The Invisible Enemy [TV/1977.10.1 ~ 10.22]

★★★☆☆

  With this serial and Planet of Giants, one could make a very sound argument that Dr. Who could've gone in the direction of children's science education books in the vein of The Magic School Bus -- and I wouldn't disagree a bit. Call it what you want (naff is probably the word you're looking for, in case you're tongue-tied by the sheer ridiculous and wonky nature of this four-parter), but The Invisible Enemy is so entertaining in so many facets: its basic concept, its execution, even its side step into an exploration of the Doctor's brain structure, presented by the Doctor and Leela shrunken down to such a small size that they're vulnerable to attacks from his own white blood cells. And people actually find the Graham Williams era boring!

  I totally understand how people may have initially been thrown off by the tone of the serial, on the other hand. The Philip Hinchcliffe era had been all about Gothic horror, scares and chills and genuine threats to the Doctor and his companions. Season 15's opening serial, Horror of Fang Rock, was very much in the vein of that and showed no signs of a change in tone... so I imagine it would've been quite a shock to see the Doctor seem much more jovial, and the villains of the week much more frivolous. The costumes are more colorful, and the sets and the general plot veer towards more children's sci-fi than Hammer-adjacent. Let me tell you up front, then, that I love both approaches for their own respective strengths. I love The Invisible Enemy for what it is, a hybrid between a virus apocalypse tale (with a sentient, prawn-like twist) and a Magic School Bus ride inside the Doctor's cranium. Sure, this thing has quite a fair few faults, and I take them all into account when I give this the score it deserves. Leela has so much fun mucking about inside the medical facility and being the action star in the middle of some truly wonky shootout sequences, K-9 is introduced and is immediately an entertaining character, and the Doctor gets to be the massive cocky bastard he always was -- but with a bit more of a playful flair this time around. The Invisible Enemy is, therefore (to me anyway), a very enjoyable four-parter that's as long as it should be and has the silly conclusion (complete with silly execution -- the pyrotechnical equipment's in clear view as we see the station blow up) it deserves. The Swarm's a silly old thing, but I enjoy its presence on the merit that it looks like a university freshman's passion project at making a full-scale prawn model. I'm dying for prawn crackers at the moment.