Doctor Who (1963) 15.06.06

The Invasion of Time - Part Six

The Doctor and the others retreat deep into the TARDIS. The Sontarans break into the TARDIS with Kelner and go after the Doctor, Leela, K-9, Rodan, Andred, and Borusa but the Doctor is the one they really want. He has the Great Key.

The groups cover a lot of ground and walk through many sections of the TARDIS. Many of them look identical to one another.

The Doctor hypnotizes Rodan. He orders her to build something for him and to keep an eye on K-9. He returns later and retrieves the thing she built, a D-Mat gun. It is powered by the Great Key. He uses it to kill both of the Sontarans that are chasing him.

The Doctor finds his friends. He doesn't remember anything about the Sontarans, the Vardans, or becoming president of the High Council of Gallifrey.

Leela decides to stay behind in Gallifrey, when it comes time for the Doctor to leave. K-9 stays with her. The Doctor pulls out a box labeled K9 M2 when he gets back in the TARDIS.

Thoughts

Most of this episode takes place within the TARDIS.

Stor, the only named Sontaran, taked off his helmet for part of this episode. I couldn't help but notice that there is something wrong with the eyeholes in the helmet. They don's seem to line up with both of the actor's eyes.

When the hypnotized Rodan, it happens so fast that I half expected her to start laughing and tell him that his attempt to hypnotize her didn't work.

The Sontarans in this story look a little different than they did in their previous two appearances. I'm not a fan of their look in this story. They only appear once more in Doctor Who (1963) during the Sixth Doctor's crossover with the Second Doctor.

I like this story but I don't love it. The ending, especially the part with the gun, is a bit of a let down. Its a shame that Leela didn't stick around any longer. The Key to Time would have been much different with Leela instead of Romana.

In retrospect, now that I have (re)watched all nine stories that Leela was in, I have to say that I think the three from Season 14 plus The Sun Makers from Season 15 are my favorites, Robots of Death and Talons of Weng Chiang are the pinnacle of Leela's time spent with the Doctor, which is a shame considering how early in her run they occur.