This Way Up 2: Season 13: The Android Invasion

It’s a shame that this story is destined to sit forever at the foot of any poll you might run for this season yet there is a lot about `The Android Invasion` I really like. Not only does it include some iconic imagery- the finger pointing space helmeted androids and the fake Sarah’s face falling off- but it also has the Doctor in a pub! Its opening half is atmospheric and full of mystery like an extreme episode of The Avengers. It may be the weakest story of the season (and I’ll readily agree to that) but that’s some standard because this is my favourite season of Doctor Who ever.

Shot fifty (!) years ago in the beautiful village of East Hagbourne, the adventure is caught up between all-time classics. I’m sure people at the time hadn’t forgotten the impact of `Pyramids of Mars` and once `Brain of Morbius` started, they forgot this story. It would probably have made more impact in an earlier season as it does hark back to the third Doctor era at times.

Like many of those stories it is set in an isolated locale; in this case a village named Devesham, a quintessential example of Englishness though I do wonder why the Kraals chose such a peaceful environment to replicate. If they are going to release a virus, surely a busy city would be better? And if they needed to have the real subjects to copy the inhabitants was there a covert mission to Devesham some years back to undertake that task?

This is a rare non- Dalek Doctor Who story from Terry Nation who by the mid Seventies had written for a variety of action / adventure shows and knew his way around a decent, serviceable plot though tended to be a writer whose overall concept was better than its realisation. He’s also a reassuringly linear scripter so he drops clues even the viewer will spot such as Sarah’s dislike of ginger pop or her losing her scarf just to service that cliffhanger at the end of part two. He really builds up the mystery though – ideas like the newly minted coins or the calendar with the same date every day- and this elevates the first half of the story far higher than its second part. These ingredients are built up with purpose yet at some point in part three the story flounders a little and can’t deliver something as interesting as promised.

Nation does spare us ventilation ducts at least and the story has a good momentum even if much of it is the Doctor being captured and then escaping. Not since Frontier in Space has this happened so many times in a story. Some of his plot conveniences are odd like why would the Brigadier have a permanent office at the space centre? Sarah’s narrative is sped up with unusual stealth for the 70s both when she is captured or when she later escapes, both of which have already happened when we catch up. The helmeted androids being dressed in white overalls is obviously only due to the strictures of production mean that would forbid fully android humanoids walking about yet apart from the early scenes they have human hands.

The mystery of the first half of the story initially suggests that the android invasion has actually happened and the village of Devesham has been emptied out, its locals being replaced by androids. The production builds up so well from the opening scene of a twitching, detached soldier walking seemingly aimlessly, then the absence of villagers and those white suit and helmeted guards. Puzzled by what might be happening, neither the Doctor nor Sarah seem to notice they are being shot at by fingers rather than guns but the imagery is cool enough.

Though Philip Hinchcliffe has always expressed disappointment with the Kraals’ appearance they have always seemed quite impressive to me visually with their crumpled faces looking perpetually grumpy. Even in the harsh glare of modern televisions the masks look good for the time they were made. Their muddy skin colour seems positively muted compared to the Seventies’ retinue of garish aliens. It’s just that they never developed anything unique like the Zygons had earlier this season and therefore seem a bit generic though the actors do bring a little light and shade.

Martin Friend was unlucky to turn up in a season full of very big performances but he makes Styggron suitably alien and walks with the gait of a drunken sailor. At times he’s quite reasonable especially when he points out Crayford’s cowardice or is surprised by a compliment from Chedaki. It’s certainly interesting to have the scientist rather than the solider in charge though the script can make Chedaki seem quite dim. As for their plan, it has been criticized for being pointless if they are planning to wipe out humanity with a virus but the exercise seems to be about taking control of the space centre and surrounding area first.

Which makes sense if there was a lengthy logistical stage to follow but according to episode four the main fleet is only going to arrive a short time later. Perhaps the androids would be used to spread the virus? None of this really explains the point of bussing the duplicates in and out so they can pretend to be normal villagers drinking in the pub etc. Like those finger shooting guards, it’s one of those things which you realise are only being done for the benefit of the viewers so we can see something strange but it actually doesn’t support the story in itself.

The real key character in the story is Guy Crayford. I can’t say I’ve watched this story loads of times but each time I warm more to this odd character, a victim of circumstances whom Milton Johns gives a humanity too. His explanation in episode three of what happened to him feels involving and you can see, both through the dialogue (some of which may have been penned by Robert Holmes) and the actor’s interpretation. The eye patch thing I can live with because it fits in with the way the Kraals have brainwashed him even if it’s not really clear why they would do that or how he has broken free. Some fans have pointed out that the Doctor deactivates all the androids in the space centre control room but then it’s the android Doctor who challenges Styggron. The simple explanation would seem to be the Doctor being clever reanimates his own android under his control. Had we seen this happening it would have spoiled the later scene as we’d know it wasn’t really the Doctor.

Barry Letts directs with the assurance of someone who knows the show inside out managing to instil an eerie atmosphere into the opening episode in particular with some great moments notably the way the camera lingers on the expressionless android villagers and also the fresh countryside vibes. One of the best scenes is the lengthy re-population of the pub by the android inhabitants which takes place silently without either music or dialogue. There is a pause- unthinkable in modern Doctor Who I imagine- were the camera shows the villagers in turn staring ahead and then al of a sudden they become animated. In the space centre Letts is faced with making ordinary corridors and offices look interesting – and what is that thing that Styggron glares through at the end of part one? The interior of the Kraal’s base is interesting if a little similar to the recently seen Zygon one, it may even have used repainted material. I wonder why so many intelligent races build such impractical doors though. I do feel that by part four the story is getting away from the production team with some cheap looking CSO options that could have been avoided and the influx of some `real` human characters who crowd things out. If, as originally planned, the Brigadier had been in this story I would hope he would have had more to do than Patrick Newell does. As for Ian Marter, what a shame his last story didn’t give him a lot of material.

With both Terry Nation and Barry Letts involved the story can’t help but look back rather than forward and this is what singles it out from the rest of the season. All the other stories share a sense of darker adventure whereas `The Android Invasion` could easily fit into the 1971 or 1973 season which the others definitely couldn’t. Though Letts is not writing here, the idea of Britain running a space programme harks back to the early 70s especially `Ambassadors of Death`.

The on-screen rapport between the Doctor and Sarah is peak during this season, so natural and unaffected it often doesn’t feel like scripted dialogue at all; in fact, moments such as Sarah’s amusement when a branch hits her look like genuine reactions. In more recent Doctor Who the writers have strained to find different ways to push a companion’s backstory but back then it was done without anything more remarkable than getting to know them as people. Anyone writing a Doctor Who script should watch the interaction between the fourth Doctor and Sarah to see the benchmark. Except the bit where she twists an ankle! In the end it is their banter that provides the story’s only tilt towards humour. In a season rammed with all time classics, `The Android Invasion` seems less impressive while actually being Quite Good.