"Is that finger loaded?"
Until the opening titles rolled, I confess, I really thought The Keys of Marinus was Nation's only non-Dalek script on Doctor Who. But lo and behold, here comes The Android Invasion, a story about, err, an invasion of androids. What an odd duck from his catalog. Even Marinus felt like an earlier version of The Chase or The Daleks' Master Plan. This story has none of that out-of-this-world, golden age sci-fi serial feeling about it. There isn't even an alien planet in it. (Well, okay, there is, but it's not supposed to feel like it.)
This is another one of those stories that feels like a creature of two halves. The first two episodes are rather thrilling and mysterious, even though it must be said that the title spoils a part of the surprise. It's still unsettling watching all those unsmiling faces watch the Doctor and Sarah Jane pass through the fake Devesham, and the replacement Sarah herself is quite scary. Especially the bit when her face falls off!
That said, the wheels absolutely fall off this thing when the question of what's going on is answered - about halfway through the serial. Then it's just a matter of the Doctor trying to stop it, and there isn't really any part of that whole affair that demands one's attention. Benton and Harry Sullivan briefly return for what proves to be their last appearance on the series, but don't do much of anything since they're replaced by lookalikes for most of their screen time. (Er, wait, didn't we just have a story about that, too?)
The Kraals are definitely cool-looking aliens, but I can't help but to notice that they have the same motivation as the Zygons as well, namely that their home planet is dying and they want to take ours. Was someone cribbing notes? No, most probably we can chalk this up to both of these being stock sci-fi tropes, but I can't help but feel that Holmes was asleep at the desk for this one, or at the very least didn't have any other script for this spot.
So while fun initially, this one started to bore me in the second half, averaging into the least impressive Fourth Doctor serial so far. It's a pity. See you again in 1979, Terry.
This marks the end of the autumn portion of Season Thirteen, as the show goes on a holiday break for the first time over Christmas, to return in the new year. The music post for 1975 will be next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 21 April 2021.)
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