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	#9: THE ANDROID INVASION (4 Parts)	ORIGINALLY AIRED: 11/22/75 to 12/13/75
	WRITTEN BY: Terry Nation	DIRECTED BY: Barry Letts
	PRODUCER: Philip Hinchcliffe	SCRIPT EDITOR: Robert Holmes

THE ANDROID INVASION was in experienced hands; it was written by Terry Nation, who has been associated with DOCTOR WHO since the second story, in which he introduced the Daleks; and it was directed by Barry Letts, who produced the show for the 5 years Jon Pertwee was the Doctor, starting from Pertwee's second story, THE SILURIANS.

This story sees the departure of Harry and Sgt. Benton; UNIT shows up in one more story, but with none of the regulars, so it hardly seems like UNIT.

The Doctor exits the TARDIS drinking ginger pop. He and Sarah are apparently on Earth. After all, "oak trees don't grow anywhere else in the galaxy," he tells her. But the Doctor isn't quite sure. The coordinates were set correctly, but the linear calculator... The Doctor makes a mental note, "I really must get the TARDIS seen to; she's way overdue her 500 year service."

It is not obvious from watching most of these stories but--regardless of the order in which they appear in the final show---all the TARDIS scenes for each story were shot together; all the outdoor scenes were shot at the same time; and all the scenes on the other sets were shot in the same block of time. This is more detectible in THE ANDROID INVASION because Tom Baker sounds quite hoarse in all of the outdoor sequences, which range over parts 1 to 4.

Sarah asks the Doctor which way to head. "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo," the Doctor picks a direction. They see helmeted, space suited figures. When the Doctor politely asks them where they are, these guards shoot at the Doctor and Sarah from their fingers. This effect was used in the Pertwee story TERROR OF THE AUTONS.

Running away, Sarah falls down a subsidence. The Doctor pulls her up. A twitching UNIT soldier jumps off this same cliff and is apparently killed. The Doctor and Sarah climb down to check; his wallet contains freshly minted coins dated the same year.

The Doctor discovers a man-sized capsule, which looks familiar to him, but he can't quite place it. He remarks, "My memory's getting terrible. Three hundred years ago, I'd have recognized this like a shot."

The helmeted figures shoot at them again, so the Doctor and Sarah take cover and escape into the woods. They make their way to a village, which Sarah recognizes as Devesham from a story she did 2 years ago. No one is about, so they try the pub, the Fleur de Lys. It is also empty, but the tables have drinks and cigarettes on them, reminding the Doctor of the ghost ship, the Marie Celeste.

All the coins in the pub cash register are freshly minted the same year. Sarah tells the Doctor the story that brought her to Devesham was a brouhaha at the Space Defense Station a mile away. The Doctor has detected radiation in the area. He speculates there was an accident, and the helmeted figures are guards. The village might have been evacuated in a hurry, which would explain the absence of people. The freshly minted coins could be a contamination precaution.

Out of the pub window Sarah spies the guards with the formerly dead UNIT soldier. A truck drives up with the pub landlord and the other villagers. They disembark and enter the pub. Sarah and the Doctor hide in a back room and peek out to see everyone standing motionless. When the clock strikes noon, they all start to move and talk.

The Doctor gives Sarah the key to the TARDIS and sets off to the Space Defense Station to contact UNIT. She is discovered at the pub and tries to talk to the villagers, who look at her blankly. The landlord tells Adams, the UNIT soldier, "She may be part of the test," and tells Sarah to push off. She leaves, telling Adams, "I'm sure you shouldn't be drinking so soon after breaking your neck."

Outside near the truck, Sarah catches sight of one of the guards. The front of his helmet is missing and she can see he has no face, only electronic components; he is mechanical. She runs into the woods.

At the Space Defense Station--which is a photo of the Harwell Atomic Station in Berkshire, with a miniature dish satellite in front of it--the Doctor asks for the commanding officer, but the UNIT soldier at reception doesn't reply.

Sarah reaches the TARDIS and puts the key into the lock. Then she notices a capsule nearby and walks over to take a better look. The TARDIS dematerializes without her, while a hand snakes out of the capsule and grabs her leg. When she goes to help the man in the capsule, he tries to strangle her.

Back at the Space Defense Station, Crayford, a young man with an eyepatch, is conversing on an intercom with the unseen Styggron. The Doctor goes to the Brig's office, but he's not there. Crayford draws a gun on the Doctor, saying, "Keep your hands where I can see them." The Doctor replies, "Those are the first friendly words I've heard since I got here."

They introduce themselves. Crayford is the senior defense astronaut. He tells the Doctor Lethbridge-Stewart is in Geneva; General Faraday is in command. At the time this show was cast, Nicholas Courtney was asked to play the Brig but was unavailable.

Crayford pushes a button and an alarm sounds. The Doctor tells him, "If you're calling the butler, I'm very partial to tea and muffins." Crayford threatens to put the Doctor in detention until his identity has been verified. The Doctor escapes to the roof and is shot at by UNIT soldiers. He jumps off and is captured by the faceless guards, whom he asks, "Is that finger loaded?"

Sarah, who has escaped being strangled, has observed this and sneaks in to rescue him (rescue #1), while a monstrous face peers out of a panel at her. Sarah tells the Doctor that Crayford was killed in the first test of the XK5 space freighter in deep space. It went up two years ago and was lost.

Crayford tells Styggron the Doctor and Sarah are strangers. Styggron wants the Doctor and Sarah kept alive for pattern analysis. While escaping, the Doctor and Sarah run into Sgt. Benton, who pulls a gun on them. Just then, Crayford cancels the order to kill them, and the Doctor and Sarah manage to escape in the brief confusion. Crayford sends Harry after them, while they double back and hide in the Space Defense Station. Sarah remarks, "Harry's not a soldier." The Doctor replies, "That improves our chances."

The Doctor and Sarah go back to the village to warn London, pursued by tracker dogs. Although it has not yet been revealed at this point, the Doctor and Sarah are actually on the planet of the Kraals and everything around them--the village, the Space Defense Station, even the trees in the woods--are elaborate reproductions. It does seem to stretch credulity to accept the Kraals would have android tracker dogs as well, since they were not anticipating external intruders.

Sarah stumbles and twists her ankle. The Doctor takes Sarah's scarf to draw the dogs off and boosts Sarah into a tree. They arrange to meet in the pub. The Doctor casts off his hat, coat and shoes, as well as Sarah's scarf by the side of the water. The pursuing soldiers assume the Doctor and Sarah have swum across. In reality the Doctor is holding his breath under the water. Sarah jumps down from the tree and is captured. The Doctor reaches the village and tries the call box, but the phone is out of order.

Sarah is locked into a Kraal machine and Harry turns it on, causing her great pain. It is Styggron's pattern analysis machine, which transfers the memory and intelligence of its subject into the Kraal data bank. From it, the Kraals can make an android duplicate.

The Doctor returns to the pub; its phone is also out of order. The landlord tells him a gale last night brought the lines down (although earlier the Doctor has noted that the ground is so dry, it must not have rained for weeks). The Doctor remarks, "I always told Alexander Bell that wires were unreliable." The Doctor orders a pint of ginger beer and notices the darts board is brand new, after he throws three bulls eyes. The darts board is actually a surveillance device; the Doctor is being observed by the Kraals.

We get our first look at a Kraal. It is a superb rhinoceros-like makeup, with little piggy eyes. Styggron is the chief scientist; his associate is Marshall Chedaki, representing the military. Styggron's control unit is obviously the similar Zygon prop without its fleshy protuberances. The surveillance device is likewise the screen of the Zygon bug, without the veiny overlay. BBC recycling.

Chedaki wants the Doctor killed because "The data that was drained from the girl shows the Doctor's long association with libertarian causes. His entire history is one of opposition to conquest." Styggron wants to keep him alive to perform an experiment.

The Doctor continues to inspect the pub, discovering plastic horse brasses on the wall. He orders another pint of ginger pop and notices the pub calendar is made up entirely of pages printed with July 6. "Strange, a village without a future," he remarks.

The pub phone rings; it's Sarah for the Doctor. She tells him she's found out what's going on and escaped; and asks him to meet her at the village store, but to be careful. The Doctor replies, "Don't worry, Sarah, who'd notice me?" The Doctor hangs up, then tries the phone again; he is unsurprised to find it once again out of order.

The Doctor meets Sarah at the store. She tells him that someone is copying people. The Doctor suspects Sarah was allowed to escape: "We're being tested. They want to find out how smart we are."

The Doctor takes Sarah back to the TARDIS which, of course, is not there. "It's not programmed to auto operate;" the Doctor tells her; "there's a failsafe." The Doctor deduces when Sarah put the TARDIS key in the lock and turned it, that cancelled the pause control and the TARDIS continued on its set coordinates back to Earth. It is not Sarah with him, but an android duplicate. The Doctor knew this all along because--among other things--the real Sarah wasn't wearing a scarf. She pulls a gun on him and he uses his hat to knock it out of her hand. She runs away but trips and her face falls off.

Back in the Kraal lab, the real Sarah overhears Styggron telling Chedaki the village will be destroyed in 9 minutes with a matter dissolving bomb. Styggron plans to set the bomb himself and then use Sarah as a guineapig to test a virus which has been developed to kill all human life on Earth.

While the village androids are being rounded up, Sarah escapes. In the village, Styggron captures the Doctor, who remarks: "Look here, we haven't been introduced, have we?" The Doctor is tied up in the village square next to the bomb, which somewhat resembles a facsimile machine. Sarah rescues the Doctor a second time, freeing him from his bonds with the sonic screwdriver set on theta omega.

With 15 seconds to spare, the Doctor and Sarah reach safety at the Kraal lab, while the village is destroyed. As with PYRAMIDS OF MARS, this was done with a photo of the village (actually East Hagbourne in Oxfordshire), which is gradually faded to a white desolate background.

In the Kraal lab, the Doctor and Sarah are captured. The Doctor recaps what's going on for Sarah's benefit, while trying to open their cell door with the sonic screwdriver, but it's no good. Crayford pays them a visit. He says the Kraals will project his rocket through a space time warp. The space containers with the androids inside will be ejected from the rocket, appearing as meteorites on radar.

When the Doctor and Sarah berate him for being a traitor to Earth, Crayford explains he owes his loyalty to the Kraals who reconstructed him, except for his eye, when he was being torn apart from gyro failure. The Kraals have promised him no humans will be harmed. The Doctor tells him, in disgust, "You've been brainwashed, Crayford."

Styggron has the android Harry put a drop of the virus culture in a pitcher of water, which he then delivers to the Doctor and Sarah in their cell. The Doctor is removing the floor plates with his sonic screwdriver. He hopes to lure the android guard and give him a jolt, randomizing him.

Sarah pours herself some water, while the Doctor is led away, calling over his shoulder not to waste the water because it is an excellent conductor. Sarah pours the water back into the pitcher. She then pulls a power cord out of the floor and spills water by the cell entrance. She sets fire to her scarf to attract the guard. When he opens the cell door, she gives him an electric shock and his chest explodes. She escapes.

Styggron has the Doctor strapped into his analyzer, informing him he intends genocide of Earth with a virus so virulent it will kill all humans within 3 weeks, before it burns itself out. The Doctor paraphrases Robert Burns, telling Styggron something will go awry. Styggron turns on his machine, causing the Doctor great agony. Because Crayford's rocket is about to leave, Styggron won't be around to turn the machine off. The Doctor's brain tissue will expand under the stimulation until his skull bursts.

For the third time, Sarah rescues the Doctor, after accidentally turning one of the dials the wrong way. The Doctor's brain is a bit scrambled; he recites something from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, mixing it up with Chekhov's THE THREE SISTERS. "Are you listening, Tilly?," he asks Sarah. When she tells him she's Sarah, he replies, "I feel disorientated." Sarah tells him, "This is the disorientation center." The Doctor responds, "That makes sense."

Sarah and the Doctor head for Crayford's ship; with 30 seconds to lift off, they must get some protection or they will be crushed by the G force on blast off. The Doctor helps Sarah into one of the android's capsules: "In you go," but the rocket takes off (via stock footage) before he can protect himself.

Sarah blacks out; the Doctor wakes her by tapping on her nose; he doesn't seem to have been crushed during blast off. An android copy of the Doctor peers evilly out of one of the capsules.

The Doctor tells Sarah they must be in the capsules, which will be ejected during Crayford's re-entry because they'll reach Earth before the rocket. He lists a few hazards, which Sarah sums up, "Providing we don't burn up on re-entry and aren't suffocated on the way down, we'll probably be smashed to a pulp when we land." The Doctor smiles, "Exactly. Sarah, you've put your finger on the one tiny flaw in our plan." Sarah retorts, "Our plan? It's your plan." The Doctor replies, "Well, I'm open to suggestions if you have a better idea."

On Earth at the Space Defense Station, UNIT has discovered the TARDIS with the key in it. Considering the navigational quirks of the TARDIS, it's pretty hard to accept that it showed up outside Devesham on Earth, rather than the London UNIT headquarters, where the Doctor was originally heading. But I guess it's no harder to accept than that the TARDIS landed on the Kraal planet by mistake in the first place.

Col. Faraday oversees the scanner room, which is tracking Crayford's XK5. They detect the capsules but, as per the Kraal plan, think they're meteorites. The Doctor lands in his capsule, but can't find Sarah. Sarah lands near the TARDIS and runs into the android Doctor and Sarah, but eludes them.

Crayford's rocket lands. Harry and Faraday head off to board it. The Doctor arrives and asks the UNIT reception guard, "Is this the first time you've seen me today?" When the guards indicates it is, the Doctor warns him, "Good. Now, if you do see me again today, I want you to report it to me immediately."

The Doctor heads to the scanner room and demands Harry and Faraday return. He sketches out some complicated circuits, which he gives to Grierson, a technician, to rewire. Benton and the UNIT soldier Adams are replaced by androids. Harry and Faraday return and the Doctor tells them about the android duplicates. He has a robot detector, which he switches on. It's too late; Harry and Faraday are androids.

The android Doctor shows up. "Hello, Doctor," the real Doctor says, before he jumps out of the window. He meets up with Sarah, as the android Faraday gives orders to shoot the Doctor on sight. The Doctor heads back to the Space Defense Station and pretends to be his android duplicate. He goes to the scanner room to see if the new wiring, which will jam the androids' circuits, is ready.

Crayford comes to the scanner room and finds out from the android Doctor about the virus. The real Doctor tells Crayford his ship was hijacked by the Kraals and he was never injured; even his eye is OK. Styggron simply brainwashed him. The two Doctors fight and the real Doctor manages to engage the new circuit; all the androids freeze as their electronics are jammed. Sarah has entered Crayford's ship and untied the real Harry and Faraday. Styggron shows up with the virus. Crayford finally gets the courage to face down Styggron, and they fight. Styggron shoots Crayford.

The Doctor arrives and punches Styggron, who falls on the virus. Before he dies, he shoots the Doctor, but it was only the android duplicate, reprogrammed by the real Doctor, who now shows up.

Back at the TARDIS, the Doctor invites Sarah inside. She shakes her head: "I'm going home and I'm going by taxi." The Doctor says, "I'll make you an offer; I'll take you home." Sarah gives in, "How can I refuse?

Writing in her posthumously-published autobiography (Aurum 2011), Elisabeth Sladen said, "Unusually for WHO we filmed in summer.  Costume girl Barbie Lane had me in a short-sleeved pink sailor suit for this one.  Very cool...  Poor Tom was stuck in his heavy suit, cravat, overcoat, hat and scarf.  A less-fit man would have sweltered to death."

I remember Tom having to hoist me into a tree [in Tubney Woods in Oxfordshire].  It was like I wasn't even there; he whooshed me over his shoulder, then threw me up so effortlessly.

The opening scene from Episode 1 cracks me up---it's another example of Tom and me really enjoying ourselves.  He was sensational.  When the Doctor chooses a route via the scientific process of 'Eeny Meeny' he looks directly at the camera on 'Meeny'. ... Once we start exploring, the Doctor says, 'Mind the bramble.'   It's a short but tender scene, which accentuates their comfortable relationship.  A second later, though, and it's a genuine effort not to stop the whole production.  I'm in mid-sentence when Tom releases a branch which thwacks me in the kipper.  Instinctively I burst out laughing---but then continued with the line."

This was the last story featuring Ian Marter, who also appeared in the Pertwee story CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS as Andrews and later novelized 8 of the WHO scripts; he died in October 1986 in a diabetic coma.

Milton Johns, who plays Guy Crayford, played Benik in the Troughton story THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD. He plays Castellan Kelnar in the future Tom Baker show THE INVASION OF TIME.

Max Faulkner, who plays Adams, played both a Dalek and a Thal Guard in GENESIS OF THE DALEKS. He portrays Nesbin in THE INVASION OF TIME (a future Tom Baker story). He played a Miner in THE MONSTER OF PELADON and the Second Captain in PLANET OF THE SPIDERS, both Pertwee shows.

This is the seventh appearance for Dave Carter, who plays Grierson; he has appeared in a variety of minor roles throughout Jon Pertwee's time as the Doctor.

Roy Skelton, who plays Chedaki, has had 13 roles--including 9 voices--since he first appeared in the Hartnell story THE ARK.

Stuart Fell, who plays a Kraal, has had 9 other DOCTOR WHO roles, mostly hidden away under costumes.

Hugh Lund, who plays Matthews, played a Zarbi in the Hartnell story THE WEB PLANET.

Peter Welch, who plays Morgan, played a Sergeant in the Troughton show THE HIGHLANDERS.