The hype surrounding the promotion and premise of Secret Invasion was short-lived, dwindling down before the series even reached its conclusion. Since the season one finale, though, criticism has only increased, as fans felt that the show left much to be desired.
It’s easy, then, to understand why so many comparisons have been drawn between the Marvel series and other, much more successful, TV shows. Agents of S.H.I.EL.D., for example, has stood out as a project that did a much better job of executing a similar story, but in this vast universe, of course it couldn’t have been the only one to accomplish that feat. In a sea of comparisons, Doctor Who is now being singled out by Redditors.
In the ninth season of the show’s 2005 revival, fans were treated to the exact same premise as Secret Invasion. A shape-shifting alien species — in this case, the Zygons — who had previously been living on Earth as refugees impersonating humans, decide to take over the planet, threatening an all-out war to make it happen. It’s eerily similar, right? The difference, though, is that Doctor Who explored and resolved this storyline in two 45-minute episodes, instead of dragging it out.
Someone who has never seen the British sci-fi series may think that two episodes are not nearly enough to execute something of this scale, but they’d be gravely mistaken. Doctor Who does it in a much more satisfying manner than Secret Invasion. How? By giving the Zygons specific reasons for impersonating the people they do, using it to their advantage, and keeping those identities secret until it’s actually necessary to reveal them in order to move the story forward.
Perhaps the very best thing about these episodes, though, is their resolution. Instead of the mediocre Skrull vs. Skrull fight we got at the end of the Disney Plus show, Doctor Who accomplishes what some would deem impossible, stopping a war by using words. Okay, this may sound boring on paper, but the execution is incredible. In fact, Peter Capaldi’s Doctor convincing humans and Zygons to lay down their metaphorical pitchforks is arguably one of the actor’s best scenes in the show.
What’s more impressive is the fact that the sci-fi show accomplished it all with “an estimated budget of less than $1 million,” which is a lot of money, sure, but significantly less than Secret Invasion‘s $212 million.
Who would’ve thought that a great story could be told with such a little runtime and costs? Anyone who watched Doctor Who in 2015, that’s who.
Published: Aug 11, 2023 06:38 am