Patrick Troughton has quickly moved his way up to my second favorite doctor of late, and this amazing adventure, and was instantly recognizable as the inspiration for the 2 10th Doctor David Tennat adventures, RISE OF THE CYBERMEN and THE AGE OF STEEL, though I must say the original is far superior. This is one of the series that was partially lost when the BBC decided it would be a good idea to trash all their old tapes and film, but luckily 6 out of the amazing 8 episode arc were recovered and here is the cool part, and something I wish the BBC would do with all the missing episodes which is to animated the two missing episodes! It looks great, and gives you a continuous story. I have been listening to the Troughton episodes on the BBC radio CD’s, which were mostly recovered from audio recordings from fans, with added narration by one of the supporting actors, and they are amazing, but don’t give the same feel as getting to see full episodes with others animated. Here’s to hoping that the BBC continues this process and does more animated episodes like these!

This an excellent, well directed, and enjoyable story, which is EPIC, and world changing, introducing UNIT (the United Nations Intelligence Unit) and also making the second appearance of Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney), though only his first as an actual Brigadier. The invasion of london is dark, and thrilling and one of the favorite episodes of Doctor Who of all time, so it is a must see.

The Tardis goes by the Moon, and is shot at by a missile, so it makes an emergency landing on Earth, but the visual stabilizer has been damaged leaving it invisible, and the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) decides to go and get some help to repair it. The Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and Zoe Heriot (Wendy Padbury) head out to find Professor Travers (who they know from The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear) to get his help, but things don’t seem all right in London, and they must sneak out of the area where they are with the help of a young man who smuggled them in a truck. They are escaping from the land of a company called International Electromatics. They Tardis crew manages to make it out, and they head to find that Travers has left for America, and now his house had been taken over by Professor Watkins (Edward Burnham) who is working at IE, and his model/photographer niece, the lovely Isobel Watkins (Sally Faulkner). Isobel tells them she has been trying to find her Uncle for weeks, and can’t get ahold of him, or even anyone human at IE. The Doctor and Jamie head to IE to find Watkins who might be able to help them, and Zoe stays with Isobel to act as her model and actually do something girly. Jamie and the Doctor head into IE, and can’t get past the computer receptionist, and when they try to get in another way, the pair is gassed, and brought to the Managing Director, the evil Tobias Vaughn (Kevin Stoney).

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS...

Vaughn apologizes, and lies about Watkins location, saying he can help the doctor, and taking the part from the Tardis for himself, giving Jamie a transistor radio.

As soon as the Doctor and Jamie leave, Vaughn opens a hidden door, and talks to an Alien machine, which mentions that it recognizes The Doctor and Jamie from Planet 14 and is a threat that must be taken care of.

The Doctor and Jamie are then taken by soldiers of the newly formed UNIT (United Nations Intelligent Unit) including Corporal Benton (John Levene) and Tracy (Geogrrey Cheshire) who take them to a military transport plane. Inside is a command center, and the newly promoted Brigadier Lethbridge-Stweart (Nicholas Courtney) who tells them about UNIT, and the fact that it is investigating IE. The Doctor opens the radio and finds some strange tech that he cannot identify.

Zoe and Isobel head to IE to find the Doctor and Jamie. Zoe is frustrated by the robotic receptionist and uses her superior mind to give it an insolvable equation which overloads and explodes the machine. Vaughn orders them taken, and Isobel is used as leverage to get her uncle to work on his machine for them.

The Doctor and Jamie go back to find Zoe, and see a note from her and Isobel saying where they went. They return to IE and find some human sized containers being loaded into a train, one of which has some of Zoe’s clothing hanging out of it’s closed lid. Before the duo can do anything they are captured by Vaughn’s muscle man Packer (Peter Halliday) and once again taken to Vaughn. Vaughn denies kidnapping their friends, and invites them to the country, where the train is arriving, and where Professor Watkins is held.

Watkins has been warned not to divulge the girls location. He shows the Doctor his cerebration mentor, a teaching device that can transfer emotions into people.

The Doctor asks Vaughn about the deep space communicator he saw outside, while Vaughn wants to know about the failed visual stabilizer, even threatening to hand the girls over to Packer if he doesn’t co-operate. Jamie and the Doctor manage to escape anyway in the train and it’s containers, with Jamie claiming that there was something or someone in his container.

Vaughn tells Packer that he is planning to use the cerebration mentor as a weapon against the Cybermen once they have invaded and taken over, so he can take control. They won’t be able to handle the emotions it transfers, and he will be in control, and if it doesn’t work he wants the Doctor’s Tardis to escape in.

Vaughn announces that the Doctor and Jamie have 10 minutes to surrender or Zoe and Isobel will be harmed. The Doctor calls the Brigadier, who sends in a Hellicopter to pick them, and help get Zoe and Isobel out of the 10th floor where they were being held.

Vaughn decides to stop UNIT, and goes to Major Rutlidge and convinces him to order the Brigadier to stop. The Brigadier voes to get authority from Geneva, but has not proof.

The Doctor looks at photos the Brigadier has of UFO’s over the IE factory, and realize that those space ships are bringing the containers to Earth. He and Jamie sneak into an IE warehouse in london, where they see a Cyberman come out of a cocoon, and go to warn the brigadier that a Cyberman invasion of Earth is imminent, and they will be coming out of the sewers.

Vaughn tests the cerebration mentor on some emerging cybermen, driving it mad, and sending it loose in the London Sewers. Vaughn reveals that the transistor the Doctor found in Jamie’s transistor radio will enable the Cybermen to take total control of all mankind.

The Doctor meanwhile has worked out what the circuit does, and has devised a device to block it, but doesn’t have time to make enough before it is is activated.

Jamie, Zoe and Isobel have snuck into the sewers to take pictures of the Cybermen, and only escape with some help from UNIT, and the photos are not good enough for the proof that the Brigadier needs.

Watkins finishes the cerebration mentor, and brings it to Vaughn, finally being convinced to take a gun and shoot Vaughn, but he is bullet proof because he has already been partially cybernised.

Watkins is rescued by UNIT, and he and the doctor make a neurister to stop the Cyber signal, which is broadcast at dawn, taking over humanity.

UNIT sends a team to Russia to launch a rocket and destroy the Cybership in orbit which is broadcasting the signal, and using British missiles to take out the invasion fleet. Captain Turner heads to Russia to launch the rocket, while the Brigadier and Zoe go to the Henlow downs missile site, where her superior mind helps to guide the missiles and take out the fleet.

The Doctor goes to try and dissuade Vaughn, and the Cybermen turn on him because of the missile attack, so he takes the cerebration machine and destroys the Cyber transmitter, and goes with the doctor to fight the Cybermen at the factory.

UNIT arrives and goes to help, but Vaughn is killed, but the homing signal is shut down, and the Russian rocket manages to destroy the Cybermen ship and it’s huge bomb it was sending to Earth.

The Doctor manages to repair the visual stabilizer circuit, and with Jamie and Zoe leave in the Tardis.

••••

AWESOME! ONE OF MY FAVORITE DOCTOR WHO ADVENTURES! So epic, and Vaughn is such a great villain, and I love how long it takes to reveal the Cybermen! Awesome!!