Doctor Who (1963) 15.06.05

The Invasion of Time - Part Five

The Sontarans, led by Commander Stor, take over. Cardinal Borusa creates a distraction which allows that Doctor and the others to escape. They head to the President's office where they find Borusa. Stor sends his troops after them. Leela kills one of them after the Doctor tells her how it can be done.

Kelner stays behind and does his best to assist the Sontarans. He leads them straight to the President's office. The Doctor and his friends are already in there by that point and have locked the door. They eventually leave by a secret back door and head for the TARDIS. Leela takes most of the others with her.

The Doctor and Bousa stay behind, in Borusa's office. The Doctor needs the Great Key and insists that Borusa hand it over. Once the Doctor has thte key they head for the TARDIS.

The Doctor, once he is inside the TADRIS, has Rodan who is an expert in quasitronics, rewire the TARDIS so that he can control the defenses of Gallifrey from within the TARDIS. Kelner helps Commander Stor to override the controls for the defenses of Gallifrey.

The episode ends with the TARDIS under attack as the whole of it begins to shake.

Thoughts

The renegade Time Lords, the ones who were living out in the wild, are in this episode but they don't get a lot to do or say. Borusa returns for the first time since Part Two. Commander Stor is the only one who talks. None of the Sontarans take off their helmets.

Where is everyone? Is the Citadel deserted? Considering that Gallifrey is under attack I would think there would be more commotion in the Citadel.

There is some speculation in the commentary track that maybe Rodan was in the running to be the Doctor's next companion. She might have been in the running but she did not get the job although it did go to another Time Lady.

This is not the best episode of the this story. It just okay as it feels like that is a decent amount of filler in it. Obce again there is a certain amount of hand waving magic as the Doctor gains control of the defenses of Gallifrey but then Kelner figures out how to undo what Rodan has done. There is also a fair amount of walking and running down corridors. Here's hoping that the final confrontation with the Sontarans turns is a little more interesting or exciting than this episode was.