User Reviews

I really don't understand why Peter Harness' episodes are so heavily criticized. Kill the Moon and The Zygon Invasion are some of my favorite episodes from series 8 and 9, both of them being instant classics in my book.

I really like how tense this episode is. The directing is great, and from the beginning you're thrown into a fast paced story with lots of suspense, action, intrigue, and not too much humor (something that worked in the episode's favor). Although the Zygons aren't the best looking or best sounding villains, their shape shifting abilities allow for real tension throughout the episode. The fact that anyone in the story could be a Zygon was a great idea.

Seeing the Doctor "die" again as a cliffhanger was disappointing, but Clara being a Zygon wasn't, and the scene where "Bonnie" shoots down the Doctor's plane was pretty epic.

Overall, the Zygon Invasion is one of my favorite episodes of this series, and I look forward to having Peter Harness return to Doctor Who next series.

I can understand why there are some glowing reviews for The Zygon Invasion, it's almost a pity they didn't begin the series with it. It triumphs on several levels, it's well paced, witty, visually appealing. Great location work, I'm sure it helps add to the global appeal of the show. Finally Jenna Coleman is able to showcase her acting talents, easily the best performance, excellent from start to end, I fear her showing in this proves that she has been badly written for in the past. Moving scene at the church, the Soldiers tricked by Zygons, emotive. The frustrations with it are firstly, this regime's inability to kill off a character, we've had more returns from the dead then Plague of the Zombies, it's becoming tiresome. I applauded them for having the guts to write out Osgood. Secondly the Zygons themselves, I can see opinions are divided, there is something rubbery looking about them, which wasn't the case with the original creations. The Sontarans and now Zygons have gone backwards in design. I'll end with a joke....

Doctor Doctor why didn't you take the Tardis? Answer because Zygon Clara couldn't fire a rocket at it.

I have been really impressed by Peter Harness' contributions to Doctor Who so far. Both Kill the Moon and the Zygon Invasion have been instant classics for me.

The Zygon Invasion had tons of action and tension, and really awesome directing.

All the acting was great, and the Church scene was emotional and realistic.

Jenna Coleman's performance is great, and I am excited to see what they do with her in next week's episode.

There was just enough humor as well, and it was correctly placed, unlike in the Magician's Apprentice and the Witch's Familiar (two still brilliant episodes). Not a lot of humor in an episode makes it better, because it keeps an uninterrupted serious tone.

this bit is for both episodes (Invasion and Inversion)- After watching the whole series I can proudly say that this two parter is the best story of series 9, apart from the finale. Truly a great episode.

10/10

Doctor Who likes to reach out to all different branches of the modern world; politics and world affairs is the newest with this stunning episode.

For the first time this series, Doctor Who has had a proper monster that doesn't hide behind the cameras or have that little bit of good inside or is under used. The Zygons are out in force playing tricks on innocent beings which has got to be the perfect tactic. Could you shoot a loved one even if they are a big orange monster underneath. The Zygons have yet to fail for me and the episodes they've appeared in have delivered, even in Tom Baker's Era. I think these creatures, despite their humorous appearance, are fast becoming one of Doctor Who's scariest and deadliest monster.

Another strong point is the acting, especially from Jenna Coleman. I never once suspected she could hide such a secret as Clara. Her quick change in dynamic and attitude is perfect and utterly brilliant. She plays the perfect villain and any fan would be excited by her sudden change thanks to the Zygons. Another valiant effort is from Capaldi himself, he plays a stunning Doctor who is energetic, fun and just beautiful in the part. His accent does get a little strong every so often when he turns his voice into a whisper which can be quite agitating, but his brilliant acting skills make that barely noticeable. Jac, played by Jaye Griffiths is great, she may be quite an under developed character, but i love her and she offers a collected and calm approach to the show. She's like a child in little school, she doesn't argue or moan or complain. It was upsetting to see her go.

Also, the political themes and the mentions of ISIS and segregation across the world is portrayed well, and is quite subtle which makes it easier to watch. Harness is a king at his craft and handled a sensitive topic incredibly well.

However, every episode has a few faults. One being the guitar here. Peter is lovely at playing it, but it now appears too often so the novelty has worn away, just put the thing away. As a fan, i don't need to see it every episode. Also, a lot of questions are unanswered, but with The Zygon Inversion to come, let's hope Harness can answer them all; including 'What is the Osgood Box?'

This is a stunning episode which adds to the true potential of Series 9, this shapes it up to be one of the best of New Who.

In the opening scenes we are reminded of events in 'The Day of the Doctor' where we see a peace has been negotiated that will allow twenty million Zygons to live on Earth in human form. It seems that some of them have become radicalised though; they have taken the forms of humans that they have captured and now plan to conquer the planet. The Doctor and Clara are called in by UNIT to help get to the bottom of the plot.

This was an enjoyable episode. It was nice to see three previous Doctor's in the opening sequence and the Zygons are a good foe… at least in their human form. In their native form they are distinctly 'man in a rubber costume' monsters but when human they are quite creepy as they appear as members of people's family… before killing them! The scene where they eliminated a group of UNIT soldiers was a bit disturbing… in a good way. It was good to see more of Clara again although it was a shame that she was not actually with the Doctor most of the time. Her character had one of the series' best twists as the episode neared its conclusion. It was also nice to see Osgood again. The action was handled in a way that kept the tension high without being too scary for younger viewers. Overall a pretty solid episode that left me keen to see what will happen next.

Ah Halloween . A pagan festival celebrated through the centuries and best remembered nowadays for fancy dress and mild scares . And if it's mild scares you're after then nothing works better than DOCTOR WHO and the trailers gave the impression this was going to be a dark scary tale . Does it succeed ? Almost but not quite

!!!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!!

The problem is twofold . First is the introspective navel gazing that the show has been constantly guilty of for many years and is increasingly getting worse . We're reintroduced to Osgood . Remember her ? She was killed at the end of last season or was she ? Don't worry all will be explained by her later and throughput the episode . Character exposition is one thing but if you're a casual viewer you might find your interest and patience being tried to the very limit . Likewise the Zygons , a returning monster who can take human form and apparently aren't all bad . We know this because Osgood says so . The fact that this contradicts their debut story away back in 1975 doesn't seem to matter . It also means the narrative becomes dependent on the writing rule of "show don't tell" and it quickly becomes annoying that characters have to rely on dialogue in order to explain things to the audience which is very lazy

Second much of the plotting is similarly lazy . In America a squad of UNIT soldiers come across possible humans/possible Zygons and are faced with a dilemma what to do . The scene should be pivotal and compelling but because of the lazy unintelligent writing the scene isn't any where as well thought out as it should of been instead the prime concern seems to be having a scene set in America in order to appeal to the American market . Do I find Terror Of The Zygons a great story because it was set in Scotland ? No I found it a great story because it was well written and directed with a brooding atmosphere rarely seen in the show

There is another aspect to the story I found quite offensive and that is the allusion of the rogue Zygons being metaphors for ISIS . The Doctor wants to be a peacemaker . Are we to believe that if the Doctor existed in real life he'd somehow find a peaceful solution between the forces of fascism and theocracy on one side and secular democracy on the other . Highly impossible . I know the show as done similar themes before most notably with stories by Malcolm Hulke but these stories were metaphors rather than literal statements and also relied on the concept of "show don't tell" rather than the other way round

Perhaps the most telling thing shows in the ratings . 3.87 million viewers in the overnight ratings . Of course as many as 2 million more will bump up the figure but the show will still find itself slipping out the top most shows viewed that week . The buzz isn't there anymore , the casual viewers are deserting the show and that the reasons why are obvious which as a fan I find upsetting . The budget is there . The potential is there but the show constantly shoots itself in the foot

I've been enjoying series 9 so far but although it's been very consistent there's been no outstanding episodes. No Blink, no Forest of the dead, No Listen etc. Although this episode isn't up there with those it's definitely the closest. The slow build, the twists, the revelations about new Zygon abilities and the cliff hanger all combined to create an excellent episode. There were great moments especially involving the new Zygon skill to replicate someone's loved ones, firstly during an aborted missile strike and secondly when the troops were outside the church. And I loved the 'presidential pose' the doctor enacted before entering his plane.

All in all a great episode to start the second half of this season. Can't wait until next week...

Down in the tunnel the Clara character is revealed to be a Zygon. The soldiers, all fully armed with automatic weapons, become surrounded by Zygons. Yet nobody shoots. They just allow themselves to all be killed. Did I miss something?

Wow! What an episode! I really loved the Zygon Invasion. It was full of action, tension, and some really awesome political themes. It's amazingly relevant to today's world, and it has some emotional moments thrown in as well. The acting was stellar from the entire cast, guest cast included. I really loved the soundtrack as well. It helped to keep the tension in the episode. The directing was also awesome.

Capaldi was hilarious, and Jenna Coleman was incredible as both Bonnie and Clara. Loved the cliffhanger (the zygon invasion has already happened), but I didn't like how the Doctor and Osgood 'dying' was used again. Having a main character die off in an episode cliffhanger is really un-believable and needs to stop being used.

I liked the Church scene, as well. It was emotional and really tense.

10/10- One of the best episodes of the series.

I do agree with folks here saying it was one of the best episodes from Jenna Colman for a while. She did a decent job here as the Doctor's assistant rather than the other way round. The episode itself was OK but the story was very superficial and again it is the lazy writing that we have seen since RTD left that is spoiling the show.

Was never a fan of the Zygons but they did a decent job as the villains in this episode but their presence was marred by the daftness of the human element. So the Zygons removed UNIT in America by killing half a dozen soldiers? Surely if that was it they need not have worried in the first place. If they are invading America then the US Army must be the greater threat?

Elements such as the Doctor being President Of Earth really stink out the show and the guitar bit and the glasses are major fails. It's a good version of the Doctor for Christs sake and he does not need such nonsensical props.

The two kids who were in charge of the Zygons in the UK could have been used more as that was a clever idea and surely UNIT has more men in the UK than that?

The climax of the episode was pretty decent and sets up next week well but too much of the new series is poorly done and that again comes down to lazy writing. Did all the smart writers leave with Russ and all that was left were the BBC chimps to sort out the scripts.

I don't like Clara anymore but she is not to blame for the poor writing and this really great show is in danger of going the same way as the original one when utter bilge in the script department was it's death knell.

This series so far has been lamentable and it's sad as we have a really good Doctor. Doctor Who audiences in my day were smart enough to not worry about the cardboard sets as the stories and the characters were well written. Now it's the other way round the characters and stories are cardboard and the sets well done. It's already lost a lot of it's audience here and that is the main reason for this. I hope someone has the courage to stand up and say this at the Beeb because this programme is worth the effort. Doctor who always had an element of fun and games in it and could do silly sometimes really well and make it look sensible. But what we have here makes the Benny Hill show look like Panorama.

We have seen elements of 'good' in the Moffat era but he has never been able to steer the ship and maintain that course.

As a Doctor Who fan since Day 1 he is heading for the rocks and needs to up his game Big Style or this show will die a painfully slow death as ratings slip away and we do a Sylvester McCoy. Which would be such a shame.

This episode is truly great, it has an amazing vibe and style to it with the Zygons like a terrorist organisation, it seems like a very real episode. UNIT is back again and for once they are used in a good way, the doctor and Clara are together again, but aren't as they hardly have any screen time which is a shame as this has happened in the witch's familiar, before the flood and the woman who lived. But this episode has a thriller style to it which is very different to the past few weeks as we get to see Peter Capaldi series 8 style (without so much Matt Smith style jokes and traits like previous episodes).To conclude, there are some flaws like predictability and not much screen time between characters but this episode succeeds in giving us a story which is a very good thriller with great characters and villains with a very suspenseful story 9/10 (and the reason why people are hating on this episode is because simple nit picky things and also because some other episodes haven't been so good so they are hating on this one too)

Doctor Who makes a terrific return to the wow factor and on the edge of your seat intensity.

We now have the unresolved plot of the Zygons and now they are determined to take over the earth, even if that means killing their own species. Yet again another two part episode to keep the fans hungry for the action.

This week delivered suspicious and dark moments to bring unknown consequences to the screen. Even though the episode looks quite plain and boring, we did not know what was coming and are expected anything next week.

One particular good element is that the story makes the Zygons themselves look more scary and threatening than previously seen before. We also have the return of UNIT continuing to bring back that 70s theme to it.

Although there were small parts that were predictable, and overdramatic or not as dramatic it wanted but everything else perfect.

At the moment each episode of the current serious have been new and different, bringing the audience into new worlds, and emotions which is making this series an absolute roller coaster.

This episode is a 9/10 with really no major flaws, and I can't wait till next week.

This episode has a very dramatic opening, possibly a bit overly dramatic, but it successfully delivers the uneasy tone for the entire episode. While The Doctor is still Doctorish, the episode is largely devoid of the fun antics that usually characterizes Doctor Who. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, just slightly off-putting at first. But the episode definitely makes up for that with palpably chilling scenes that masterfully ante up the tension and intrigue.

The plot harkens back to the Zygon attempted invasion from The Day of the Doctor (with a nice recap callback at the beginning, might I add), with carefully brokered peace between humans and Zygons now threatened by a splinter group of Zygons bent on ending Zygon "captivity." With the imposters impossible to know, UNIT forces are systematically taken down by the Zygons. It does have a glaring weakness, however. The twists, while clever, are easily predictable a mile off. Still, carefully plotted and brilliantly acted, this is an intriguing invasion thriller that doubles as an allegory to the moral quagmire of the war against terrorism, on both sides, delivering a gripping set up for the next episode. 8.5/10

Well, crikey. Who'd have ever thought Doctor Who could do a story that politically resonant? There were constant uses of the word "radicalization", strong subtext alluding to immigration, and even subtle nods to ISIS. Doctor Who has brushed on political themes before, notably in last season's Kill the Moon (also written by Peter Harness) which dedicated its entire second half to discussions on the abortion debate, but I can't recall any other episode that has foregrounded themes this serious. The Zygon Invasion picks up after the events of the show's fiftieth anniversary episode, where it is revealed that humankind struck a ceasefire with the Zygons, allowing them to live on Earth but only if they remain in human form. As the episode progresses, the plot shifts from "the Zygons are peaceful" towards "the Zygons are radicalizing", then "the Zygons are planning to invade" before finally settling on "the Zygons have already invaded". There's a hell of a lot of plot covered in this opening part, and Harness' script (adapted from a Moffat story) allows the episode to run at tremendous pace. So, in short, not only does this keep up Series 9's excellent standard, but it adds a whole new layer to it.

The Zygons are a strange creature, mostly in their appearance, and when they're in Zygon mode they're tough to be frightened or intimidated by as a viewer. This is why it's so great that Harness understands this, he allows the episode's most harrowing moments to come from the Zygons when they're in human mode. One particularly bleak sequence involves a group of UNIT soldiers instructed to fire at a Zygon group who have taken on the forms of the soldiers' families. It's a deeply unnerving scene, bolstered further by the impressive amount of emotional weight that Harness' script lends it. But it's the episode's closing moments in which the Zygons' threat becomes truly apparent. The U.S officer who accompanied Kate Stewart for this episode being a Zygon was a predictable twist, but handled well. The notion that Clara had been a Zygon since her first sequence in the episode was the real shocker, and the episode didn't even end there. The Zygon Invasion packs so much plot into a Part One premise that I really can't imagine how they're going to continue this with part two. When Steven Moffat promised us he would shake up the two part format this year, he really wasn't lying. Structurally this is the most traditional of the four two parters we've seen so far, but its exhilarating pace and hefty amount of plot help set it apart from any two parter pre-Series 9.

The most publicized aspect of this story prior to its airing was the return of Ingrid Oliver as Osgood, an enjoyable yet somewhat empty character who's popped up in a few episode since she debuted in the fiftieth anniversary episode. Yet last season's finale saw her killed by Missy, at least we thought so. As it turns out, her Zygon counterpart from the fiftieth special remained disguised as Osgood, and so we were left in the balance as to whether Missy killed the human Osgood or the Zygon Osgood. And we still don't know. It's interesting, though, that Osgood no longer sees herself as human nor Zygon; she is both. A hybrid, as the Doctor says, again alluding to something big in the making; this series has really loved that word "hybrid" ever since Davros mentioned it back in episode two. Osgood's unwillingness to answer that question was a clever touch, as it adds yet more depth to the themes that this episode focuses on. There's a particular moment in which a Zygon talks about how it only wants to be able to live as its true self and not have to worry about hiding. As well as being a powerful moment in its own right, it also doubles as a strong parallel to illegal immigrants, living in fear of being found out. The way this episode attaches its themes to its story and characters was simply astounding.

The Zygon Invasion has all the makings of classic Doctor Who; it's fast, it's big, it's loud and it's spectacular. The episode bounces across the globe, with its run time divided across three separate countries. It is a bold, globe-trotting epic that lands seamlessly in every possible respect. While it's packed with superb performances, a handful of emotionally intense sequences and one hell of a cliffhanger, it's the episode's brave thematic gestures that allow it to stand out so well. This is Doctor Who at its absolute bravest, it pushes the boundaries as to what we should expect from this show now and how we should respond to it. Gone are the days where Doctor Who was intellectually simple entertainment, something the casual viewer could hop in and out of and enjoy an episode despite only half paying attention. In order to appreciate the vast majority of this current series, the thematic concepts and layered script writing must be foregrounded or else the episodes would fail to impress. The Zygon Invasion is this series' seventh episode, and it's just as exceptional as the six that preceded it. This show is thinking it ways that it never has done before, and it's simply thrilling to see a show in its ninth series put out episodes of this standard, still able to pull out new tricks and try out things it hasn't even glimpsed at before. Thematically, tonally, visually and narratively, The Zygon Invasion is exquisite television.

This is Doctor Who's golden age.

I've never been particularly interested in UNIT and all their machinations, I think they are always portrayed as having less compassion and empathy than is believeable while the Doctor in these episodes seems less understanding of humanity than he usually is, this episode was no exception, while I enjoyed the episode for what it is, I do like to see fresh monsters, sorry aliens, the Zygons are not my favourite by a long shot, no sir ree bob.

So at this current point in time I'm pretty much hating doctor who, the stories are mostly drivel, the characters are as shallow as the beer bottle I needed to get through this and the villains have been one of two things every time: either a cocky smart mouth that acts like a bad-ass or a hissing monster with even less of anything for me to care about.

BUT. The last episode (the woman who lived) was fun enough, it still had the issues I stated above but still good none the less. So going into this episode I'm like "this is bound to be a great one right? They've been giving us the bad ones up until now so here it comes"... Nope! It's just the generic trying to be smart, stupid plot, bad villain, unoriginal tripe we've been getting all series. And when I say unoriginal I really mean it we've seen this "shapeshifter could be anyone" so many times before. And the reason I'm condemning this is because we got the exact same story from a marvel comic called "secret invasion" but done a lot better than this. Now if you haven't read the comic I'll take you through the general idea; aliens come to earth, aliens morph into human form, aliens wait, aliens take up enough of the population, aliens attack. Now sure there are some differences between the two but the main points are very much similar. And that Clara twist was VERY predictable.

Moving on from that though the episode was just generally boring, and I don't mean "this is too slow I can't get through it boring" I mean just "this is the exact same tone from every other massive alien attack episode boring" why can't they just have a simple episode where the fate of the earth isn't in the doctors hands and it's just the fate of like 5 people or something. When the earths going to be blown up ever episode you don't really feel the stakes of the situation but if they had him saving smaller amounts we'd really feel it when he has to step up and save a whole planet. Also I just want to mention how dumb those monsters look, there base or whatever looks awesome but they themselves look like someone sat on some chewed up, red gum and gave it arms and legs, but that's just a minor nitpick in the grand scheme of this train wreck. I have so many nitpicks in these episodes though that as a whole they do take a lot away from how OK this episode could of been... Maybe even good.

So my closing opinions are: stupid plot (unoriginal one too), bad characters and acting, too similar to other episodes in tone and the stakes, lacking any fun, cleverness or fear that you used to get from the show and a flat out disappointment from last episode which was a pretty fun ride. But remember I'm still a fan I still have that hope that this garbage will get better and am willing to stick through it to find out (I'm too far in now to give up anyway).

It started good, nice reference to sleeper terrorists and then came the church scene ... Trained soldiers who disobey a direct order, and fall for a very obvious ploy by the aliens. The soldiers are thousands of miles from home and suddenly the aliens come forward, shapeshifted as the family members of the soldiers. And the soldiers fall for it, even after the alien, shapeshifted as a mother, could not mention one personal detail of the soldier ... Totally unbelievable and very annoying to watch. And then the soldiers go into the church ... together to be killed by the aliens .... Bad writing to make the viewer feel antipathetic towards the aliens but all it makes me feel is being insulted. No soldier would ever behave like that, it is lazy writing, instead of thinking of a clever ploy, the writer goes for a stupid storyline. The same in the cave with the stolen humans, a platoon being ambushed by the aliens and not one of them raises his gun to defend himself.... What kind of training do these soldiers get?