Adrian Sherlock 2004-05-18

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

This is a better than usual Tom Baker story, with fun and atmosphere early on and passable androids and aliens. The rocket is a bad jok, same stock footage as Genesis of the Daleks/revenge of the Cybermen again! Considering it hails from the overrated Gothic horror period, which had as many totally boring stories as cool exciting ones, this then is not bad at all. The ending falls rather flat and looks awful (that freeze frame is yuck!) but I have a soft spot for this one. I liked UNIT, sadly this is its last breath. Criminal! And fat comedy guy who stands in for the Brigadier is an insult to the show's past! But, for the eerie village scenes, this is worth a look!

Mr. D. Blenkin 2003-09-14

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Between 1975-1977, Producer Philip Hinchcliffe and Script Editor Robert Holmes, gave us a collection of some the most memorable stories in the shows history. The Android Invasion,(apart from the title being a dead giveaway), is one of those stories. Devesham, where the story is set, is supposed to be a beautiful English village. But all is not as it appears... An android training ground, an alien race called Kraals, an evil Doctor and Sarah, the final appearances of Sgt Benton and Harry Sullivan and ginger beer are just some of the stories exceedingly tasty ingredients. Unfortunately, the Brigadier is absent here. Overall, I find very little to fault this 4th story from Season 13 and I would strongly recommend this to anybody wanting to build upon their video collection. A 5-Star classic.

2001-03-22

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

The problem with 'The Android Invasion' is that it is too similar to 'Terror of the Zygons' (also available on Amazon) only not quite as good. The Kraals, for example, are not as good as the Zygons had been, neither visually nor vocally. However, there is still plenty to recommend this video. I enjoyed the Tom Baker stories that were set on Earth (or in this case what appeared to be Earth) because his Doctor's unearthliness made an interesting contrast from Pertwee and suited stories that were set on Earth (as so many Pertwee stories had been). Sadly there's no Brigadier to be found in this adventure, with Patrick (The Avengers) Newell not really much of a replacement as Colonel Faraday. Still, Milton Johns is excellent as the slimy Crayford and the villagers with the West Country accents are a joy to behold.

2000-12-18

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

dr who and the android invasion is one of the best science fiction stories ever made. It keeps you on your toes and you try to figure out who is the real doctor and real Sarah is and when you find out their androids you get a shock.It is just the best story out there in my opinion, even with its slowness in the middle it is still one of my favourite movies of all time and is my favoutite dr who of all time.

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