Day 241 — August 29th 2021
The Invasion of Time Parts One and Two
The Invasion of Time — Part One
I’ll tell you what, it’s a bold story that opens with the adventure already in progress like this, especially when there’s six episodes to fill. The intention is clearly to set up a mystery about why Doctor Who is behaving so strangely, and who the mysterious unseen figures on the spaceship are, and the episode goes to great lengths to try and make you wonder. Leela is frustrated to discover that she’s been blocked from operating the scanner, and then is dumped the second they arrive on Gallifrey. The other Time Lords question Doctor Who’s sudden desire for speed in claiming the presidency, and Tom Baker spends the whole episode acting in an unusual manner, shouting and snapping at anyone who comes too close.
It might just be because I know the twist to come, but I can’t say I’ve particularly enjoyed following the mystery. I’ve commented lots lately about preferring Baker’s Doctor Who when he’s in his silly fun-loving mood, so I get absolutely no enjoyment from watching him shout at people like this. It doesn’t help that this is perhaps the worst he ever looks in the role — I moaned in the last story about how the new scarf drowns him, and the effect is made even worse here when he’s given the over-sized collar of the Deadly Assassin shirt and a big white cravat. Add to that the fact that his hair seems to have grown an inordinate amount all of a sudden and he just looks unhappy and lost.
I think I’m also in a bad mood simply because we’ve made the return to Gallifrey. I said last season that I wasn’t over keen on spending time on the planet and that I didn’t think visiting like this did anything to make the Time Lords more impressive, and the same is true again here. We’ve got the same situation of watching grumpy old men bickering amongst themselves and arguing about procedure and protocols. It just doesn’t make for interesting television. We end this episode with the induction of Doctor Who as President of the Time Lords, but it fails to be in any way gripping — it boils down to a handful of extras and an empty set. This is the big problem with doing Gallifrey stories — you want them to be epic, and I’m sure there’s a way of doing that here, but they so often fall short.
Fingers crossed things will improve once Doctor Who has shaken off the Vardans, so he’ll be able to get back to being himself. A 3/10 to open with.
The Invasion of Time — Part Two
I don’t know if I’m just tired from a run of particularly poor episodes, but I’m finding it hard to find anything much to say about this one. Doctor Who continues to behave out of character (although there’s a reason for it, we’re still in the dark at this stage, a third of the way into the story) and for the most part that’s not made it a very enjoyable episode to watch. He spends ages in this one being quite cruel about Leela — I assume he wants her removed from the Citadel to protect her from what’s about to happen, but all the same it’s uncomfortable to watch play out, especially given that he’s not always been the nicest towards her generally.
It also doesn’t help that I don’t especially care for any of the guest characters here. The dull old men fussing around Doctor Who are just as drab as the ones in The Deadly Assassin, and while Andred gives us a slightly younger Time Lord to consider, he just comes across as a bit wet. At least in Part One he got to have some vaguely flirty banter with Leela. Here the most he gets is a Jelly Baby…!
I will say that the set for the main hall (is it supposed to be the Panopticon from last season?) is pretty impressive, and there’s a few shots here and there which really sell the scale of the place, especially when you can see the TARDIS dwarfed by the room. It’s nice to see that area of Gallifrey looking impressive because the rest feels like the first step in the bizarre design choices which will plague the planet as we head into the 1980s — the plastic furniture does nothing for them, and the murals on the corridor walls are about as bizarre as can be. And don’t get me started on the various offices, which are a mixture of plain grey walls and ornate tapestries!
I think I’m just going to give a 2/10 and move swiftly on…
