The Invasion recap (episodes 3 and 4)
Previously on Doctor Who: Team TARDIS arrives in London and meets Isobel Watkins, whose uncle is missing ever since he began working on a project for International Electromatics, ran by the fabulously creepy Tobias Vaughn. The newly-formed UNIT seems to be interested in Vaughn as well, as there have been many disappearances in IE recently. The Doctor and Jamie investigate, but are caught by Vaughn's henchman, Packer, as he was preparing to send Isobel and Zoe to the IE compound as an incentive for Professor Watkins to keep on working on his mysterious project.
Episode 3
So, our boys were caught - "like rats in a trap," as Packer says. Jamie tries to have a go at him, but the bastard throws him against the wall - and, understandably, I go "nooooooo!" Luckily, Vaughn is there to stop Packer's violent tendencies to manifest themselves even further.
Jamie gets even more steamed up, as he insists the two girls were put inside the crates, and Vaughn insists it's all in the boy's mind and that he has a fertile imagination. The Doctor tries the diplomatic approach and asks if they could possibly look inside the crates, and Vaughn agrees. This, of course, is a trap. The return van is ordered to leave before they reach it, and Vaughn invite Jamie and the Doctor to go with him to the compound and have a look at the crates there. Benton sees them leave, and reports it to the Brig, who has them traced.
(I'd like to add that I love it when Jamie tricks Packer and manages to sit in the front, giving the henchman a "PWNED!" look. Heheheheheeee.)
The compound. Instead of taking them to see the crates, as they're still on their way there, Vaughn takes the Doctor and Jamie to his office instead - which looks exactly like the one in London (a clever way to save money in production by using the same set). He tries to probe the Doctor about the circuits, but he refuses to talk - probably both because he's refusing to reveal something this important and because he doesn't want to talk about the Time Lords. Vaughn, still using his charm and pleasantness as a weapon for deceit, says he understands the Doctor's wish to keep quiet, and says he will try to convince Professor Watkins to take a break from his current project to study the circuits. When he leaves, Jamie says they shouldn't trust the man. Good, Jamie! Finally you've seen through the false niceness and the little toy he gave you. Too bad this only happened because you saw Zoe being stuck inside a crate. Meanwhile, Packer is trying to persuade Professor Watkins to collaborate, but he refuses to believe they have Isobel. When Vaughn joins them and uses some logic against him, the professor eventually agrees to continue work on the machine he's building, but only if they allow him to see the girl first.
Meanwhile, Jamie and the Doctor spot some spherical structures outside, which the Doctor assumes are a deep space radio communication system. They also notice the presence of the UNIT helicopter when Packer arrives to take them to see Professor Watkins. He and Vaughn return to the office and click on the surveillance cameras to spy on the Doctor's conversation with the professor. Of course, just when the conversation was heading towards the TARDIS, the Doctor points out the camera and convinces them to change the subject. And so, while Professor Watkins explains that the machine he's working on manipulates people's emotions, the Doctor disables the camera with a magnet. Obviously, Vaughn is not amused and rushes to the lab to remove it and to tell the Doctor that, unless he gives him the TARDIS in one hour, he'll hand Zoe to Packer for "a bit of fun" (ugh). As they're being escorted to a place of confinement, Jamie and the Doctor manage to trick Packer and escape - and give some slashfest moments for the fangirls as they try to sabotage the lift, what with their holding on to each other at some point and Jamie calling the Doctor "a clever wee chappie" in an affectionate manner before they escape into the lift shaft. When they reach the top and prepare to climb, this piece of dialogue comes up:
Jamie: Hey, Doctor.
Doctor: Hm?
Jamie: I've just been thinking. What happens if they get the lift going before we get to the top?
Doctor: Oh, that's simple.
Jamie: What?
Doctor: We get squashed.
Hee. I love my boys.
But, of course, this is exactly what happens, and they panic. Luckily it stops on the sixth floor and so they have some more time to try to escape. When the lift arrives empty, Vaughn realizes what happened and sends Packer to the roof to greet them. The henchman decides to go against his orders (that those two should not be harmed) and decides to take the lift, hoping that they'll be squashed. Luckily for us, our heroes manage to reach the floor before this happens, and use a fire escape to go down. This results in one of the most iconic images of Jameness, as the camera films up Jamie's kilt as he climbs down. Sadly, the shadows don't allow us to see more than a bit of leg, so boo (in the documentary found in disc 2, Frazer Hines claims Jamie was wearing nothing underneath, by the way). It also results on Vaughn having a bitchy hysterical shoutfest aimed at Packer, as he once again failed to bring him back his little toy.
The Doctor and Jamie reach the train and begin searching for the crates. Since Packer and his men arrive, Jamie decides to hide inside an empty crate. The problem is, the thing is not as empty as he thought, and something begins to move underneath him...
And with this worrying note, we end the episode.
Episode 4
Animation again! We see Packer searching for the two escapees, and giving the wagon where they've hidden the all-clear. Jamie then leaves the crate and tries to tell the Doctor about how there was something inside, but is told that "the darkness plays funny tricks with the imagination." *sighs* Doctor, you should know better. When Jamie says something moved in there, something did move in there. Oh, you believe him now? Good. It doesn't help that he believes it, however, as they overhear Packer ordering to remove the girls, and that's much more important. So, they sneak out of the train so that they can release them.
Vaughn's office. Packer is surprised that Vaughn still refuses to take orders from their allies, and Vaughn replies that the machine Watkins is working on is a weapon he plans on using on their allies the moment their help is no longer required, and assures Packer that the Doctor's machine can be a useful way of escaping if everybody else fails. Packer later joins his men in moving the girls' crates onto the central block's tenth floor, and makes sure that the Doctor overhears his instructions. In the meantime, the Brig orders more reinforcements around the compound, as he believes it will soon be time for attack, and Packer tells Vaughn about the UNIT helicopter.
Outside, our two heroes are trying to find a way to get inside the central block when Vaughn's voice is hears over the PA system: "Doctor, if you can hear me, listen. You have ten minutes, Doctor. Ten minutes to relinquish your freedom. At the end of that time your young friend Zoe will pay the consequences of your foolish and totally pointless opposition. Ten minutes, Doctor. Ten minutes." Smooth.
Zoe and Isobel, in the meantime, are out of their crates and banging on the door. They look outside, and see the Doctor and Jamie and call for them. The Doctor asks them to keep quiet so as not to give away the game too soon, and the girls back away from the window. Zoe then realizes there's a camera in the cell, and tells Isobel to pretend nothing happened. The Doctor contacts the Brig and tells him to send the helicopter to the roof of the building. Vaughn then makes the "five minutes" announcement over the PA system; he looks outside, sees the helicopter approaching, and orders Packer to shoot it down.
Jamie and the Doctor are now holding the rope ladder hanging from the helicopter. Jamie gets down the ladder and reaches the girls' cell, and when they realize he's coming they barricade the door so that Packer can't get inside. Zoe climbs up, followed by Isobel and then Jamie, when Packer and his men begin to fire at them. The only solution is to keep climbing onto the helicopter. The Doctor and the girls get in all right, but Jamie is too slow, and the only solution is to fly away while Jamie is still on the ladder. Everything went well, though, and they manage to return safely to the UNIT base. Angry, Vaughn orders for Watkins and his machine to be taken to London, as they must hurry the invasion before this incident goes public. He then contacts Major General Rutlidge at the Ministry of Defence and orders him to stop UNIT.
UNIT. The gang discusses the fact that Professor Watkins is still at the hands of the IE, and the Doctor recalls the object they had seen at the dark side of the moon, and they realise it was an alien spaceship. Captain Turner goes to fetch the photographs of recent UFO sightings for the Doctor.
Back at the IE compound, Vaughn convinces Watkins that he still has Isobel in order to convince him to return to London with him. Meanwhile, the gang back at UNIT realize that all of those sightings took place near the IE compound. The Doctor, remembering what Jamie had said about the apparently empty crate, deduces that whatever comes from those spaceships has been landing in the compound and is then transported to the London HQ. The Doctor intends to go there to investigate, and since he knows that they'll be waiting for them he asks the Brig for... a canoe. Yes, that's right. A canoe.
Jamie and the Doctor are then seen canoeing down the Thames into an entrance to the IE HQ's basement. They sneak inside and pass through the guards, and see someone opening one of the crates and connecting the material (which they originally thought was gauze) inside to some alien machine. To their horror, the material is then split open from inside and a Cyberman emerges. Gasp!
And that's the end of the animation. Next, it's all in the original live action format, all the time.
* episodes 1 and 2
* episodes 3 and 4
* episodes 5 and 6
* episodes 7 and 8
Episode 3
So, our boys were caught - "like rats in a trap," as Packer says. Jamie tries to have a go at him, but the bastard throws him against the wall - and, understandably, I go "nooooooo!" Luckily, Vaughn is there to stop Packer's violent tendencies to manifest themselves even further.
Jamie gets even more steamed up, as he insists the two girls were put inside the crates, and Vaughn insists it's all in the boy's mind and that he has a fertile imagination. The Doctor tries the diplomatic approach and asks if they could possibly look inside the crates, and Vaughn agrees. This, of course, is a trap. The return van is ordered to leave before they reach it, and Vaughn invite Jamie and the Doctor to go with him to the compound and have a look at the crates there. Benton sees them leave, and reports it to the Brig, who has them traced.
(I'd like to add that I love it when Jamie tricks Packer and manages to sit in the front, giving the henchman a "PWNED!" look. Heheheheheeee.)
The compound. Instead of taking them to see the crates, as they're still on their way there, Vaughn takes the Doctor and Jamie to his office instead - which looks exactly like the one in London (a clever way to save money in production by using the same set). He tries to probe the Doctor about the circuits, but he refuses to talk - probably both because he's refusing to reveal something this important and because he doesn't want to talk about the Time Lords. Vaughn, still using his charm and pleasantness as a weapon for deceit, says he understands the Doctor's wish to keep quiet, and says he will try to convince Professor Watkins to take a break from his current project to study the circuits. When he leaves, Jamie says they shouldn't trust the man. Good, Jamie! Finally you've seen through the false niceness and the little toy he gave you. Too bad this only happened because you saw Zoe being stuck inside a crate. Meanwhile, Packer is trying to persuade Professor Watkins to collaborate, but he refuses to believe they have Isobel. When Vaughn joins them and uses some logic against him, the professor eventually agrees to continue work on the machine he's building, but only if they allow him to see the girl first.
Meanwhile, Jamie and the Doctor spot some spherical structures outside, which the Doctor assumes are a deep space radio communication system. They also notice the presence of the UNIT helicopter when Packer arrives to take them to see Professor Watkins. He and Vaughn return to the office and click on the surveillance cameras to spy on the Doctor's conversation with the professor. Of course, just when the conversation was heading towards the TARDIS, the Doctor points out the camera and convinces them to change the subject. And so, while Professor Watkins explains that the machine he's working on manipulates people's emotions, the Doctor disables the camera with a magnet. Obviously, Vaughn is not amused and rushes to the lab to remove it and to tell the Doctor that, unless he gives him the TARDIS in one hour, he'll hand Zoe to Packer for "a bit of fun" (ugh). As they're being escorted to a place of confinement, Jamie and the Doctor manage to trick Packer and escape - and give some slashfest moments for the fangirls as they try to sabotage the lift, what with their holding on to each other at some point and Jamie calling the Doctor "a clever wee chappie" in an affectionate manner before they escape into the lift shaft. When they reach the top and prepare to climb, this piece of dialogue comes up:
Jamie: Hey, Doctor.
Doctor: Hm?
Jamie: I've just been thinking. What happens if they get the lift going before we get to the top?
Doctor: Oh, that's simple.
Jamie: What?
Doctor: We get squashed.
Hee. I love my boys.
But, of course, this is exactly what happens, and they panic. Luckily it stops on the sixth floor and so they have some more time to try to escape. When the lift arrives empty, Vaughn realizes what happened and sends Packer to the roof to greet them. The henchman decides to go against his orders (that those two should not be harmed) and decides to take the lift, hoping that they'll be squashed. Luckily for us, our heroes manage to reach the floor before this happens, and use a fire escape to go down. This results in one of the most iconic images of Jameness, as the camera films up Jamie's kilt as he climbs down. Sadly, the shadows don't allow us to see more than a bit of leg, so boo (in the documentary found in disc 2, Frazer Hines claims Jamie was wearing nothing underneath, by the way). It also results on Vaughn having a bitchy hysterical shoutfest aimed at Packer, as he once again failed to bring him back his little toy.
The Doctor and Jamie reach the train and begin searching for the crates. Since Packer and his men arrive, Jamie decides to hide inside an empty crate. The problem is, the thing is not as empty as he thought, and something begins to move underneath him...
And with this worrying note, we end the episode.
Episode 4
Animation again! We see Packer searching for the two escapees, and giving the wagon where they've hidden the all-clear. Jamie then leaves the crate and tries to tell the Doctor about how there was something inside, but is told that "the darkness plays funny tricks with the imagination." *sighs* Doctor, you should know better. When Jamie says something moved in there, something did move in there. Oh, you believe him now? Good. It doesn't help that he believes it, however, as they overhear Packer ordering to remove the girls, and that's much more important. So, they sneak out of the train so that they can release them.
Vaughn's office. Packer is surprised that Vaughn still refuses to take orders from their allies, and Vaughn replies that the machine Watkins is working on is a weapon he plans on using on their allies the moment their help is no longer required, and assures Packer that the Doctor's machine can be a useful way of escaping if everybody else fails. Packer later joins his men in moving the girls' crates onto the central block's tenth floor, and makes sure that the Doctor overhears his instructions. In the meantime, the Brig orders more reinforcements around the compound, as he believes it will soon be time for attack, and Packer tells Vaughn about the UNIT helicopter.
Outside, our two heroes are trying to find a way to get inside the central block when Vaughn's voice is hears over the PA system: "Doctor, if you can hear me, listen. You have ten minutes, Doctor. Ten minutes to relinquish your freedom. At the end of that time your young friend Zoe will pay the consequences of your foolish and totally pointless opposition. Ten minutes, Doctor. Ten minutes." Smooth.
Zoe and Isobel, in the meantime, are out of their crates and banging on the door. They look outside, and see the Doctor and Jamie and call for them. The Doctor asks them to keep quiet so as not to give away the game too soon, and the girls back away from the window. Zoe then realizes there's a camera in the cell, and tells Isobel to pretend nothing happened. The Doctor contacts the Brig and tells him to send the helicopter to the roof of the building. Vaughn then makes the "five minutes" announcement over the PA system; he looks outside, sees the helicopter approaching, and orders Packer to shoot it down.
Jamie and the Doctor are now holding the rope ladder hanging from the helicopter. Jamie gets down the ladder and reaches the girls' cell, and when they realize he's coming they barricade the door so that Packer can't get inside. Zoe climbs up, followed by Isobel and then Jamie, when Packer and his men begin to fire at them. The only solution is to keep climbing onto the helicopter. The Doctor and the girls get in all right, but Jamie is too slow, and the only solution is to fly away while Jamie is still on the ladder. Everything went well, though, and they manage to return safely to the UNIT base. Angry, Vaughn orders for Watkins and his machine to be taken to London, as they must hurry the invasion before this incident goes public. He then contacts Major General Rutlidge at the Ministry of Defence and orders him to stop UNIT.
UNIT. The gang discusses the fact that Professor Watkins is still at the hands of the IE, and the Doctor recalls the object they had seen at the dark side of the moon, and they realise it was an alien spaceship. Captain Turner goes to fetch the photographs of recent UFO sightings for the Doctor.
Back at the IE compound, Vaughn convinces Watkins that he still has Isobel in order to convince him to return to London with him. Meanwhile, the gang back at UNIT realize that all of those sightings took place near the IE compound. The Doctor, remembering what Jamie had said about the apparently empty crate, deduces that whatever comes from those spaceships has been landing in the compound and is then transported to the London HQ. The Doctor intends to go there to investigate, and since he knows that they'll be waiting for them he asks the Brig for... a canoe. Yes, that's right. A canoe.
Jamie and the Doctor are then seen canoeing down the Thames into an entrance to the IE HQ's basement. They sneak inside and pass through the guards, and see someone opening one of the crates and connecting the material (which they originally thought was gauze) inside to some alien machine. To their horror, the material is then split open from inside and a Cyberman emerges. Gasp!
And that's the end of the animation. Next, it's all in the original live action format, all the time.
* episodes 1 and 2
* episodes 3 and 4
* episodes 5 and 6
* episodes 7 and 8