Doctor Who (TV Series) Invasion of the Dinosaurs: Part Two (1974) User Reviews

"Of course the criminal element have been taking advantage." Great Doctor Who story.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 3 March 2007]

Doctor Who: Invasion of the Dinosaurs: Part 2 starts as Brig. Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) meets up with the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) & his companion Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen), he fills the Doctor in on the situation & says that dinosaurs have been suddenly appearing & then disappearing just as suddenly all over central London which the army has evacuated & cordoned off. The Doctor feels that someone is using temporal displacement to bring these dinosaurs back from 65 millions years in the past to the present day as a diversion of some sort for a bigger even more sinister plan & the Doctor is determined to get to the bottom of it...

This Doctor Who adventure was episode 6 from season 11 that aired here in the UK during the early weeks of 1974, directed by Paddy Russell I'm really enjoying this particular story which has changed it's name from simply 'Invasion' to the more appropriate 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs'. The script by Malcolm Hulke is moving along nicely & is definitely still maintaining my interest, there's a fair amount going on as more of the story is revealed including traitors, crazy schemes & the first glimpses of our villains & of course there's still some fun if somewhat unconvincing dinosaur action to be seen. I liked this episode & I'm liking the story overall so far which has more to it than fake looking dinosaurs, as more often than not these old Doctor Who stories are great fun, move along like a rocket & provides bags of entertainment, what more do you want?

Being a low budget BBC production Invasion of the Dinosaurs can't match the special effects of the big budget Hollywood stuff but I quite like them as they have a certain 70's kitschy garish charm about them & when all said & done & everything considered I didn't think they were all bad, I mean in my opinion the Brontosaurus looks pretty decent actually.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs is shaping up to be a great story although I'm a bit concerned that it's a six parter, there's still four to go & it might run out of steam but hopefully it won't. Well worth a watch.

It's no 'Jurassic Park", but who would expect it to be...

[jamesrupert2014 · 8/10 · 15 April 2016]

Imaginative third Doctor episode with the Doctor and Sarah Jane (at her independent best) materializing in a nearly empty London only to find it infested with looters, conspirators, traitors, dinosaurs, and the intrepid men of UNIT. The plot is clever although setting a massive 'secret base', complete with power generators, in the heart of the city (albeit under the Underground) is a bit of a stretch even for my generally forgiving credulity. As for the much maligned dinosaurs, it's an early 70's Who episode, not "Jurassic Park" - they are what they are. Oddly, the people the 'villains' have chosen to repopulate the Earth with seen to be a bunch of credulous social justice warrior-dolts (who veer toward murderous tyranny if you dare disagree with them). The moral of the episode is pretty obvious but the Doctor still gives a little 'green-speech' at the end, in case UNIT and the viewers didn't get it. Great premise, moderate execution, and at least they tried to bring dinosaurs to life. Notable for the first appearance of the 'Whomobile' – silly looking but better than 'Bessie'.

Fantastic characters, dodgy dinosaurs

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 1 October 2017]

I was certainly full of praise for the opening episode, for good reason I'd say, and the second continues with a degree of quality, that quality comes from the regulars, Nick Courtney, but primarily from John Bennett, a truly first rate actor, who makes General Finch one of the best non alien villains I can think of. There is such depth to the characters, such a richness of talent, Noel Johnson, Martin Jarvis and Peter Miles, what a quality casting.

So, now for the bad bit, the dinosaurs, can anyone find positives, friends who can remember this during its original transmission tell me that they were shocked by the bendy dinosaurs back then, nowadays they do look really bad, I'm sure many fans like me would like to see the serial remade with modern CGI effects, but that's something I'm sure will never happen.

So much to love, only those bendy dinosaurs detract, 9/10

The 'story with the rubbish dinosaurs' actually has a lot of great stuff in it.

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 9/10 · 14 November 2014]

Review of all 6 episodes:

The first episode is titled simply 'Invasion; Part One' so does not give away the content of the story. That works well as when the creatures appear late in the episode it would be surprising to an audience unaware of what to expect. The remainder of the story is given its full title of Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Many people know this story as 'the one with the rubbish dinosaurs' and it is used as an embarrassing example of poor special effects in the series. I do agree that the dinosaurs are very poor indeed, particularly the T- Rex which is simply awful. But I do not judge such effects too harshly as I understand the limitations of the age and the low budget. Anyway, this can be rectified by being re-released with well done CGI dinosaurs which would certainly improve the production and impact of many scenes. The dinosaurs are used purely for fun, for spectacle and novelty value. When they cannot have been certain (despite assurances from the company supplying the models) of good quality, they should probably never have included dinosaurs at all. However, if done with really good effects they would certainly add a lot of fun and dramatic scenes. If you overlook the effects it is very enjoyable indeed and an interesting twist on a monster invasion. Malcolm Hulke has, as usual, done a great job as writer.

It seems a little far-fetched I suppose that 1970s Earth scientists could manage to achieve the power of moving dinosaurs through time or returning the Earth to the state it was in millions of years ago. A more sensible and logical plot would have had a devious non-Earth villain providing the scientific know- how for this (as The Master used to be involved in many previous stories). That is a very minor issue though as much of Doctor Who and most science fiction has such far-fetched ideas, you cannot really complain unless it is clearly illogical and I don't think it is. It is not much to ask that we just accept the scifi/fantasy concept that a scientist might somehow find a way to rewind time just as they did later in the much loved 4th Doctor classic City of Death (although that was done with advanced alien knowhow). If you overlook that and the rubbish dinosaurs there is so much in this story that is entertaining and interesting.

The acting, script and many scenes are of great quality. In the first episode where The Doctor and Sarah Jane find themselves in an eerily quiet London not knowing that dinosaurs have started appearing it is intriguing and effective. The dialogue and performances remain excellent throughout with so many superb scenes of fascinating science fiction but also lots of humorous exchanges. It is a great idea to have environmental/political extremists feeling they need to take drastic action to save the Earth and their selected section of humanity from the ecological damage and wars that ravage our planet. The way they are duped to thinking they are travelling to a new planet is really good and all of the characters are very well written and very well acted. Grover, Finch, Butler, Whitaker, Ruth and Robinson are all superb, convincing guest characters wonderfully performed by the whole cast. The ideas presented are really interesting. I must say that the way the damage humans are doing to the world is shown in films in the 'Reminder Room' and the way the 3rd Doctor explains that he agrees with the views of the extremists but not with their methods and almost looks into the camera saying how we should "make the best out of the world we have, it's not too late" is a very overt ecological message which makes a mockery of those who try to say this era of Who was much more subtle in its messages than any later eras. It also makes a mockery of those who say this story portrays the 'lefties' as the villains. In fact it just suggests that if we keep destroying our planet we will push people to extreme measures. Their cause is shown to be correct but the methods of the leaders is condemned as too cruel and extreme.

The main cast are terrific:

Lis Sladen in only her second story establishes herself as the best possible companion. She is brave, intelligent, takes the lead in acting to save others, hugely strong minded, tough but compassionate, she is an absolute joy! Her acting is flawless and there are beautiful moments of humour from her too.

John Levene has one of his finest stories as he shows wonderful loyalty and puts his neck on the line to help save the day with several enjoyable physical interventions and funny lines.

Nicholas Briggs is on absolute top form as the Brigadier and is fantastic in every scene.

Richard Franklin acts perfectly as Mike Yates as his character is taken in a brave new direction. It is shocking and very cleverly done bringing a real depth and emotion with the dark character development.

Jon Pertwee is at the top of his game as the Doctor with his intellect, morality, bravery and martial arts all shown off well.

So, is this story perfect? No. Is it a fun, interesting, thoroughly entertaining story with great ideas, dialogue and acting? Yes!

My ratings: Parts 1 & 2 - 9/10, Parts 3, 4 & 5 - 8.5/10, Part 6 - 9/10. Overall - 8.75/10.