Dr Who - The Android Invasion - talk

[Mikey]

Was just watching The Android Invasion last night.

I could never understand why so many people rate this story so low.

It's got a lot of good things going for it including .....

1. Baker in white jacket - This always means a good show

2. Sarah is present

3. Harry makes a guest shot

4. Sgt Benton in a Baker story is a nice rarity

5. Fembots

6. Decent story (a little over the top)

7. UNIT is present

8. Not overly boring

9. a nice 4 episode length -- so it's not milked like many 6 episoders are.

10. Not a studio-bound story

To me all this adds up to one of the better Tom Baker stories.

What do you think ?

M

[MEMEGO]

Mikey,
I agree with you, this is one of my all time favorite Tom Baker/Dr Who stories.
I remeber this as well as being the very first story I saw on tv when the series was on ch 9 here in nyc. Its a great story, even has elements of Twilight Zone in it.

[palitoy]

You know I've always been generally kind of "Meh" about it but I can't tell you why that is.

[johnmiic]

I'm not too ethusiastic about it. Mostly it's a Evil double/Invasion of the Body Snatchers story. Sarah has an evil fembot twin. So does all of Unit. It doesn't really sound that great.

[jds1911a1]

one of my top 10 all time Who's and my favorite Tom episode. nestled in a season where every story was great it is very much a great top off to unit in who.

[david_b]

I really need to watch this one again.. It's typically overlooked, and it's still from the wonderful set of eps that had UNIT and ol' Harry. I LOVED the Zygons ep as well..

d

[Mikey]

The only small complaint I have about this one is the aliens themselves look a bit bad (the actor's masks)

If they didn't have the money for a decent mask that week I think they would have been better off going with a humanoid alein with a bump on his face or head (aka Trek TNG)

BTW, speaking of TNG ... Anyone ever notice the Ferengi kind of resemble these guys ?

[jds1911a1]

The only small complaint I have about this one is the aliens themselves look a bit bad (the actor's masks)

If they didn't have the money for a decent mask that week I think they would have been better off going with a humanoid alein with a bump on his face or head (aka Trek TNG)

BTW, speaking of TNG ... Anyone ever notice the Ferengi kind of resemble these guys ?

in comparison to most aliens of the pre star wars era I think the Kraals hold up just fine

in the cominc soon front just announced for next year in US release Kinda and Snakedance Apr 12 2011 (I knew they were coming in March to the UK so it's not huge news)

US who for 2011 so far:
The Dominators 1-11-2011
Meglos 1-11-2011
Doctor Who the Movie 2-8-2011
The Mutants 2-8-2011
The Seeds of Doom 3-8-2011
The Ark 3-8-2011
Snake Dance 4-12-2011
Kinda 4-12-2011

in the I can't beleive it's not here yet is Time and the Rani which was released on 9-13-2010 in the UK

[palitoy]

I'm not too ethusiastic about it. Mostly it's a Evil double/Invasion of the Body Snatchers story. Sarah has an evil fembot twin. So does all of Unit. It doesn't really sound that great.

Yeah, I think maybe the fact that they are treading bionic man territory kind of hard is what doesn't work for me.

[Mikey]

in comparison to most aliens of the pre star wars era I think the Kraals hold up just fine

in the cominc soon front just announced for next year in US release Kinda and Snakedance Apr 12 2011 (I knew they were coming in March to the UK so it's not huge news)

US who for 2011 so far:
The Dominators 1-11-2011
Meglos 1-11-2011
Doctor Who the Movie 2-8-2011
The Mutants 2-8-2011
The Seeds of Doom 3-8-2011
The Ark 3-8-2011
Snake Dance 4-12-2011
Kinda 4-12-2011

in the I can't beleive it's not here yet is Time and the Rani which was released on 9-13-2010 in the UK

That's not a very impressive list.

The only ones i'm really looking up to is Seeds and Mutants

[david_b]

Agreed on the Kraals.., I actually thought they looked great. Not as great as the Zygons, but still spiffy.

And agreed, the obvious 'face mask' cheapness always ADDS to the coolness of Doctor Who, much like the much beloved Loche Ness Monster and 'Robot' special effects..

As for 'over-looked Baker episodes'.., I'm still waiting on 'Face of Evil'.. I have a copy of it, but it STILL ranks as a fun episode. Lots a great banter between the Doctor and the SERVA team.

david_b

[Mikey]

Face of Evil was GREAT story and i'm looking up to that one too.

Sunmakers is also a fan favorite that's been still overlooked

[palitoy]

I have to say I like the Kraals look as well, they embody what I love about Doctor Who.

Face of Evil is a great one, I'd love to see it on DVD.

[bobws]

I liked it and i even got to pose on the same spot Tom was tied to when i went over for a Doctor Who vacation years ago.

[Bo8a_Fett]

This year I know that U.S. releases are going to be around the same time as U.K. releases...poor choice of stories though apart from Mutants which I havn't seen for years and The Ark just to have another Hartnell...Troughton only has the Krotons to be released over here as the last complete story left (seeds will be rereleased with more extras). Not a fan of Davison although I do like Frontios.
As for Andsroids...yeah I like it...the Kraals were great and the story by Terry Nation (another rarity as no Daleks) was solid enough even though like most Who stories based on existing genre storylines. Baker is excellent as is the rest of the cast, all in all a good solid story.