|
Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974) is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Elisabeth Sladen as his companion Sarah Jane Smith.
The Doctor and Sarah arrive in 1970s London to find that it has been evacuated, due to the mysterious appearance of dinosaurs. It turns out that the dinosaurs are being brought to London via time machine in order to further a plan to revert London to a pre-technological level.
Doctor Who, the Television Companion quotes a contemporary review that rather unkindly describes the dinosaur special effects thus: "After escaping they [the Doctor and Sarah] came up against the first dinosaur and, oh dear, shades of Basil Brush! A glove puppet nervously skiing about London streets didn't exactly fill me with fright..."
The story was written by Malcolm Hulke and directed by Paddy Russell. The cast also includes Nicholas Courtney (as the recurring character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Richard Franklin (Captain Mike Yates), Brian Badcoe (Adam), John Bennett (General Finch), Martin Jarvis (Butler), Noel Johnson (Charles Grover MP), Peter Miles (Professor Whitaker), Carmen Silvera (Ruth), and Terence Wilton (Mark).
The first episode of the serial is in black and white, as the original colour master tape was wiped. It had been rumoured that this was because it was mixed up with an episode of the Patrick Troughton serial The Invasion, though this is probably not true as The Invasion had already been wiped when Invasion of the Dinosaurs was first transmitted.
External links
| 
