We may earn a commission from links on this page. Filming reportedly started in October 2019, but the production was shut down in March 2020 following the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Plus, a sneak preview of next week Telegraph", "Doctor Who series 9 episode 7 The Zygon Invasion review", "DOCTOR WHO: "THE ZYGON INVASION" REVIEW", "Review: 'Doctor Who' Season 9 Episode 7, 'The Zygon Invasion,' Lets Zygons Be Zygons", "Doctor Who The Zygon Invasion: 6 things we learned, plus a sneak preview", "Doctor Who gets shockingly contemporary with its Zygon invasion", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Zygon_Invasion&oldid=1137329630, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 4 February 2023, at 01:53. Doctor, the ceasefire's broken down. The Zygon recognises the Doctor as president of the world, stating that splinter group wants the world. We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. The slower pace allows more room to showcase the acting talent on display here and Jenna Coleman particularly shines in her dual role. 31 October 2015 [25][26], Tim Martin of The Daily Telegraph awarded the episode four stars out of five, particularly praising Osgood's characterisation as "Earnest, resourceful and an unabashed superfan". In March 2021, production was completed for the inaugural season. Local outlets reported that the production unit was spotted at Blackheath, Greenwich Park (located at London SE10 8QY), and the Royal Naval College area located at King William Walk. In addition to the Fourth Doctor's scarf, one Osgood is shown with a bow tie similar to the Eleventh Doctor's, while the other wears a question mark-decorated sweater vest similar to that worn by the Seventh Doctor. It only takes a minute to sign up. Clara joins them. It turns out that 20 million shape-shifting Zygons were allowed to remain on earth as part of a peace treaty and have lived peacefully, disguised as humans. The Doctor attempts talking to them; it is revealed that they are the Zygon high command, Jemima and Claudette. Under Steven Moffats stewardship, the show has drifted still further from any real-world parallels. Bonnie travels to UNIT to obtain a shoulder-fired missile. Id say yes on both countsassuming any of our heroes are actually still alive to be there next week, that is. Daniel Nettheim The Doctor: Hello, it's Doctor Disco. Jac and the troops are killed by the splinter group when they attempt to escape. Zygons, a shape-shifting alien race, and humans live in peace together on earth, but a group of rogue zygons threaten the peace between humans and zygons.Zygons, a shape-shifting alien race, and humans live in peace together on earth, but a group of rogue zygons threaten the peace between humans and zygons.Zygons, a shape-shifting alien race, and humans live in peace together on earth, but a group of rogue zygons threaten the peace between humans and zygons. 2015, New Mexico, the town Truth or Consequences is under attack. Clara (Jenna Coleman) is in England, attempting to keep her homeland safe from Zygon invasion whilst the Doctor flies to Turmezistan to find the captured Osgood. "Two Osgoods" Osgood is shown cowering as a Zygon takes her form and asks for her inhaler. However, this globe-trotting instalment soon gets into the swing of things in an amusing scene that sees the Doctor conversing with the Zygon high command. He explains it is how the Zygon technology works. In the pre-title sequence we see Osgood running towards the police station in T or C Only that isnt Ingrid Oliver! Because Osgood is a fan of the Doctor, one is wearing a bowtie and scarf; the other is wearing a question mark jumper. Given only ten minutes before UNIT begins bombing the Truth or Consequences splinter group, the Doctor searches the now empty Zygon base, finding Osgood tied up in the cellar; they barely manage to escape as the bombing begins early. This real-life catastrophe, which is suspected to have been caused by ISIS, positions this story further as achingly relevant. Just before Bonnie takes her form, a couple of visual clues eerily hint at whats to come We see Clara reflected in a full-length mirror, meaning that for a moment we glimpse two of her and on the wall to her right, theres a solitary mask, indicating something that will disguise a face. The episode saw the return of Osgood, curiously after her death in the series 8 finale Death in Heaven, with this episode revealing that before Missy's Cyberman invasion, Osgood and her Zygon duplicate had become so identical to each other that they refused to say which was the Zygon and which was the human, making it unknown which Osgood was actually killed by Missy. There really is a place called Truth or Consequences in Sierra County, New Mexico, USA and as Bonnie indicates, it was named after an NBC radio program in 1950. The Zygon Invasion - Story Locations - The Locations Guide to Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures 1 episode, broadcast: 31st October 2015 Locations filmed for the story: (list currently incomplete) In Studio: BBC Studios (Roath Lock), Cardiff Bay (2015) Production Notes Filmed as part of Block #4 alongside 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". Trevante Ward (Shamier Anderson) is a US soldier deployed in Afghanistan. Thats a good way to sum up The Zygon Invasion as a whole, honestly: This isnt like Under The Lake or The Girl Who Died, both of which function beautifully on their own terms, without their narrative partner. The Doctor realises that the Zygons' powers have grown; they can now read minds and take the form of whatever their targets love most. The aliens next showed up in The Day of the Doctor and The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion is their third full adventure. According to Clara (from The Zygon Invasion transcript): JAC: Truth or consequences. And honestly, thats probably for the best, if the few alternately halfhearted and hamfisted efforts in that direction are any indication (with the one big, big exception of the Torchwood miniseries Children Of Earth, which is every bit as dark and bleak and incredible as people say it is). Western projects like Skyfall, Avengers: Endgame, and Inception were filmed in the East Asian country. This is an inventive, rather elegant ending that fits nicely with the revelation that the Doctor has found himself in this exact scenario 15 times prior but erases the memory of all present so they do not remember the actual redundancy of the Osgood Box. The Zygons have shape-shifting abilities, allowing them to replicate the appearance of another being. It follows multiple ordinary people from all over the world as humanity faces an alien invasion. Bonnie was the Zygon leader of Truth or Consequences, a radical group of young Zygons who opposed Operation Double, feeling that Zygons should be free to show who they really were, instead of being forced to hide as humans. . The Doctor points out that it plays directly into the radicals hands to attack them, as that only serves to radicalize the moderates. The Zygons, a race of shapeshifting aliens, have been living in secret amongst us on Earth, unknown and unseen. The episode is the first episode of a two-part story, the second part being "The Zygon Inversion", which aired on 7 November. In London, the splinter group, which seeks to be themselves no matter what, kidnaps and kills Zygon High Command, leaving a Zygon called Bonnie in charge. The Tenth Doctor kissed a Zygon impersonating Queen Elizabeth in "The Day of the Doctor". This continues a running joke from earlier in the series: Prime Minister Harriet Jones is regularly told this after introducing herself, multiple times in both "The Christmas Invasion" (2005), and in "The Stolen Earth" (2008). She fires the missile at the plane. "Nicholas Brigg's Tweet at 12:58 on 3 Nov 2015", "Doctor Who series 35, episode seven The Zygon Invasion", "The Zygon Invasion: Hints & Teasers (Set #1)", "BBC One Doctor Who, Series 9, The Woman Who Lived The Zygon Invasion: The Fact File", "Ten Thoughts About Doctor Who: The Zygon Invasion", "Doctor Who: "The Zygon Invasion" Review", "Doctor Who series 9: geeky spots in The Zygon Invasion", "12 Great Moments from the Zygon Invasion", "The Zygon Invasion: Hints & Teasers (Set #2)", "Doctor Who town Truth or Consequences actually exists", "Doctor Who S9.07 "The Zygon Invasion" review", "Review: 'Doctor Who' Season 9 Episode 7, 'The Zygon Invas Indiewire", "Doctor Who Recap: Truth or Consequences", "Series 9 episode 7: Will Osgood replace Clara as a series regular? The Doctor, UNIT commander Walsh and a troop of UNIT soldiers confront a Zygon filled chapel in Turmezistan. He learns that they are about to bomb the village; however, the controller of the remote-controlled bomber sees Zygons that have taken the form of her husband and child. Behind the scenes video Of all the convergences between Doctor and actor, this might well be my favorite. The episode was watched by 3.87 million viewers overnight in the UK and received a 19.4%. The Doctor finds Osgood safe under the church. CLARA: It's in New Mexico. Unfortunately nothing much happens in Kates strand of the story which is rather ponderous, diffusing some of the tension built up in the other locations. (TV: The Zygon Inversion). The read through for The Zygon Invasion took place on Wednesday, 29 April, 2015. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Osgood chat on the plane, which is heading back to the United Kingdom. The brutality of this dispatch escalates the threat of these visually striking but often rather comical looking villains. As Kate and Bonnie deliberate over which button to press the Doctor delivers a rousing lecture on the pointlessness of war, which always leads to negotiation anyway after a mass of needless bloodshed. 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". The episode doesnt go overboard in making these connections. The Zygon Invasion almost justifies this past silliness by having Osgood wonder what the question actually was, which both ties the collar in with an ongoing preoccupation of the Moffat era and, more importantly, totally wrongfoots the Doctor as he attempts to interrogate Osgood about her own identity. Clara wonders if they have any effective weapons against Zygons. However, Zygons cut them off, blocking off every available way out. The Zygon Inversion was the eighth episode of the ninth series of Doctor Who. See production, box office & company info, [using his mobile, the Doctor gets Clara's voice mail], British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (United Kingdom). As it is, Claras murkier characterization, not to mention the Moffat eras tendency to prioritize narrative coolness over character consistency, makes it easier to shrug off those bits of weirdness. Clara Oswald: [using his mobile, the Doctor gets Clara's voice mail] Hi, this is Clara Oswald. Location filming took place on the islands for several of 2015's stories, doubling for New Mexico in 'The Zygon Invasion' & 'The Zygon Inversion', the Daleks' planet Skaro in 'The Witch's Familiar' and as the Doctor's home planet Gallifrey in 'Hell Bent'. Originally created by Robert Banks-Stewart, The Zygons first appeared in the Fourth Doctor adventure, Terror of the Zygons. The Zygon splinter group, appearing as the soldiers' relatives and friends, kills the soldiers and flees back to the UK through underground tunnels. She leaves flowers for the other Osgood on a grave that simply reads "My Sister". They were glimpsed in flashback during Logopolis and Mawdryn Undead and mentioned in several stories including Remembrance of the Daleks and more recently, The Power of Three. Another memorable moment Here the Doctor poses some heavily political observations bemoaning the use of bombing as a go-to solution and pointing out that attacking this splinter group will only radicalise other Zygons, which is exactly what the rebels want. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 October 2015, and written by Peter Harness and directed by Daniel Nettheim. At the block of flats where Clara lives, Clara is knocked unconscious and hidden in a pod underground. Clara asks Jac if they can stop by her flat before they do anything; it is not a problem. 's base. Can the Spiritual Weapon spell be used as cover? The Doctor points out that it plays . This exposition pill is initially hard to swallow, listed off before the opening credits even have a chance to roll by. The Doctor leaves a message saying that he is keeping an eye on two dangerous creatures, which are two little girls playing on a slide. The number of distinct words in a sentence. Give me a call, Clara. The strong subtext in the story concerning contemporary immigration and terrorism has been noted by many commentators and reviewers and has been widely discussed on social media. The Doctor: operating under deep cover, trying not to attract suspicion. (. After one of the Osgoods was killed,[N 2] the other left UNIT and disappeared. But cracks are showing in this delicate peace. Its relatively rare for Doctor Who to comment directly on contemporary issues. Doctor: Finding an officer with the badge C. Norlander, Kate is shown all that remains of the rest of the citizens are piles of sparking wires. They're tall and orange and spongy and suckered. However, the Doctor immediately realises the danger, warning Osgood. [10], The Doctor plays the opening to the hymn "Amazing Grace" on his electric guitar. Meanwhile, Clara arrives home from work and checks her phone, to discover that the Doctor has left over 127 messages on her phone. I love the fact that this Doctor apparently spends all his downtime playing the electric guitar. Recorded by Gerry O'Riordan Filming reportedly started in October 2019, but the production was shut down in March 2020 following the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those stories arent especially interested in setting up an allegory to contemporary events, but rather in asking something along the lines of, If this preposterous thing happened, how would people actually react? Indeed, through all 52 years of its existence, Doctor Who has been primarily interested in exploring more universal and more philosophical questions, rather than specifically engaging with our present political and social milieu. Now, lets look at specific locations in detail! I'm in the 21th century, don't know what month. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? He asks Kate if UNIT still has the presidential aeroplane, prompting Clara to remind him that he hates being president of Earth. Osgood asks the Doctor why he does not use the question mark motif any more, to which he replies that he still does on his underpants. So, the shows creators likely used various locations in Morocco to recreate the backdrop of the war-torn country. Right after Clara sees Sandeep being carried away, a Zygon zaps her head and knocks her out. John Bell Tyson (Sam Neill) is a tired sheriff of a small Oklahoma town slated to retire soon. The Doctor here barely registers as a presence in the scene, but then hes beside the point. [4][3], Clara claims to memorize obscure facts to help her win at Trivial Pursuit, a popular trivia quiz board game. He opened his review by saying that the episode "arguably became the most important Doctor Who episode since Vincent and the Doctor tackled depression back in 2010". The New York Public Library, New York City. Since 2016 the city's film commission has assisted more than 5,000 productions, resulting in $2.75bn of direct and indirect economic impact on the city and generating more than 500,000 jobs. The policewoman from New Mexico has Italian flags on several parts of her uniform. According to the statement, Derbyshire was placed under arrest after exhibiting "loud [..] behaviour under the influence of alcohol, towards other members of the public". She pulls gunk off a pod, revealing a copy of her inside the pod. CLARA: It's a town in New Mexico. Since, one of the Osgoods has fallen at the hands of Missy and a young, rebellious group of Zygons have gone rogue, thus breaking the ceasefire. Kind of covered in lips that are constantly puckered. 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