The Invasion of Time is the sixth and final serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 February to 11 March 1978.
Amid the confusion, the compliant Castellan Kelner kowtows to the Vardans and assists them in taking over, issuing arrests and ordering banishment for any Time Lords that he sees as disloyal.
Meanwhile, Leela has faith that the Doctor's actions are towards a larger goal, and along with the banished Time Lady Rodan, travel across the wastelands of Gallifrey.
While Kelner quickly aligns with the Sontarans, the Doctor, Borusa, and their allies escape, regrouping with Leela, Rodan, Nesbin, and the other outsiders.
When he awakes, the Doctor remembers nothing of the events, and Borusa calls it the "wisdom of Rassilon", as he can return the key to its hiding place.
The script is credited to David Agnew, a pseudonym often used by the BBC for work produced "in house" by contracted production team members.
[2] In addition to St Anne's Hospital, location filming also took place at British Oxygen, Hammersmith and Beachfields quarry in Redhill, Surrey.
At one point, a Sontaran (played by the actor Stuart Fell) nearly takes a fall after missing a short jump and landing on a pool chair.
The closing credits of episodes three, four, and six feature the return of the section of Doctor Who theme commonly called the "Middle Eight", this sequence not having been heard since the early Jon Pertwee era.
[5] Christopher Tranchell had previously played Roger Colbert in The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966)[6] and Jenkins in The Faceless Ones (1967).
Memos to this effect were to be issued to future directors of the show, in order to preserve a level of seriousness that both men felt to be necessary; however, the humorous trend continued until Williams' tenure came to an end in 1979.
Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping wrote in The Discontinuity Guide (1995) that the serial "stands up reasonably well", though the Vardans' appearances were "ludicrous".
He acknowledged that it was "a flawed and uneven adventure" with issues in plot logic, but it succeeded in "goofy fun" with a good performance by Baker.
It has also been released in a DVD box set titled Bred for War, along with The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment, and The Two Doctors.