 "The Invasion of Time" was written by Producer Graham Williams and Script Editor Anthony Read, using the Pseudonym ‘David Agnew’, as a replacement for a cancelled story called "The Killers of the Dark" by David Weir, which was considered too expensive and complex to shoot. The script for "The Invasion of Time" was written in just two weeks, with four days for rewrites, and was based on an outline by the two authors. Additionally, when asked about the unused script at a convention, Graham Williams, inadvertently referred to "The Killers of the Dark" as "The Killer Cats of Gin Sengh" resulting in the fan myth that this was the original title.
It was Robert Holmes who suggested to Graham Williams that this story be split into two segments, the first four episodes being based around the Vardans and the final two episodes being based around the Sontarans who come into the story at the end of the fourth episode.
This story features the final appearances of Louise Jameson as the companion Leela and K9 Mark I (played by John Leeson, who would appear again in the next season as K9 Mark II).
Leela remains on Gallifrey in the conclusion of this story - having fallen in love with Chancellery Guard Andred. Louise Jameson had been invited to continue her role but despite Louise Jameson’s assurances that she was not interested in returning for Season Sixteen, Graham Williams remained optimistic that he could change her mind – hence the rather contrived exit.
Louise Jameson, reportedly wished for Leela to be killed at the end of the season, and was disappointed that Leela instead opted to stay behind on Gallifrey with Andred, even though nothing in the script suggested a romance between the two characters. The producers had actually contemplated killing Leela off (a development also mooted for "The Sun Makers" earlier in the year) but had decided that killing off this character would be too traumatic for younger viewers and to do so in "The Invasion of Time" would be too much of a pessimistic way to end the season.
Despite The Doctor again referring to K9 as ‘my second best friend’ the K9 prop did not function well, and so it was agreed that K9 Mark I would be written out at the season’s end. For a brief time, consideration was given to parting ways with K9 altogether, but it was soon decided that his departure would actually provide an excuse to introduce an improved version of the prop, and the final scene of this story was written to reassure viewers that K9 Mark II would debut in Season Sixteen.
Though Leela and K9 Mark I left The Doctor in this story, their characters would return in the Virgin New Adventures novel "Lungbarrow" by Marc Platt, and encounter the Seventh Doctor. During the course of the book it is revealed that Leela is pregnant with the first child to be born on Gallifrey for millennia. Louise Jameson and John Leeson also returned to play Leela and K9 in the 2003 Eighth Doctor audio story "Zagreus" and in the Gallifrey series of audio plays by Big Finish Productions. In the story "Gallifrey: Insurgency", Leela gives a lecture about the Sontaran Invasion.
This therefore was Louise Jameson’s final ongoing onscreen appearance; she did however, reprise the role of Leela in the Thirtieth-Anniversary Children In Need special "Dimensions in Time", in 1993. Following her departure, Louise Jameson went on to a successful stage and television career including: The Omega Factor, Tenko, Bergerac and EastEnders.
In his next on-screen visit to his home planet, The Doctor is heard to ask after Leela: ‘Tell me, what of my former companion Leela?’ He is informed that she is ‘well and happy’.
Milton Johns (who plays Kelner) previously appeared as Theodore Benik in the 1967/68 Second Doctor story "The Enemy of the World" and as Guy Crayford in "The Android Invasion". This story marks Milton Johns’ final appearance in Doctor Who.
The character Borusa returned, now a Chancellor, although with a different actor. Angus Mackay, who had played Borusa in "The Deadly Assassin", was unavailable for the recording of this story and so the role now went to John Arnatt - beginning a tradition of Borusa never being played by the same actor twice.
As with "Underworld", "The Invasion of Time" was also allocated gallery-only days to finish the effects work and other post-production requirements. This would now become the norm for Doctor Who in future seasons.
An industrial strike, which was eventually resolved before production, forced the studio sets to be constructed within St Anne's Hospital, at Redhill in Surrey, as the BBC’s Christmas holiday specials were given priority in the regular studios.
As a result of the industrial strike, Graham Williams had been given the option of not producing the final six episodes of this season and have the money rollover into the next season. Graham Williams however, rejected this because of the additional problem of inflation that year and he didn’t want the budgeted money to depreciate even further.
This story is one of the few to contain an extended sequence inside the TARDIS (the most previously shown story being the 1964 First Doctor story "The Edge of Destruction"). The majority of the final two episodes comprising a chase inside the TARDIS, which appears to have extensive brick-walled areas rather than following the established white-and-roundel designs in place since 1963.
Among the TARDIS rooms glimpsed are a swimming pool (described by The Doctor as a bathroom), a changing room, an ancillary power station disguised as an art gallery, a sick bay, and various brick walled storage areas and corridors.
The traditional white-and-roundel design returned in subsequent stories. The next time viewers were given a major tour of the TARDIS would be in the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Castrovalva".
The TARDIS pool would be seen again in the 1987 Seventh Doctor story "Paradise Towers". It was also referenced in the 2010 Eleventh Doctor stories "The Eleventh Hour" and "Amy's Choice".
The paintings seen in the art gallery include "The Fighting Temarere", Van Eyck's "Jan Arnolfini and His Wife" and Chagall's "Snail"' - The Doctor also has the "Venus de Milo".
There are many references to the 1976 story "The Deadly Assassin" including a number of Gallifreyan artefacts formerly belonging to Rassilon. These include: The Sash of Rassilon, The Rod of Rassilon, The Great Key of Rassilon and The Coronet of Rassilon. All (except for The Great Key of Rassilon) are Artefacts of Rassilon entrusted to the Gallifreyan President when they are elected. The Great Key of Rassilon is held in the Chancellor’s custody so that no President would have access to absolute power (it is also used to arm the De-Mat gun that The Doctor has Rodan build).
The President gains access to the Matrix (of which the APC net is only a small part: "The Deadly Assassin" implies it’s the other way round) via a coronet. He becomes part of the Matrix and it part of him – hence why The Doctor seems to be more knowledgeable afterwards than in his earlier incarnations.
From the design on the cover to the Eye of Harmony, rebuilt since "The Deadly Assassin", Gallifrey seems to be one of six planets circling a single sun. Gallifrey's sky is orange (see "The Sensorites"). Gallifrey has transduction barriers and a quantum force field to prevent attack. Dematerialising things is also forbidden (see "The War Games") and the Capitol is a section of the Citadel.
In "The Deadly Assassin" those who live outside the Citadel are known as ‘ Shabogans’. However, in this story Gallifreyans living outside are referred to as ‘The Outsiders’. Nesbin is heard to state that they are Time Lords who rejected the Capitol’s effete life.
Since "The Deadly Assassin" The Castellan has changed from being a senior ‘policeman’, with few dealings with Time Lords, into a minister of state.
Many fans have questioned why Leela was allowed to go to Gallifrey (and then stay there!) while Sarah Jane Smith wasn’t.
Rodan is the first female Gallifreyan to appear on screen since Susan - who travelled with her grandfather, the First Doctor, (from the 1963 story "An Unearthly Child" until the 1964 story "The Dalek Invasion of Earth").
The Vardans can travel along any broadcast wavelength and are telepathic. Their planet has the co-ordinates 3052 alpha 7, 14th span. The Doctor uses modulation rejection patterns to defeat them and plans to ‘jury rig’ a time loop for their planet (see "Image of the Fendahl").
The Vardans also appeared in the Virgin Books’ The New Adventures novel "No Future", by Paul Cornell, in which Bernice Summerfield refers to this story by dismissing them as ‘the only race in history to be outwitted by the intellectual might of the Sontarans’.
The Sontarans return in this story, making it their third appearance in the show. Their last (save flashbacks) until the 1985 Sixth Doctor story "The Two Doctors".
The Sontaran army ‘reckons its numbers in hundreds of millions’. The Doctor says they can multiply at a rate of a million every four minutes.
In this story The Sontarans have reverted to having three fingers on each hand rather than five as in "The Sontaran Experiment".
The Sontaran costumes were cumbersome and limited the field of vision of the actors wearing them, so much so that they are often seen tripping through and over props. One classic instance of this has a Sontaran (ironically played by actor Stuart Fell) nearly taking a fall after missing a short jump and landing on a pool chair. However, the Sontaran’s clumsiness is explained by them having originated on a planet of notably high gravity.
This story includes one of the few times in the show that The Doctor directly kills anyone. He uses the De-mat Gun to disintegrate the Sontaran warriors. This is unusual given that the Fourth Doctor has a particular and stated aversion to firearms.
In the TARDIS bathroom, Borusa shows The Doctor a newspaper with a headline about the sinking of RMS Titanic, with which The Doctor denies having had anything to do with. The climax of the Virgin Books’ The New Adventures novel "The Left-Handed Hummingbird", featuring the Seventh Doctor, takes place during the sinking. In the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Rose," it is implied that The Doctor prevented a family from boarding the RMS Titanic at Southampton, and the 2007 story "Voyage of the Damned" has the Tenth Doctor arriving on a spaceship replica of this famous ship.
In the Virgin Books’ The New Adventures novel, "Timewyrm: Genesys", it is revealed that during the events of the story The Doctor uses the Matrix to send a message to his future self about the Timewyrm, a recurring villain from the novels.
The Doctor signs his treaty with the Vardans with a red biro.
Whilst in the TARDIS The Doctor offers K9 his jelly baby bag asking ‘ball bearing?’.
This story includes two rare moments where Tom Baker directly addresses the camera. The Doctor breaks the fourth wall at the end of this story, by looking directly at the camera and smiling to the audience. He also breaks it earlier in the story, when trying to open the secret door in Borusa’s office, saying ‘Even the sonic screwdriver won't get me out of this one!’ to the audience. He had previously broken the fourth wall in "Underworld" in much the same manner.
Other than K9 Mark II, The Doctor is without companions at the end of the story, making the period between this story and the next ("The Ribos Operation"), one of the few plausible spots during the show’s run which allows for placement of any number of additional Doctor Who stories in literature, audio, or comics.
The character Lord Savar is mentioned in the BBC Books’ The Eighth Doctor Stories novel "Seeing I" and is seen in BBC Books’ Past Doctor Stories novel "The Infinity Doctors.
The Doctor assuming the Presidency is a direct consequence of putting himself up for the position as a ploy in "The Deadly Assassin". The Doctor is again offered the position of President (and accepts, though reluctantly and evasively) in the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary special "The Five Doctors".
Gallifrey is invaded again in the Big Finish Productions Sixth Doctor audio story "The Apocalypse Element" that was released in August 2000.
Following transmission of this story it was felt that it had contained too high a level of humour, resulting in a lack of credibility in Stor and a lack of dramatic tension. It was therefore agreed that in future any humour in the programme should counterpoint and strengthen the story rather than undermine and weaken it. Despite this the humorous trend continued until Graham Williams’ tenure as Producer came to an end in 1979.
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story to be written under the pseudonym of David Agnew.
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(Position = 99 out of 159)
(Position = 155 out of 200)
(Position = 188 out of 241)
