| INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS by Malcolm Hulke |
| Story 71 Synopsis: The Doctor and Sarah Jane return to London to find it deserted. They are mistaken for looters, but are soon reunited with the Brigadier, who fills them in. London has been evacuated following the appearance of dinosaurs all over the city. The Doctor thinks that someone is bringing the dinosaurs forward in time, and Sarah deduces the culprit could be a Professor Whittaker, who went missing 6 months ago. Attempts to trace the source of the time distortion are thwarted by Mike Yates, who is working for Operation Golden Age, who include Whittaker, General Finch, who is bossing the Brigadier around, and Sir Charles Grover, a member of the Government. Sarah tracks down their underground base, but finds that they have a fake spaceship, where several people believe they are on a mission to a New Earth. She escapes, but trusting Finch and Grover leads her back to square one. The Doctor tracks down the base, but cannot find evidence. Then he is named as the perpetrator of the monsters. Escaping arrest, he makes his way back to the base, as Whittaker switches his time machine on. The Doctor stops it, and Whittaker, Grover and Finch disappear into the past. |
| Review:- A challenging swansong from one of Doctor Who's most political writers, this story uses the notion of the show as being about monsters to present a huge threat to the human race from people who believe themselves to be pursuing a just cause, with dinosaurs used to give the viewers some scares and a representation of what the past means. Operation Golden Age becomes a powerful organisation because almost all the people we meet are secretly members of it. With Yates continuing his 'turncoat' status from The Green Death, there is shown to be only shades of grey, rather than clear-cut black & white issues. One of the most telling lines here comes from the Doctor, when he scorns talk of Golden Ages, which are nothing more than illusion. It is helpful that the main plot is an intrigue about changing history, as the dinosaurs are notoriously badly realised. Although most views nowadays are based on the 1993 film Jurassic Park, even in 1974 these puppets looked poor. Still, I am happy to give the production team credit for taking a chance. The subplot involving the spaceship is an imaginative twist, and shows that this scheme is not merely confined to half a dozen nutters in an office somewhere, but actually has an affect on the lives of people misguided by the whole Operation. The deserted London makes for an effective opening episode that 'sets the scene', although this is rather faded down later on for convenience, and the consequences of returning central London (and Britain, nay the world) to normal is wholly ignored. But perhaps that's just as well. A thought-provoking story, all round. |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book, and seen the telly version. |