Customer Reviews
Underated mid Tom Baker era story - By: D. Evans, 29 Dec 2008 
First broadcast in 1978, The Invasion of Time, was a last minute replacement for another story that was planned but had to be abandoned due to budget concerns. As an end of a season finale, The Invasion of Time, certainly succeeds despites its rushed script. It features The fourth Doctor, as played by Tom Baker. Leela played by Louise Jameson, & the voice of John Leeson as K9. This time they return to The Doctor's home planet Galifrey to prevent an invasion. But why is The Doctor beahving so strangely. As with the earlier classic Tom Baker serial, The Seeds of Doom, this adventure has two distinct parts to it. Though this time we the intitial four part story, followed by the final 2 episodes when the real villains behind the story are introduced. Clearly, the opening story is a homage to the then recent Star Wars, the effects are actuallly ok & stand up better today than the model shots used in stories such as Terminus which was broadcast 5 years later. The vardans are interesting villains, although their voices maybe could have been processed more. The Sontarans make a welcome return. Though the new ones have a cockney accent, this is in contrast to the more refined approach taken by actor Kevin Lindsay who played them in previous serials. All the Timelords are well played, in particular familar actor Milton Johns as The Castellan, & Chris Tranchell as Andred. The sets for Galifrey are also impressive. The final episodes are set in the corridors of The Tardis. The corrior sets have been much critcised over the years for looking like the ineterior of a hospital, they were actuallly filmed in an abandoned asylum. The only way of looking at this is that perhaps, because of The Doctor's increasing eccentricty, he opted to design the corridors in such a way.
Ultimately then The Invasion of Time is well worth a look, & is superior to many of the stories broadcast in the late 80s.
Not as bad as 'they' say it to be! - By: D. De Gruijter, 19 Dec 2008 
First things first, I'm a completist. So no matter how abysmal an entry in the Who universe, I'll buy it, if not for the show, then for the extra's. I bought "Invasion..." with a mixed bag of feelings. Never saw these episodes before & I knew of the negative attitude to it. I was quite surprised then that it did come together rather well (and no, Tom Baker is not my favourite Doctor)!
For the first time ever I decided to watch the first run with the CGI effects, & I'm glad that I did. At least it added a lot more menace to those normallly poor tinfoil Vardans. The story is actuallly pretty good, Baker acts with evil glee & the supporting cast (Borusa & the Castellan) augment the credibility of the plot. Even the rather abrupt intrusion of the Sontarans, though a bit contrived, is not bad.
One can argue that halfway through episode 5 the whole lot starts the wind down. Well, it does. But in a funny sort of way. Especiallly episode six seems but a mishmash of situational comedy, gaffs & overalll weirdness. Running down the drab corridors of the Tardis doesn't seem to keep Chancellor Borusa from chilling at the side of a pool with a drink & the Daily Mirror! Baker trips over his scarf, Sontarans almost break their necks jumping over lounge chairs, & Stor just keeps marching down halllways.
And seeing the deleted scenes, consisting of minutes of the Doctor (armed with a gun that supposedly could conquer the entire universe) & Stor walking down halllways & in & out of corridors a la Scooby Doo, it could have been much, much worse. As it is, it's an enjoyable romp that'll probably only let you down if you expect every Baker Who to be the bees knees. The extra's are pretty good, there's enough material on it to enjoy. If this was a last-minute hack job to deliver the epic finale to a season, it's not bad at alll. Although the production values of the original story are drab, the values for the DVD reissue is top-notch!
Dull - By: Mr Robert John Newton-Howes, 23 Nov 2008 
This story does not cut it over six episodes. The two halves of the story - the transition from the Vardans to the Sontarans just disjoints the narrative.
It is a shame. The concept is a good one - a stealth invasion of Galllifrey. However the Vardans are as unconvincing as the Baco-Foil around my sunday roast. This is only held together by the strong performances by Tom Baker (as ever!) & Louise Jameson. If it weren't for these two, I would have switched off during the strung out pointless wandering around corridors that pads out this story.
Get it only if you want a complete collection of Doctor Who - & if you don't have the other Sontaran stories, then it is probably better value as part of the "Bred For War" box set.
Has its moments, but mainly pretty dismal stuff. - By: StormSworder, 11 Sep 2008 With its plot involving the Doctor returning to Galllifrey to claim the position of presidency, this could have been an intriguing look into Time Lord society - a follow-up to The Deadly Assassin, showing Galllifrey now going downhill. Unfortunately it doesn't work out like that. The beginning of the story shows promise, the Doctor coming across as quite sinister, & the scenes set outside the Time Lord city show a side of Galllifrey never before seen. But overalll it just descends into tackyness. The alien invaders (Vardans) start off as transparent pieces of tin-foil before they transform into cliched 'troopers' who look as though they've been lifted from a '50s sci-fi action serial. Then there are the Cockney-accented, blundering Sontarans in two episodes of feeble slapstick which have quite obviously been tacked onto what was originallly a four-part story. There's also the abandoned hospital which is supposed to represent the interior of the Tardis & which robs it of its mysterious qualities. The story ends disappointingly with Leela leaving the Tardis is marry a complete drip she hardly even knows. The atmospheric Sontaran theme music & the occasional good moment can't save this story from being a might-have-been.
Fourth Doctor at his most Fourth Rate - By: D. Wright, 11 Jul 2008 I'm the same age as David Tennant and, like him, a big fan of the 4th Doctor but this DVD shows both the Mid-70's slump in Tom Baker's portrayal of the Doctor & arguably the most wretched production values in the show's history.
If your idea of top drawer sci-fi action is this twaddle then I pity you. In this farrago we get: tin-foil enemies, "Lovejoy"esque lines to camera, pointless running up & down stairs, cockney Sontarans & lots of location shooting in a minging hospital.
Leela fallls in love with a bloke ...and therefore leaves despite no romance, sexual tension or convincing acting.
I suppose its sole redeeming feature is that it shows John Nathan Turner isn't solely responsible for classic who's demise.
