4.9: The Android Invasion
In which Terry hasn’t thought things through.
Broadcast: November-December 1975
Watched: June 2020
The Android Invasion, Part One
“Let’s try the pub.” Yep, that’s our Tom. I also enjoyed, “We don’t have strangers here.”
So this is called The Android Invasion and stars with what looks like a malfunctioning android soldier, and then some people whose fingers are guns start shooting at them. Will it still attempt to use “ANDROIDS! INVADING!!” as a twist? Stay tuned!
What the HELL is Sarah wearing. Has she joined Abba?
The slightly rubbish “Look! Monster!” cliffhanger threw me as I was expecting “You’re not the real Sarah”. That must be the end of part two.
Anyway, yes, obviously the logic of this story is fucked to non existent and it trades entirely on atmosphere... but the atmosphere is so good I almost don’t mind. Probably enjoyed it more than any single episode since Genesis.
Halfway through season 13. I’ll get through this accursed season yet.
The Android Invasion, Part Two
“The Doctor’s long association with libertarian causes” erm I’m not sure that word means what you think it means, Terry.
So they’re not really playing the “ANDROIDS!” shock cliffhanger thing... but it is nonetheless weird watching the Doctor and Sarah take ages to work out something we’ve known since basically the first scene.
The calendar where it’s always July 6th makes slightly less than no sense. Also, the Kraal are rubbish, aren’t they. Like melted Ferengi.
But the cliffhanger is good, to be fair. You can see why it’s famous. Oh! Barry Letts directed, that’d be it.
Have they changed the end credits? They look redder than before.
The Android Invaison, Part Three
“Stay! Just for a few minutes! Then we can all go together!”
Second story this season with aliens using duplicates to facilitate an invasion. The fact nobody in the show seems to have noticed is a bit odd.
Why would the android Sarah has a scarf when Sarah was captured without one... I know there’s no point looking for logic, but nonetheless.
Also, the Doctor spends a lot of this story legging it while completely unconcerned that Sarah can't keep up. The fact he does it immediately after she frees him is a bit harsh. Mind you, last story Sarah could fire a rifle; this time she’s electrocuting androids. The woman’s a psychopath.
There’s a weird pathos in Crayford’s enthusiasm for the Kraals’ plan.
The cliffhanger – “Crushed! By G-force!” – is mental.
The Android Invasion, Part Four
Well that was utter nonsense, but I don’t really understand why it comes in for such hatred in some quarters. It isn’t dull, it moves along nicely... There are many worse stories. I’m not even sure it’s the worst this season.
My god! A woman! Who isn’t Sarah! That makes a change. Well done, Tessa.
How did the Kraals know that UNIT would be in Devesham when they attack? How did they get the right body prints? Once again, I know it’s silly looking for logic, but still.
Are Benton and Harry in this for contractual reasons? They’re weirdly wasted. I suppose no one knew then it’d be their last appearance, but they don’t even say goodbye. And the fact the Doctor has spent three stories trying to get back to UNIT HQ is entirely forgotten as he literally immediately runs off again. Surprised no one’s ever tried to stick 30 or 40 other stories between the penultimate and final scenes, mind.
Sarah’s resolve not to get back in the TARDIS lasts for literally two seconds.
It is hilarious that it’s Benton’s final appearance and we learn that he’s taking his younger sister to a dance. And android Benton turns out to be an idiot, too. Poor Benton, cucked til the end.
I came across the term through sf, so always associated libertarianism with Heinleinian/Randian right anarchocapitalism, which is why it was jarring to come across the term in "The Guardian" in the 1980s and 90s in its historic and obviously still then primary meaning for "Guardian" journalists and subs of anti-authoritarian without any connotation of economic policy. I recall Rhodes Boyson once stating that he was "not a libertarian". He wasn't alluding to Hayek, Friedman and the Chicago Boys.
Hard to believe that the 7-year old me wasn't excited by the fact that the astronaut is called Crayford. We would surely have noticed that, although I have no recollection of it. The fact that the British have Senior Defence Astronauts in Jupiter Space puts, I think, absolutely definitive pay to the notion that that the UNIT stories are set in the year of broadcast. Sarah says she was from 1980 in the previous story and I think we should date this to 1980-1 (or perhaps even later). (Interestingly, for me, this is the story I would most like to write a "Black Archive" on. There's a lot going on here. UNIT dating and the last UNIT story, as you point out, with any of the regular team (in the original run of UNIT stories; "Seeds" is a UNIT story, "Hand" is a UNIT story with the serial numbers filed off and the Brig returns twice before we get to the end of the classic series). The British space programme. The replica village and pub. 1970s folk horror. And it's by Terry Nation, who was a very big deal - for 7-year olds at least - in the mid-1970s.)