VV. The Invasion

Season Six - 1968/1969

Script Editor: Terrance Dicks
Writer: Derrick Sherwin
From an idea by: Kit Pedlar
Produced by: Peter Bryant
Director: Douglas Camfield
Designer: Richard Hunt
Incidental Music: Don Black (with John Baker and Brian Hodgson - both uncredited)
Extra Credit: The BBC wish to acknowledge the help given to them by the Ministry of Defence in the making of this programme (8)

Synopsis

The TARDIS materialises in London, 1970. The Doctor intends to visit Professor Travers, only to find that he has let his house to a friend, Professor Watkins. The Doctor learns from Watkin's niece, Isobel, that the Professor has disappeared.

The Doctor investigates the Professor's disappearance at his last known work place: the London HQ of International Electromatics. The Doctor's suspicions are heightened when he is taken by U.N.I.T. and brought to Lethbridge-Stewart, recently promoted to Brigadier.

Working with the newly formed U.N.I.T. the Doctor learns that the director of IE, Tobias Vaughn, is in league with the Cybermen and is assisting them with their invasion plans by inserting mind control circuits in his products.

When activated the circuits send a hypnotic signal to those nearby. The Doctor manages to protect his companions and U.N.I.T. against the hynotism, and confront Vaughn, who realises his mistake and then tries to stop the Cybermen. Vaughn is killed, but the Doctor manages to stop the Cybermen firing a gigantic bomb.

Regular Cast

  • Jamie McCrimmon: Frazer Hines
  • Zoe Heriot: Wendy Padbury

Guest Cast

  • Tobias Vaughn: Kevin Stoney
  • Packer: Peter Halliday
  • Isobel Watkins: Sally Faulkner (1-2,4-8)
  • Corporal Benton: John Levene (1-3,5,6,8)
  • Tracey: Geoffrey Cheshire (1-2)
  • Patrolman: Walter Randall (1)
  • Lorry Driver: Murray Evans (1)
  • Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: Nicholas Courtney (2-8)
  • Captain James Turner: Robert Sidaway (2-8)
  • Sergeant Walters: James Thornhill (2-7)
  • Gregory: Iain Fairbarn (2,5,6)
  • Professor Watkins: Edward Burnham (3,4,6,7)
  • Major General Billy Rutlidge: Edward Dentith (4-5)
  • Phone Operator: Sheila Dunn (4-5)
  • Policeman: Dominic Allen (5)
  • Workman: Peter Thompson (5)
  • Private Perkins: Stacy Davies (6)
  • Cybermen: (all 6-8) John Bradbury, Ralph Carrigan, Charles Finch, Pat Gorman, Richard King, Peter Thornton
  • Sergeant Peters: Norman Hartley (7-)
  • Major Bramwell: Clifford Earl (7-8)
  • Computer Voice: Sheila Dunn (1-2)
Uncredited:
  • Cyberman and Cyberplanner Voices: Peter Halliday (2-8)
  • UNIT/Bunker Men: Leslie Conrad, Gary Dean, Barry Dupre, Charles Finch, James Holbrook, Ross Huntley, Steve Kelly, John Kirtley, Richard Kitteridge, Mike Lee, Crawford Lyle, Tony Manning, Victor Munt, Roy Pearce, David Pelton, Clark Reed, Peter Roy, Derek Slater and The 2nd Battalion of the Cold Stream Guards
  • IE Guards: Leslie Bates, Maurice Brooks, Dave Carter, Ron Conrad, Terry Duggan, Kenneth Hale, Alistair McFarlane, Brian Nolan, Derek Slater
  • Warehousemen: John Lord, Miles Northover, Gordon Stothard
  • Extras: Bobby Beaumont, Derek Chafer, Reg Cranfield, Lyn Denton, Roy Denton, Terence Denville, Robert Pearce, Trevor Shewring, Simon Stapley
  • Stuntmen: Alan Chuntz, Billy Horrigan, Terry Walsh

Original broadcast on the BBC

Channel Title Date Viewers Rating
BBC 1 220. Episode 1 Saturday, 2 November 1968 17:15 - 17:40 7.3M 55%
BBC 1 221. Episode 2 Saturday, 9 November 1968 17:15 - 17:40 7.1M 53%
BBC 1 222. Episode 3 Saturday, 16 November 1968 17:15 - 17:40 7.1M 54%
BBC 1 223. Episode 4 Saturday, 23 November 1968 17:15 - 17:40 6.4M 51%
BBC 1 224. Episode 5 Saturday, 30 November 1968 17:15 - 17:40 6.7M 52%
BBC 1 225. Episode 6 Saturday, 7 December 1968 17:15 - 17:40 6.5M 56%
BBC 1 226. Episode 7 Saturday, 14 December 1968 17:15 - 17:40 7.2M 55%
BBC 1 227. Episode 8 Saturday, 21 December 1968 17:15 - 17:40 7.0M 53%

Studios

  • Ealing Television Film Studios
  • Lime Grove Studio D

Outside Locations

  • BBC Training Centre, Wood Norton
  • Blackfriars Embankment, London
  • Coln St. Aldwyns, Wallingford
  • Fields nr. Ruislip
  • Guinness Factory, Western Avenue, Acton
  • RAF Northolt, London
  • Regent's Canal, London
  • St. Paul's Cathedral, London

Working Titles

Return of the Cybermen

Notes

Wendy Padbury does not appear in Episode 3.

For both this and the following story, the story title is in inverted commas.