jamie knows exactly what he’s doing in winding his friends up;
Jamie: ‘He’s right, you know.’
Zoe: ‘Jamie McCrimmon!’
Jamie: ‘Well, he is!’
Zoe: ‘Just because you’re a man you think that you’re superior, do you?’
Jamie: ‘Now, I didn’t say that... Of course, it’s true.’
I had a genuine laugh at his parting comment to Benton when he hops out of the Jeep, too; ‘Och. Women!’.
I’ve not touched much on Benton yet, and that’ partly because he’s not been given very much to do yet. At this point he’s just another UNIT soldier, like Turner. He’s yet to become a defining part of this set up for the programme. I’m looking forward to watching the character evolve over the next few months, as since my last marathon I’ve done some work with John Levene — for a while he would occasionally phone up for a chat, and it was always quite surreal to tell the wife that I’ll have to take this call as ‘Benton’s on the line’…!
A genuinely solid episode, and a shot in the arm for an already great story at the mid-way point. 9/10.
The Invasion — Episode Six
I’m so used to the iconic photograph of the Cyberman outside St Paul’s Cathedral that I’m always surprised that it doesn’t appear as a shot in the episode. It’s so burned into my mind that if you’d asked me this morning I would have sworn it was there, but no. Indeed, the St Paul’s elements of the ‘invasion montage’ we get here are surprisingly brief, so it’s clear that the team had no idea just how iconic that image would become.
It doesn’t matter, though, because other elements of the montage are far more effective. I honestly love the shots of the manhole covers bursting open and the Cybermen peering out — it sells their power and strength far more than having them pick up mannequins dressed as guest stars, which the previous two Cyberman stories have favoured. And it’s honestly thrilling — that’s a word I don’t often use to describe Doctor Who, especially in the 1960s, as much as I might love it.
I’m also a fan of the various people falling under the power of the Cybermen’s sound wave. The way they’re played, as though in genuine pain, is totally convincing and actually quite scary. I’d have definitely been struck by that image if I were a kid.
The cliffhanger perhaps dominates this episode, but that’s because there’s not an awful lot else going on. This one feels a little more padded than perhaps any of the previous five. That’s a strange complaint, though, given that the episode is packed with great moments and scenes — it’s a testament to just how much we’re given in every episode of The Invasion that this one feels light on incident!
Aside from the cliffhanger we’ve also got a battle in the sewers between UNIT and the Cybermen, although I’ll admit that the silver giants are perhaps a little less effective flailing around in the smoke than they were in the last episode. I was also a bit disappointed that after a scene where UNIT plan their rescue of Professor Watkins in a daring heist outside the IE offices… we skip straight over the actual event itself to hear one of Vaughn’s lackeys explain the moment to his boss. We’ve had so much great location work and action in the story so far that I was looking forward to actually watching the escape.
But then there’s the sequence in which Watkins and Vaughn square off, which ends with the latter being shot at point blank range and laughing it off. We’ve had reference to Vaughn being partially a Cyberman before (‘My body may be cybernetic but my mind stays human. That is final!’, he tells the Cyber Director in Episode Five), but this really hammers that point home, and it’s brilliantly effective.
Overall, I think this is probably the weakest episode of The Invasion so far, even though it contains the moment everyone knows from the story. If I were doing half marks I’d go for a 6.5 here, but I’m sticking to round figures and on balance I think we’re still closer to a 7/10.
