h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Greetings, my friend. At last your weekly review is up and running! I recently watched 'The Invasion of Time' (1978) and I must say that the first four episodes (which deal with the Doctor helping the Vardans to take over Gallifrey) are utterly dreadful. The script is so confusing and the acting is very bad. The Vardans are perhaps the worst monsters to be seen on Doctor Who - why does nobody realise that vibrating sheets of tin foil with slight Scottish accents do not make good adversaries?! The actor playing the leading Vardan sounds thoroughly bored with the whole thing right from the start, and when the Vardans turn into blank-faced men in what look like firemen's uniforms the whole thing becomes pathetic. The other actors playing the Time Lords are a sorry bunch, and even Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are below their usual high standards here. The only two Time Lords who are any good are the Castellan and Chancellor Borusa, who in my opinion keep the whole story together.
The next two episodes (which deal with the Sontarans arriving on Gallifrey after the Vardans are vanquished in order to begin their invasion - unknowingly helped by the Vardans) are only slightly better. Commander Stor is nowhere in the same league as Linx and Styre, and it's just a shame that Kevin Lindsay (who had played Linx and Styre) had died by this time. Derek Deadman (playing Commander Stor) tries, but ultimately fails to re-create the brilliant performances by Kevin Lindsay. Then comes a jolly but stupid run-around in the TARDIS between the Sontarans, the Doctor and his friends. Although it was exciting to watch, it left me wondering what it was all for. The script gets better here, but still its a bad story. Worst of all was Stor's destruction by the DeMat Gun...
'The Invasion of Time' has to be the weakest Sontaran story and one of the poorest fourth Doctor stories.