Invasion of the Dinosaurs [TV/1974.1.12 ~ 2.16]

★★★★☆

  Many people come out of the woodworks to say that the dinosaur models are naff, and although I'd agree that I'm in no place to argue with the justified sentiments of Paddy Russell and the Dr. Who crew at the time, my honest opinion is that these wonky prehistoric creatures work so well. Some of the CSO shots are obviously CSO, but isn't that the charm of watching early 1970s Who serials? They were trying their best with what they had, and the dedication shines through. The finished product, stop-motion magic and all, reminds me of the old RKO King Kong films and earlier stop-motion dinosaurs films (1925's The Lost World, in fact) -- and in my eyes, that's always a good thing. 

  That's it for the dinosaurs, and what's so remarkable about this six-parter is that the main "attraction" and selling point of the story is nothing more than set dressing for a truly complex and riveting political thriller. UNIT is no longer the comfy family of the Doctor's, but a two-faced military organisation most reminiscent of its exploits in Season 7. The government's bigwigs are planning to revert the world to a new, "clean sweep" state where only the elite get to survive and craft a new world, and how do they achieve that? They operate inside secret underground laboratories and gaslight an entire colony of intellectuals/athletes/leaders into thinking they're in a spaceship reaching another planet (i.e. the Earth after the villains' plain to wipe out the rest of humanity... those undeserving of the new world, of course), and use dinosaurs from prehistoric times as a big distraction. Only in Dr. Who would you get such a well-written sci-fi thriller mix seamlessly with dinosaurs.

  Paddy Russell is a dependable director as always, and episode 1 shines with her assured direction (I particularly love the pterodactyl attack and how it's shot, the tension is only added with great lighting and film shooting). Jon Pertwee doesn't even need to try at this point; he's got such a firm grip on his Doctor, and he glides through each episode with ease being the bundle of charm and verbal sharpshooter that he is. Elisabeth Sladen's sophomore serial may not be the most flattering moment for poor Sarah Jane (getting into extremely suspicious circumstances without so much as a beat of an eye), but she works so well as a foil to the Third Doctor anyway -- I can only sit back and appreciate. The big shock factor is, of course, the betrayal of Mike Yates, and the only real caveat I have with the execution is that we don't actually get to see what happens to him after the fact. At least he gets a much better bookend in Planet of the Spiders. Invasion of the Dinosaurs -- near top-mark stuff.