The four part series from the thirteenth season of the long running Dr. Who series, The Android Invasion was written by Terry Nation and once again put fan favorite Tom Baker in the role as the good doctor. When the story begins, he and his companion, Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), arrive, courtesy of the TARDIS, in a small English town that they soon realize isn't quite normal. Sure, it looks perfectly peaceful on the outside but once they start paying closer attention to things they realize some strange details - there's only a single date on the calendar and all of the coins used as currency appear to be brand new. On top of that, some of the locals are behaving quite erratically, something the pair can't help but notice when a man moving in a rather herky-jerky manner wanders off the edge of a high cliff.

Understandably the doctor gets curious and so after a bit of sleuthing and some discussions and investigative work, the doctor starts to put the pieces of this puzzle together - but not before he's captured leaving Sarah to rescue him for a change. Once she's sprung him, he starts to realize that the Kraal's are up to no good and that they're not on Earth but a simulation of Earth which the aliens are using as a sort of testing ground for the android's they've built which they hope to use in the invasion of the real Earth once they've proven their usefulness. Complicating matters further is the fact that the generally very reliable UNIT, often a source of help to the doctor, has already been contaminated by the Kraal minions, leaving the doctor and Sarah essentially on their own - and unfortunately for them, there are white robot creatures with guns in their fingers running around town trying to eliminate the threat that they see our two heroes as!

Highlighted by a fun scene in which Dr. Who must battle the android version of himself, The Android Invasion may not be the deepest or for that matter the most original of stories told in the series but it's a fun tale that breezes by at a good pace. The production crew does a good job of making the small town location feel deserted and empty, giving things a slightly eerie tone at times. If the makeup effects used for the Kraal aren't the most convincing work seen in the show (they kind of look like Muppets!), we can look past that and appreciate the fact that the androids are actually rather interesting to look at and by the standards of the day, actually pretty cool. The white robots are also pretty neat, with guns in their fingers and constantly on the chase, showing no hesitation whatsoever and plenty happy to shoot first, ask questions later (or never, for that matter).

Front and center in all of this lunacy are Baker and Sladen. Obviously very comfortable in the role at this point in time, Baker just completely goes for it here, playing the doctor with more enthusiasm than most could probably imagine and bringing a ridiculous amount of confidence to the part that really goes a long way towards making him as interesting and as fun a character as he is. His brash persona plays off of Sladen's wittier Sarah Jane perfectly and the two make a great pair here, operating on the same level as, say, Steed and Peel from The Avengers. Their banter provides the four episodes with some welcome humor which helps add to the entertainment value that it provides and which lets us look past the fact that, as much fun as all of this is, there are some fairly massive plot holes.

While much of what happens in the story seems there to pad the running time (did the doctor and Sarah really need to get captured and then escape only to get captured and then escape again?) you can't help but get pulled into it all. Baker and Slade are so much fun in their roles and the story so creatively off its rails that, yeah, this is one worth revisiting - it's just a lot of good, screwy fun.

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All four episodes are presented in their original 1.33.1 fullframe broadcast aspect ratio. There are moments where the picture is muddy looking and fairly murky and detail is below average but overall this isn't a bad looking disc, all things considered. Colors are reproduced rather nicely and if black levels aren't reference quality, they're decent enough. Skin tones look alright, and there's not much in the way of print damage to note. All in all, the BBC have done a fine job here.