Doctor Who (TV Series) The Android Invasion: Part Two (1975) User Reviews

Good second episode.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 17 July 2007]

Doctor Who: The Android Invasion: Part 2 starts as the Doctor (Tom Baker) & his companion Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) manage to escape from the Space Defense Station with some UNIT soldiers in close pursuit, Sarah twists her ankle & is caught while the Doctor makes it back to the village of Devesham. Sarah is taken to to an alien base where the Kraals are observing the events in Devesham in preparation for an invasion of Earth, sensing danger a Kraal known as Styggron (Martin Friend) makes an exact android clone of Sarah to find the Doctor who poses a threat to the Kraals plans...

Episode 14 from season 13 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during November 1975, directed by Barry Letts I'm enjoying The Android Invasion so far despite it's lacklustre reputation. The script by Terry Nation has had a Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) feel about it although Terror of the Zygons (1975) used the themes more effectively. This has been moving along at a nice enough pace, the mystery elements are starting to be revealed & at this point they still just about make sense. The character's are good, there's some humorous dialogue mostly from Baker although I'm not sure how the Doctor manages to dry himself off so quickly after being submerged in a pond but at only 25 minutes the makers didn't have a lot of time to play around with so things sometimes have to happen rather quickly. I think this is a good story so far one or two plot holes apart.

We see the alien Kraals for the first time here, the costume & masks look pretty good actually & are quite menacing except for the mouth. Like a lot of Doctor Who monsters from this time the mouth movements are just none existent & you can see the actors lips move underneath the hole cut out of the rubber mask for the mouth but not mask itself which just ends up looking silly. The androids themselves look alright, without skin on there's the usual wire frame with minimal mechanics inside reminiscent of the mechanical Mummies from Pyramids of Mars (1975) & ping pong eyeballs to finish the look off. The shot in which Tom Baker swallowed too much water which made his voice sound odd is in this episode.

The Android Invasion: Part 2 is a good second episode to what I think so far is a good story, I'm liking it.

Excellent follow up

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 8 August 2015]

This is another brilliant episode that carries on in the same quality from where episode 1 ended. We get to see the Kraals, Terry Nation's fairly well executed new alien threat, not much chance of them being reused i don't think, although they have appeared in a Big Finish audio, the Oseidon adventure. Must say I would rock a pair of Kraal silver dm's. We see more intrigue and confusion as friends of the doctor, Sullivan and Benton don't recognise him, there's the famous scene where Tom went into the river and swallowed dirty water, which affected his voice. The village setting is once again glorious, very pretty place. I love the scene in the village store, shops were much nicer back then. What's going on in Devesham Village? and what's up with Sarah Jane, why does she suddenly like Ginger beer? all will be revealed soon. The end of this episode features arguably one of the best cliffhangers.

Disappointment in Devesham - after a great start.

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 9/10 · 25 November 2014]

Review of all 4 episodes:

This is a very solid serial overall but in the otherwise incredible Season 13 this story ends up being the one 'disappointment'. That does not start out to be the case though as Part 1 is really intriguing and well executed with so much interest, difference and promise. It is reminiscent of a John Wyndham story with a village where strange things are going on and people act in extremely odd ways with obvious sinister interference from a mystery force. That leads on to a very good second episode and a reasonable but slightly disappointing third episode then it all rather falls apart in the 4th episode which causes the plot to make no sense.

The Doctor and Sarah arrive in the village of Devesham after a run in with some threatening figures in helmets and boiler suits. At this point it seems like a Terror of the Autons follow up. They find the village deserted but then residents return acting very strangely as if in a trance before all suddenly acting more normally at precisely the same time. It has a wonderful eerie quality, intelligent dialogue and fascinating ideas. It feels like a Midwich Cuckoos/Stepford Wives type story and I love it. It turns out to be an invasion plan by alien race the Kraals using androids and a deadly virus.

The eeriness and mystery of the first episode draws you in and there is good fun and entertainment in the second episode. There is great interplay between The Doctor and Sarah with some funny scenes and some very good dialogue. The atmosphere created in the first episode is diminished gradually once the Kraals turn up and the mystery begins to be lifted but the second episode is still strong. The Kraals are actually a decent enemy at first, mixing military menace with science. They do not look impressive at all but I do not judge just by effects/makeup and the threat they pose seems good at first. Part 2 also has a really fun and striking cliffhanger that adds further quality. There are not many faults in these first two episodes and it looks like almost maintaining the standard of season 13 which had been incredible up to this point.

The third episode starts to show some cracks in the story writing, however, as the plot-holes begin to become apparent. You begin to realise the plans of the Kraals make no sense as they destroy their carefully created fake village, fail miserably to deal with the Doctor and reveal a plan to use a virus to attack mankind rather than androids. At this stage things are still seeming possible to be salvaged but then there is the rather dodgy rocket journey which I felt was the start of things going rapidly downhill. The plot does not make sense in Part 4 and we learn Crayford supposedly never realised he had an eye under his eye patch. The dialogue and story in Part 4 just goes wrong. Also, as Nicholas Courtney was unavailable the Brigadier had to be replaced in the story by a Colonel who is unconvincing and a very poor substitute for the wonderful 'Brig'. We do get the final appearances for Benton and Harry Sullivan in Doctor Who which is notable but all the more sad as their final episode is pretty disappointing with them as mere spare parts.

This adventure sadly ultimately makes little sense when you reach the conclusion but Tom Baker and Lis Sladen are fantastic throughout and the first episode is great. There is plenty of quality up til the latter parts of the story so overall it is an enjoyable, interesting serial but with 2 episodes which are a let down compared to the superb standard of Season 13.

My ratings: Part 1 - 10/10, Part 2 - 9/10, Part 3 - 7/10, Part 4 - 5.5/10. Overall - 7.88/10.

The Ventriloquist's Rhino...

[Xstal · 5/10 · 30 June 2022]

If you ever caught a cold with a nose like that, it's anybody's guess, just how far you'd blow your hat, you'd be covered head to trotter, you would need a mighty blotter, and imagine how verdant would be the splat.