Day 475: The Invasion of Time Part 2

The cliffhanger to this episode reveals two things. One is that the Doctor has become well and truly evil, with no explanation, as he personally spearheads an invasion on Gallifrey by the Vardans, after banishing Leela to outside Gallifrey. It's a nice idea, well played by Baker, and introduces an element of uncertainty into the character of the Doctor that can hopefully engage the audience to continue watching to see whether the Doctor has truly been evil all this time.

The other thing the cliffhanger introduces unfortunately overshadows much of the rest of the episode. And indeed, much of the rest of the story. The Vardans have spent much of the story so far being voices, adding mystery and a touch of menace. When we finally see them, however, it's revealed that they are tin foil. Actual tin foil. I'm not entirely in a position to show a picture of them at this moment, so you'll have to take my word for it, but the monsters are literally tin foil. There are often complaints that Doctor Who appears cheap, and this is certainly true when you look at the Vardans. Fortunately, the ideas that the series has are generally excellent, and tomorrow when we begin to look at the modus operandi of the Vardans, we'll be able to see that maybe they're more than just tin foil.