The Invasion - Episodes 5-8

Bit of catch up time today. Even though this story is 8 episodes long, it doesn't feel needlessly padded. It all flows wonderfully, and I can't stress how Kevin Stoney is great as the evil Tobias Vaughn. Great stuff. The Brigadier is good to see, too, knowing how he'll be such an integral part of the series in the near future. Isobel is a nice girl, she would have made a decent companion. Zoe still looks cute, and changes into her silver catsuit towards the end of the story. The military side of things is well-handled. The stock footage of the rockets being readied is repeated a few times to many, especially seeing as how they're the Exact Same Shots. The "theme music" for UNIT is a bit silly. The effects work, especially with the UNIT attack on the Cybermen at the climax is well done. However, I'm a bit disappointed in how many important scenes are left unshown. The rescue of the Professor happens off-screen. Another attack happens off-screen. The final destruction of the beam-signal or whatever it is is done off-screen. I know it'd been expensive to pull everything off, but it seemed a bit wrong to deny us those important scenes. Oh, well.

On the whole, an enthusiastic thumbs-up. This bodes very well for the upcoming format change when the next Doctor arrives. But we're speaking out of turn, here. Patrick still has a few stories in him yet. Speaking of which, perhaps not the greatest of stories is up next. It's "The Krotons", and at least it's a complete story.