The Zygon Invasion

257a – "The Zygon Invasion"
Doctor Who episode
Cast
Doctor Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor)
Companion Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)
Others Ingrid Oliver – Osgood Jemma Redgrave – Kate Stewart Rebecca Front – Colonel Walsh Jaye Griffiths – Jac Cleopatra Dickens – Claudette Sasha Dickens – Jemima Abhishek Singh – Sandeep Samila Kularatne – Sandeep's mum Todd Kramer – Hitchley Jill Winternitz – Lisa Gretchen Egolf – Norlander Karen Mann – Hitchley's Mum Aidan Cook – Zygon Tom Wilton – Zygon Nicholas Briggs – Voice of the Zygons (uncredited)
Production
Directed by	Daniel Nettheim
Written by	Peter Harness
Script editor	David P Davis
Produced by	Peter Bennett
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Brian Minchin
Music by	Murray Gold
Series	Series 9
Running time	1st of 2-part story, 45 minutes
First broadcast	31 October 2015 (2015-10-31)
Chronology
← Preceded by "The Woman Who Lived" Followed by → "The Zygon Inversion"

"The Zygon Invasion" is the seventh episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 October 2015. It is written by Peter Harness and directed by Daniel Nettheim, and was originally titled "Invasion of the Zygons".

In this episode, "Humans and Zygons are disappearing and far below the streets of Britain, alien pods are growing in secret caverns." The episode also sees the return of Osgood, who last appeared in "Death In Heaven" and was vaporized by Missy. The episode also sees the return of the Zygons who were last seen in "The Day of the Doctor".

Plot

In the aftermath of the previous Zygon attack on Earth and the Doctor's actions to ensure the creation of a peace treaty, there existed two versions of UNIT scientist Osgood: one human and the other a Zygon duplicate but neither knowing which is which; they considered themselves as hybrids of the two races, and sisters. Though the treaty allowed 20 million Zygons to remain on Earth, peacefully living out as disguised humans, the Doctor warned the Osgoods of the Nightmare Scenario should the treaty break, and left the Osgoods with a mysterious container they call the Osgood Box. Since that time, one of the Osgoods was killed by Missy; following her death the other left UNIT and disappeared from the grid. In the present, the remaining Osgood is chased by Zygons and captured, but not after sending the Doctor a warning that the Nightmare Scenario has occurred.

The Doctor arrives on Earth and first locates two known Zygon commanders, who have taken the form of two young girls; before he can interrogate them, the two are captured by another Zygon. After trying to contact Clara, the Doctor goes to UNIT headquarters at the Tower of London where Kate Stewart and her assistant Jac debrief him.

Meanwhile, Clara leaves her flat but before she can call the Doctor back, she sees a neighbor's boy, Sandeep, worried about his missing parents. Clara goes to investigate, surprised to find his parents are there amid some conflict within the flat. Sandeep's parents take the struggling boy back in and tell Clara everything is fine. Clara finally returns the Doctor's call and races to join him. When Clara arrives, UNIT receives a video showing the two Zygon commanders being killed in the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, and of Osgood being forced to read the Zygons' plans for invasion from a small village in Turmezistan. The Doctor asserts this must be a splinter group as the bulk of Zygons want to live peacefully. He has Kate go to the United States to investigate Truth or Consequences, while he will go to Turmezistan to help Osgood; he orders Jac and Clara to keep England safe. Kate does explain that they did have a weapon, a special nerve gas that would affect only the Zygons and kill them, but the Doctor took that from them many years prior.

The Doctor, using the plane afforded to him by his title of President of the World, arrives in Turmezistan and meets UNIT Commander Walsh, who explains the Zygons use the form of the soldiers' loved ones to prey on their emotions and prevent any attack; as such, they now plan to bombard the town within 30 minutes. The Doctor, Walsh, and a troop of soldiers approach the church in town; the Zygons appear as their loved ones, convincing the rest of the troops to not fire against Walsh's orders and come inside. The Doctor and Walsh race after them, too late to prevent the soldiers' deaths or catch the Zygons as they flee; Walsh gives the Doctor 10 minutes to find Osgood before the bombing starts. The Doctor finds Osgood safe under the church, but they are cornered by a Zygon. The bombing starts earlier, and the Zygon is knocked unconscious by falling debris. They return to the plane with the captured Zygon, where the Doctor tries to ply more information from him.

Meanwhile, in New Mexico, Kate finds the town empty. In the sheriff's station, she finds a sheriff who claims to be the only one left alive. She explains that when the Zygons' identity was revealed to the humans, due to a young Zygon unable to hold its form, the Zygons turned on the humans and killed them. Kate studies the records to try to learn what importance the town has, while the sheriff, out of sight, reveals herself to be a Zygon and prepares to attack Kate.

In London, Jac takes Clara back to her flat to get a few things when they observe Sandeep's parents dragging a large bag into a lift. They find the lift has Zygon controls, taking them to tunnels below the city, and quickly discover many more lifts across London working in the same manner. They return to UNIT to organize a troop to explore the tunnels. Deep within the tunnels them they find thousands of Zygon pods, which Clara exclaims must be clones being grown by the Zygons and they need to destroy them. Clara then reveals one pod that appears to have a clone of her inside. Jac comes to realise too late that the real Clara is inside the pod and this Clara is a Zygon. The Zygon, who calls herself Bonnie, had switched places with Clara when she first went to Sandeep's flat, and she explains that the invasion has already happened, these pods containing the captured humans. Jac orders a retreat but the group is surrounded by Zygons and are killed. Bonnie returns to UNIT headquarters to retrieve an item, and is contacted by the Zygon in New Mexico, who now has taken Kate's form, affirming Kate has been neutralised.

On the Doctor's plane, he cannot get answers from the Zygon and tries to learn more from Osgood. He suddenly receives a call from Bonnie, telling him that Clara and Kate are dead, and his plane will never land in England, just before firing a shoulder-fired missile she took from UNIT at the oncoming plane. There is an explosion, and Bonnie smiles as she watches.

Continuity

The question marks on Osgood's collar points were first worn by the Fourth Doctor (beginning in The Leisure Hive) and later appeared on the costumes of the Fifth and Sixth Doctors. One of the Osgoods in the opening video also wears a question mark-decorated sweater vest similar to one worn by the Seventh Doctor, while the other sports the Fourth Doctor's scarf and the Eleventh Doctor's bow tie.

A portrait of the First Doctor is displayed by the stairs in the UNIT safe house.

The Doctor remarks that he once "snogged a Zygon". The Tenth Doctor kissed a Zygon impersonating Queen Elizabeth in "The Day of the Doctor."

Kate mentions events from Terror of the Zygons that took place in either the 1970s or 1980s. This is a reference to the UNIT dating controversy regarding in which decade the Third and Fourth Doctors' UNIT stories actually took place, which Kate also alludes to in "The Day of the Doctor". She also mentions "a naval surgeon" who helped create Z67, an anti-Zygon nerve gas, referring to the Fourth Doctor's companion Harry Sullivan, who was featured in Terror of the Zygons.

The Doctor resumes the position of "President of the World", last taken in "Death in Heaven".

When the Doctor introduces himself as President of the World, the response is "Yes, we know who you are," referencing a common line said around Harriet Jones in "The Christmas Invasion" and "The Stolen Earth."

The Doctor suggests that Osgood is a hybrid between a Zygon and human, continuing the theme of hybrids mentioned in "The Magician's Apprentice" / "The Witch's Familiar" and "The Girl Who Died" / "The Woman Who Lived".

Outside references

The Doctor plays the opening to the hymn "Amazing Grace" on his electric guitar.

Clara claims to memorize obscure facts to help her win at Trivial Pursuit, a popular trivia quiz board game.

Broadcast and reception

The episode was watched by 3.87 million viewers overnight in the UK and received a 19.4% audience share and an AI score of 82.

Critical Reception

"The Zygon Invasion" received acclaim from TV critics. Based on 13 critic reviews, the episode holds a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, the first of the series to do so, with an average score of 8.1/10. The site's consensus reads "With "The Zygon Invasion," Doctor Who delivers a thrilling episode that pays special attention to character development and the consequences of time travel". Aspects of the episode particularly praised by critics included the characterisation of Osgood, the cliffhanger ending and the political themes running through the episode.

Tim Martin of The Telegraph awarded the episode four stars out of five, particularly praising Osgood's characterisation as "Earnest, resourceful and an unabashed superfan". Ross Ruediger of New York Magazine highly acclaimed the episode, awarding it five stars out of five. He opened his review by saying that that the episode "arguably became the most important Doctor Who episode since “Vincent and the Doctor” tackled depression back in 2010". He also praised Harness' script, saying he did "a great job" with the character of Osgood, and praised the Zygons as "frankly pretty terrifying". He also praised Clara's plot twist, by stating "The episode’s greatest triumph in this area is what was done with Clara, which is shocking on the first viewing and masterful on a second". Scott Collura of IGN also praised the episode, awarding it a score of 7.8, deemed as a "Good" score. He particularly praised the character of Osgood in the episode and the "refugee subtext", while stating that it "poses some thought-provoking questions".

Kaite Welsh of IndieWire highly acclaimed the episode, awarding it a grade of A++, the highest grade possible. Calling the episode a "classic", she further said that it "more than lives up to the hype, with some stellar political commentary, brilliant performances and some very creepy child actors". She further praised the episode's political themes by saying "The parallels between immigration debates aren't exactly subtle here, but they're so well-drawn it's impossible to mind". Alisdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club also enjoyed the episode, awarding it a B+ grade. He said that the episode "is methodical in how it paces the setup for next week's story... But no matter, because there are still plenty of some standout scenes here, in particular Hitchley's standoff with his mother in front of the church". He closed his review by saying "the only real questions to answer are does this episode generate anticipation for next week, and does this episode position “The Zygon Inversion” to go to places and explore things it couldn’t reach if it weren’t the back half of a two-parter? I’d say yes on both counts".

External links

• "The Zygon Invasion" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
• "The Zygon Invasion" on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• Template:Brief
• "The Zygon Invasion" at IMDb