After reading several glowing reviews and seeing some episodes featuring the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), I decided to give the original Doctor Who series a try. The first DVD I was able to get my hands on was The Invasion, a story from the sixth season (1968), starring Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.
Being divided in eight parts, it is legitimate to assume the opening chapter will reveal very little of the big picture, and that's exactly what happens: in these first 22 minutes, we get to know practically nothing of whatever is going to threaten the Earth, apart from the fact that a businessman named Tobias Vaughn (Kevin Stoney) has some role in it, the center of interest is London and everyone's favorite Time Lord, alongside his assistants Zoe and Jamie, happens to be in the right place at the right time.
Prior to the DVD release, two parts of The Invasion (episodes 1 and 4, to be precise) were deemed lost forever. However, the BBC were relieved to find out people had kept recordings of the original soundtrack; at this point, Cosgrove Hall came up with the idea of merging the existing audio with brand-new animation, which would be a faithful rendition of the black-and-white footage.
The intent in itself is admirable, but the result is something of a mixed bag: firstly, the technique sort of slows down the episode, making it excruciatingly static in certain points; secondly, the homage to '60s London, in particular as depicted by Antonioni (the female fashionista who asks Zoe to pose as a model is straight out of Blow-Up) looks quite stiff in its animated version; thankfully, Cosgrove Hall's effort doesn't detract from the performances, Troughton's dry wit (which I did not expect from a guy who scared me to death in The Omen) finding its match in Stoney's controlled, very British ambivalence (imagine The Simpsons with a more ambiguous Mr. Burns).
Overall, not as good as I thought it would be, but pretty enjoyable nonetheless. Fans of the Doctor shouldn't be too disappointed.