2000-07-24
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
All is not well in the cosy village of Devesham - the whole place is eerily deserted, bar an oddly mechanical bunch of villagers and a disturbed astronaut, Guy Crayford, and the Doc + Sarah find themselves targeted by robotic assassins clad in white radiation suits. As he has missed the opening credits, the Doctor is at loss to explain the sinister goings-on in the desolate village, and decides to investigate. Just as well, because he finds that the androids are merely the first part in a cunning scheme to defeat humanity.......
The laughable thing with this story is that the title alone ruins most of it. Most of the first two episodes are about the mystery surrounding the villagers themselves, but all of that is lost with the giveaway title. Terry Nation's bland scripting is a far cry from his excellent work on Genesis Of The Daleks a year earlier - there's a truly remarkable amount of plot-holes, and the whole story is badly structured, with the first three episodes generally focusing on the Doc and Sarah mucking on in the village, so that the climax in the final episode is rushed and not very exciting. On the plus side, Barry Letts's direction is excellent, and he creates many memorable images. The aliens, when we meet them, are not bad, and the music is wonderful. Overall, Android Invasion is an entertaining adventure in it's own right, but a disappointment compared to the rest of the season.
James