The story: After striking a deal with a few Vardan aliens, the Doctor abruptly returns to his home planet of Gallifrey to claim the Presidency. As if he weren’t acting strange enough, the Doctor then orders the defense shields be shut down. Clearly, the Doctor is behaving abnormally, but why? Does he have a trick up his sleeve? Is he being controlled by The Vardans? Will the shield shut down have great consequences to Gallifrey?

To most “Doctor Who” fans, any story set on Gallifrey is a real treat and “The Invasion Of Time” is no exception. Granted, at six parts, the episode is a bit too long, but there are plenty of twists and turns (such as the appearance of the Sontarans) to keep your interest throughout.

The intricate script aside, the real reason to check out this episode is for Tom Baker as he starts out the episode by playing the Doctor in a way we have never seen. Immediately upon arriving at Gallifrey, we see that he is not acting like his usual playful self. Instead, he’s acting like an authoritative and commanding Timelord. It’s always nice when lead actors in a TV series get to shake things up a bit and take the character to new places and that is exactly what Baker does here.

One of the other fun aspects of ‘Time’ is that we get to see more of the Tardis interior. Viewers can expect to catch more glimpses of hallways, stairs, trees and even a pool!

The fullscreen picture quality is uber sharp for a classic episode. The Dolby Digital Mono audio track is also fairly clean.

Extras:

* Optional CGI Effects.

* “Doctor Who” series 3 ad, continuity, photo gallery and Radio Times Listings.

* Six minutes of deleted scenes from parts 5 and 6.

* “Out Of Time”- A 17 minute documentary about the making of the episode. Focal points include developing the script and the direction.

* Commentary by John Leeson, Anthony Read, Mat Irvine and Louise Jameson. Sadly, Tom Baker is once again absent here. Still, there are plenty of fun facts and behind-the-scenes stories to be heard.

* “The Rise And Fall Of Gallifrey” is a 10 minute history lesson about the various appearances of Gallifrey in “Doctor Who”.

* “The Elusive David Agnew” is a 5 minute featurette about the shy writer. Interviews with colleagues are included.