[with thanks to Richard Bignall]
Filming for The Invasion in September 1968 in the Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire area provoked some interest in the local press.
The Swindon Evening Advertiser on 4 September and the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald on 5 September covered the action at RAF Fairford, with Robin Wiltshire in the Advertiser bringing the good news to fans, that the next serial would be ‘the best one yet,’ quoting Patrick Troughton as saying, ‘There’s no doubt about it in my opinion, this new serial will be the best made.’ ‘Aye, you can say that again,’ chips in Frazer Hines.
The article reveals that there was a setback to filming, when the cast and crew arrived to discover that planned shots using a helicopter were not able to be filmed, due to ‘insurance difficulties.’ Wiltshire reports on the scene in which the Doctor and Jamie are driven into, ‘a giant RAF Hercules freighter aircraft, in a fast car,’ and rather casually drop a major spoiler for the upcoming serial, which, ‘…centres around a business tycoon, who teams up with the Cybermen, in an attempt to take over the world.’ He goes on to say that ‘The actors and Zoe (Wendy Parbury [sic]) spent a hard afternoon filming scenes at Williamstrip Farm’. I suspect that Wendy Padbury may have been less than impressed by the wording, ‘the actors and Zoe’, as well as by the misspelling of her name.
Wiltshire concludes with a brief interview with the leading man, asking Troughton if he intends to carry on playing the Doctor indefinitely. Troughton responds cagily, ‘No, there is of course a limit an actor must put on playing any one part. I have my plans, but they are not settled yet.’
The Gazette and Herald allots fewer column inches to the filming, but covers much the same ground, reporting that there were around 70 people on site. They are not granted an interview with Troughton – perhaps one set of questions about when he was leaving was enough for him. They do, however, spell Wendy Padbury’s name right and appear to include her among the company of actors.
The Oxford Mail (7 September), the Wallingford Herald (12 September) and the Oxford Times (13 September) all cover filming at the Associated British Maltsters building in Wallingford.
Under the heading ‘Intrepid Dr. Who Takes to Roofs of Wallingford’, accompanied by a large photograph of Patrick Troughton signing autographs and a smaller one of Douglas Camfield directing filming of Frazer Hines as Jamie, climbing up onto the roof of the building, the Mail’s unnamed reporter describes how, ‘Gunfire crackled across the roof of the towering grey Maltings building, high over Wallingford yesterday, as a black-clad jackbooted, private army opened fire with rifles. Dr. Who and his young friends were in danger again, this time at the hands of Tobias Vaughn, ruthless tycoon and head of the sinister Industrial (sic) Electromatics organisation.’ The piece goes on to tell how filming was briefly halted by a low-flying RAF jet and then to describe the lunchtime scene as the Doctor and Zoe played table tennis in the canteen, while Jamie ‘tried his hand at the billiards table.’ Some further story details are revealed although, the production team, having presumably learned their lessons from the spoilers given in the Swindon Evening Advertiser, ‘are keeping the plot a close secret,’ although they do admit that ‘some old enemies… are back in business again.’
Another photograph of Camfield directing the ‘ladder’ sequence, appears in the Herald along with a short piece, stating that the Maltings building had been chosen as the location for filming because, ‘The script required a tall, modern, industrial block, out in the country, with railway sidings nearby,’ before going on to joke that the angle with which the camera was pointing up towards the kilt-wearing Jamie on the ladder suggested that, ‘Another centuries old secret is about to be revealed.’
The report in the Oxford Times is to be found in the newspaper’s children’s section, ‘The Peter Piper Club’, between an article by ‘Uncle David’ about the 1832 Great Reform Act, a competition to draw a poster for an imaginary election to a ‘Children’s Parliament’ and the birthday notices. The article covers very much the same ground as their rival papers had earlier in the week, alongside yet another photograph of Douglas Camfield directing Jamie on that ladder.
