[daveyboy7472]

As with the other Hinchcliffe 6-Parters, I'm not a huge fan of this story despite it's popularity with fans. As with Genesis, it's not an awful story by any means and what is better about this particular story is that it avoids the usual 6-parter padding by splitting the story into two and it sort of works.

For me, the first two episodes in Antarctica are the better ones. It feels more atmospheric with the snow etc, whereas the other four episodes are more akin to the UNIT tales of the Pertwee Era despite the fact UNIT were only really in it in the last couple of episodes. These later episodes were very Avengers/James Bond in style and also showed a very physical Doctor, who displayed quite a few violent tendencies in this! It was also the last to feature UNIT for some time, who I felt should have been done away with long before this as they had really outstayed their welcome and should been dumped after Robot.

The third episode is quite remarkable in what it crams into 25 minutes. It picks up the action from Antarctica, moves back to England. We are introduced to Amelia Ducat, who then puts The Doctor and Sarah onto Harrison Chase. The Doctor then has a fight with the limo driver before sneaking into Chase's house and then after all hell breaks loose, we have possibly one of the best cliffhangers ever as Sarah is setup to become the next victim of the Krynoid. Now that is how to write an episode without padding! Also think the cliffhanger for Part 5 was another good one as well.

Harrison Chase is one of the best villains there has been in the show. He really is the uncaring, madman without regard for anyone, especially humans and once possessed by the Krynoid he gets even worse! This was countered by the scatty Amelia Ducat, wonderfully dotty and was a nice spot of comic relief in an otherwise disturbing story. Other great characters include Scorby(Otherwise known as 'Boycie'!) and Sir Colin Thackeray who adds a certain amount of pomp to the proceedings!

The gradual human to Krynoid transformations went further than the Human to Wirrn in The Ark In Space. Even now it can be viewed as quite disturbing in the transition phases and the simple fact the contents of a pod can cause the possession is also quite scary. I personally think the full Krynoid was a lot less alarming than the actual transition process itself. Also disturbing was the compost machine which gobbled up a few victims.......

The other thing I notice about this story is this is an early example of the more wisecracking Fourth Doctor we were to get later on. Though it was very limited, there were scenes, especially those with Scorby(I.e, where he turns The Doctor to turn round and he does so in a full circle) where The Doctor seemed to want to have some fun and in this story maybe it was intentional as some form of comic relief.

Also loved the little mistake at the end where The Doctor ends up back in Antarctica in the TARDIS having 'forgotten to cancel the co-ordinate program' despite the fact they never used the TARDIS to get there in the first place!

Was a nice way to end the Season though. As I said, I don't dislike the story, just prefer the other stories in the Season which were a lot better for me.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Keeler, Scobbie's accomplice in the mission to the antarctic base, is a genuinely tragic character. He appears to have thought that theft of the pod would not involve harm to anyone, and is genuinely shocked at the lengths his partner is prepared to go to, when it proves otherwise. Likewise, he is genuinely appalled when Chase tries to infect Sarah Jane, and is infected occurs as a result. His despair as he watches himself changing into a monster and begs Sarah to help him is genuinely moving.

[sovietusername]

LOVE this story, had the novelisation for years and got the DVD recently, only to find it doesent work!Grrrr But yeah, a really great story with 2 brilliant villains in Scobie and the mad MAD Chase. A really great sci fi story thats very reminiscent of the Avengers, I think the Krynoid would be a really good monster to bring back but no one seems that keen to

[daveyboy7472]

Originally Posted by sovietusername

LOVE this story, had the novelisation for years and got the DVD recently, only to find it doesent work!Grrrr But yeah, a really great story with 2 brilliant villains in Scobie and the mad MAD Chase. A really great sci fi story thats very reminiscent of the Avengers, I think the Krynoid would be a really good monster to bring back but no one seems that keen to

I'm not so sure having the Krynoids back would work a second time round. It's not like the Daleks or Zygons where they can just turn up. A Krynoid obviously has to possess a human to exist, which in turn means finding some more pods and therefore you have to replicate the whole situation as in The Seeds Of Doom. And as they come in two's, you'd probably have to do it twice. Therefore it'd seem like the same story all over again.

I'm not saying for definite it wouldn't work, just that it would be hard to do anything different or have a variant on the original idea.

[Larry1971]

Originally Posted by daveyboy7472

Also loved the little mistake at the end where The Doctor ends up back in Antarctica in the TARDIS having 'forgotten to cancel the co-ordinate program' despite the fact they never used the TARDIS to get there in the first place!

and also a small point that anyone wearing just a bikini in the Antartic would freez ro death in seconds ... Seeds is van ok story but an over rated one .

[DavetheScot]

Another great story to wind up this great series. The Krynoid is a great monster, and as daveyboy says the transition phase is pretty scary! Harrison Chase is a wonderful bonkers villain too; the actor playing him resists the temptation to go OTT and gets it just right (of course the director deserves some credit for this too).

I agree that much of the tone is an unusual one for Doctor Who and smacks more of The Avengers, but nonetheless it's a really great exciting story.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Originally Posted by sovietusername

I think the Krynoid would be a really good monster to bring back but no one seems that keen to

It doesn't offer much scope for a new angle. The whole story was, two pods gets found, one man is infected, becomes a monster and is destroyed; other pod stolen, infects someone else, they get destroyed. It's hard to see how you can make more of it the next time around.

[gboy]

Another of my all-time favourites. The 6-parter is effectively split into a linked 2-parter and a 4-parter, and this ensures that (unlike some 6-parters) the story doesn't drag, or feel likes there's unnecessary padding included.

John Challis makes a brilliant villain, and some of the scenes where he's threatening Sarah hint at real menace.

Harrison Chase is also very chilling, though at times he comes across as a bit of a Bond villain, but his deluded insanity and conversations with his plants give him an edge.

The first two episodes have a real sense of fear about them - and this is the stuff of hard-core sci-fi. Even the special effects are convincing.

My only (very minor) gripe is the arrival of the army at the end - was this meant to be UNIT? If so, why couldn't the regulars appear? It would have made a more fitting farewell to the UNIT family than 'Android Invasion'.

[DavetheScot]

Originally Posted by gboy

My only (very minor) gripe is the arrival of the army at the end - was this meant to be UNIT? If so, why couldn't the regulars appear? It would have made a more fitting farewell to the UNIT family than 'Android Invasion'.

I've a notion that I read somewhere that they couldn't quite make up their minds about having UNIT, and by the time they'd decided they would, Nicholas Courtney was no longer available.

[daveyboy7472]

Originally Posted by DavetheScot

I've a notion that I read somewhere that they couldn't quite make up their minds about having UNIT, and by the time they'd decided they would, Nicholas Courtney was no longer available.

I think it was also the case that they didn't feel the Brig's role would be big enough to have Nick Courtney back so they recast it and made it Major Beresford.

[CoalHillJanitor]

Originally Posted by Larry1971

and also a small point that anyone wearing just a bikini in the Antartic would freez ro death in seconds ... Seeds is van ok story but an over rated one .

Actually it was a one-piece. Two-piece in Death to the Daleks.

[king yrcanos]

This is my favourite story ever.The pace,the script,the characters,the acting,the direction.All IMO top notch.I would watch this a million times over again and again.Thus is my opinion that it is the best.Who agrees?

[doublefour]

It is a bit of a brutal grinding humourless at times story, I do like watching it though. It's survival, desperation due to the Krynoid which is well realised. Also, a pre-Boysie Roger Challis , love seeing some well known faces turn up in Who. Seeds rounds off arguably one of the strongest seasons ever. Sorry KY not my best, top 20 easily though.