Another proper two-part story for Series 9, this acts as a direct sequel to the 50th Anniversary story The Day of the Doctor. Indeed, the first episode begins with a recap of events in that story, in which Zygon refugees are forced into an uneasy truce with UNIT thanks to the combined efforts of three incarnations of the Doctor.
As the whole 'Zygons seeking a new home' plot had first been mentioned in Terror of the Zygons, it can be argued that it is a sequel to that 1975 story also.
The 50th Anniversary story had told how the Zygons had arrived in Tudor times (even though Broton had stated that it would take time for their fleet to reach Earth, and he was saying this in the late 20th Century). The Zygons had used stasis cubes to hide themselves in a number of artworks which ended up in the National Gallery. On emerging in 2013 they attempted to take over but the Doctors forced them to negotiate a truce with Kate Stewart of UNIT, whereby they could live in peace on Earth in human form, they being shape-shifters of course.
This new story picks up some time later, when a radical faction of young Zygons are rebelling against the current arrangement. They wish to live as Zygons and not hide, even though both species have co-existed happily for a couple of years.
This radicalisation points to one of the main inspirations for the story. Issues of immigration, integration and the status of refugees also background the episodes.
Interestingly, Steven Moffat always intended to revisit these themes with a global political thriller following The Day of the Doctor - so the Zygon element was always intended as a sort of prequel to a story which would come later, with the Twelfth Doctor following up on something initiated by his predecessor.
The title of the first episode might feature the word "Invasion", but Moffat and writer Peter Harness sought to look at how conflicts started, growing out of dissent from within a community - be it the power vacuum resulting from regime change in countries such as Iraq, or popular revolutions such as the Arab Spring movement.
In recent years we had seen the rise of Islamic State, which had already had an impact on Doctor Who when changes were made to the ending of Robot of Sherwood. Hundreds of young Westerners had flocked to the Middle East to join the movement, and the UK and other European countries had seen a rise in domestic terrorism.
As mentioned, Zygons are shape-shifters, and so Harness was also inspired by that 1950's classic piece of anti-communism paranoia Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Anyone could be a Zygon duplicate.
Kate visits the town of Truth or Consequences in New Mexico. This used to be called Hot Springs but changed its name in 1950 to that of a popular radio game show. The presenter, Ralph Edwards, had announced that the forthcoming 10th anniversary show would be broadcast from the first town to change its name. Once renamed, it never changed back.
Harness originally set part of the story in Azerbaijan, but this became the fictional Turmezistan.
In draft scripts UNIT had characters named Bell and Bambera, but there was no indication that they would have anything to do with previously established UNIT staff Corporal Bell and Brigadier Bambera, so may simply have been placeholder names.
Complaining of shortages, Kate mentioned Sergeant Benton as one of "only about 6 men" her father had to command in his day. (Many of us much preferred the "Brig's Army" to the version of UNIT seen these days).
Once again the Doctor finds himself acting President of Earth, with a special aircraft at his disposal (as in Death in Heaven. Once again it contains a portrait of the Brigadier - based on a publicity photo from Battlefield. And once again, the 'plane is brought down.
The Union Jack parachute is clearly inspired by Bond's in the precredit sequence of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
The Doctor mentions having once snogged a Zygon - referring to the one which copied Queen Elizabeth in The Day of the Doctor.
The two boxes in the Black Archive are said to be work of Harry Sullivan. His last story as a regular companion was Terror of the Zygons, and he was said to be working at Porton Down (the UK Government's biological research establishment) in Mawdryn Undead.
One of this series' story arcs has revolved around the notion of a hybrid. The Doctor describes Osgood as a hybrid, in that no-one knows if she was human or Zygon.
Kate orders "five rounds rapid" against a Zygon - part of the famous quote from her father in The Daemons.
Next time: Deadly slumbers. Doctor Who finally does "Found Footage", only 16 years after it became popular, and it is the audience who were mostly asleep during this one...
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