Invasion of the Dinosaurs

A terrifying battle between a
tyrannosaurus rex and a brontosaurus

Six episodes (Part One*, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six)
First broadcast Jan 12 to Feb 16 1974
* For Part One only, the story title was given as simply "Invasion", to preserve the cliffhanger surprise
Average audience for serial: 9.60m

An episode by episode review of this story can be read at Time Space Visualiser.

REGULAR CAST

Jon Pertwee (The Doctor) Jul 7 1919 to May 20 1996 (heart attack) Click here to see Jon Pertwee's entry on Spearhead from Space

Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) Feb 1 1946 to Apr 19 2011 (pancreatic cancer) Click here for Elisabeth Sladen's entry on The Time Warrior

Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart) Dec 16 1929 to Feb 22 2011 (cancer) Click here for Nicholas Courtney's entry on The Daleks' Master Plan

Richard Franklin (Captain Mike Yates) Jan 15 1936 to Dec 25 2023 Click here for Richard Franklin's entry on Terror of the Autons

John Levene (Benton) Born Dec 24 1941 Click here for John Levene's entry on The Web of Fear

GUEST CAST

Ben Aris (Lieutenant Shears) Mar 16 1937 to Sep 4 2003
Career highlights
Ben's long career began with an uncredited role in Tom Brown's Schooldays (1951), followed by roles in Variety Parade (1955), The Plague of the Zombies (1966), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), If... (1968), Hamlet (1969), Get Carter (1971), Savage Messiah (1972), Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World (1973), Vampira (1974), Sam and the River (1975), Tommy (1975), Hazell (1978), Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1980), To the Manor Born (1980-81, as Spalding), By the Sword Divided (1983), Slinger's Day (1986), Executive Stress (1986), You Rang, M'Lord? (1990), No Job for a Lady (1991), Lady Chatterley (1993), The Queen's Nose (1999) and Ready (2002). He had a regular role as Julian Dalrymple-Sykes in the sitcom Hi-De-Hi! (1984-88).
Facts
Ben was one of the original group that sang the popular commercial jingle We Are The Ovaltineys in the late 1950s, and also appeared as a child in the Muffin the Mule children's series. His son is actor Jonathan Aris, best known as Anderson in Sherlock since 2010, and his daughter-in-law (Jonathan's wife) is actor Louiza Patikas (aka Helen Archer in The Archers and Moira Pollock in Coronation Street).

Brian Badcoe (Adam) Aug 11 1925 to Oct 20 1992
Career highlights
Debuting in Operation Diplomat (1952), Brian's further credits include Great Scott, It's Maynard (1956), Starr and Company (1958), Deadline Midnight (1960-61, as Robby Robinson), Redcap (1965), The Avengers (1968), Macbeth (1970), Doomwatch (1970), The Moonstone (1972), Upstairs Downstairs (1974), Hadleigh (1969/76), Fanny by Gaslight (1981), Mata Hari (1985), The Bill (1987/90) and Van der Valk (1991).
Facts
Brian was married to actress Hilda Braid, best known as Nana Moon in soap EastEnders (2002-05).

Colin Bell (Private Bryson)
Doctor Who credits
Played: CPO Summers in The Sea Devils (1972)
Played: Private Bryson in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)
Career highlights
Colin's further work includes Quick Before They Catch Us (1966), The Misfit (1970), Michael Regan (1971), The Liver Birds (1972), Follyfoot (1973), Beasts (1976) and Come the Revolution (1977).

Facts

After leaving the acting profession, Colin became a painter and decorator. In April 1995, Doctor Who Magazine reported that Colin had passed away, when in actual fact he was not (it was another Colin Bell!).

John Bennett (General Finch) May 8 1928 to Apr 11 2005
Doctor Who credits
Played: General Finch in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)
Played: Li H'sen Chang in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977)
Career highlights
John's career began in Diplomatic Passport (1954), then The Wild Duck (1957), The Challenge (1960), The Amazing Dr Clitterhouse (1962), Richard the Lionheart (1962), Front Page Story (1965), The Forsyte Saga (1967), Strange Report (1969), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), The Edwardians (1973), The House in Nightmare Park (1973), Hitler: The Last 10 Days (1973),  I, Claudius (1976), Watership Down (1978), Blake's 7 (1979), The Cleopatras (1983), Boon (1987), Saracen (1989), Mulberry (1992-93), Jake and the Fatman (1992), Cadfael (1994), Priest (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), Charlotte Gray (2001), The Pianist (2002), Minority Report (2002), New Tricks (2004), Rome (2005) and Waking the Dead (2005).
Facts
John's second wife was actor Caroline Mortimer, whose parents were playwright John Mortimer (and creator of Rumpole of the Bailey) and writer Penelope Mortimer. One of his three sons sadly pre-deceased him.

George Bryson (Private Ogden)
George also acted in The Flying Nun (1970), The View from Daniel Pike (1971), Sutherland's Law (1974), The Liver Birds (1977) and Mr Too Little (1978).

John Caesar (R/T soldier) Jan 23 1926 to Jun 11 2000
Doctor Who credits
Played: Second man in market in The Romans (1965)
Played: Egyptian warrior in The Daleks' Master Plan (1965-66, uncredited)
Played: Monoid Four in The Ark (1966)
Played: Cowboy in The Gunfighters (1966, uncredited)
Played: Guard in The Macra Terror (1967)
Played: Pirate guard in The Space Pirates (1969, uncredited)
Played: CPO Myers in The Sea Devils (1972)
Played: R/T soldier in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)
Career highlights
John's first credit was in The Escape of RD7 (1961), then Maigret (1963), Bat Out of Hell (1966), No Hiding Place (1967), War and Peace (1972), The Legend of Robin Hood (1975), Janet and Company (1982) and The Bill (1989).

Dave Carter (Sergeant Duffy) Click here for Dave Carter's entry on Doctor Who and the Silurians

Timothy Craven (Robinson) Dec 10 1945 to Nov 5 2020 (vascular dementia)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Cell guard in Frontier in Space (1973, uncredited)
Played: Robinson in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)
Played: Short in Robot (1974-75)
Played: Tesh in The Face of Evil (1977, uncredited)
Career highlights
Timothy's other credits include A Touch of the Other (1970), Paul Temple (1971) and The Moonstone (1972).

Pat Gorman (UNIT Corporal) May 10 1933 to Oct 9 2018 Click here for Pat Gorman's entry on The Invasion

Martin Jarvis (Butler) Born Aug 4 1941
Doctor Who credits
Played: Hilio in The Web Planet (1965)
Played: Butler in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)
Played: Governor in Vengeance on Varos (1985)
Career highlights
Martin has enjoyed a long and prolific career, starting with The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling (1964), then Nicholas Nickleby (1968), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970), Little Women (1970), The Moonstone (1972), The Pallisers (1974), Enemy at the Door (1980), The Black Tower (1985), Buster (1988), the narrator of children's series Huxley Pig (1989), Inspector Morse (1991), Murder Most Horrid (1991), The Scarlet and the Black (1993), Space: Above and Beyond (1996), Titanic (1997), Lorna Doone (2000), The Queen's Nose (2003), Numb3rs (2007), Stargate: Atlantis (2007), Taking the Flak (2008), Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (2010), EastEnders (2010), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Wreck-It Ralph (2012, voice), Endeavour (2013), Law and Order UK (2014), United Passions (2014) and Casualty (1992/2017). He had regular roles as Jolyon in The Forsyte Saga (1967), Sam Harvey in Breakaway (1980) and Oliver Pryde in Rings on Their Fingers (1978-80). Between 2011-15 Martin voiced Alfred Pennyworth in a series of Batman video games.
Awards
2000: Officer of the order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama
Facts
Since 1974 he has been married to actress Rosalind Ayres. Martin's voice is familiar to many radio drama listeners, as well as those who listen to talking books. His son Toby is a leading TV and radio composer, working on series such as Love Island and Survival of the Fittest.
This is Your Life: Martin was the subject of BBC TV's This is Your Life on November 29th, 1999, surprised by host Michael Aspel while appearing on Gyles Brandreth's LBC radio show.

Noel Johnson (Sir Charles Grover) Dec 28 1916 to Oct 1 1999
Doctor Who credits
Played: Thous in The Underwater Menace (1967)
Played: Charles Grover MP in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)
Career highlights
Debuted in Highly Dangerous (1950), then Appointment with Venus (1951), Ivanhoe (1958), An Age of Kings (1960), The Spread of the Eagle (1963), It's a Woman's World (1964), David Copperfield (1966), The Golden Age (1967),Husbands and Lovers (1970), Fraud Squad (1970), Colditz (1972), Warship (1974), Frightmare (1974), Oil Strike North (1975), Shadows (1978), Buccaneer (1980), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Harry's Game (1982), Withnail & I (1987), Inspector Morse (1990) and A Touch of Frost (1997). Noel was the first actor to play sleuth Dick Barton in the BBC radio series (1946-49), a role he reprised for the BBC's jubilee celebrations in 1972. He also voiced Dan Dare for Radio Luxembourg between 1951-56, and on TV played J M Osborne in A for Andromeda (1961) and The Andromeda Breakthrough (1962).

Trevor Lawrence (Lodge) Jul 27 1944 to Jul 11 2012
Career highlights
Other credits include The Main Chance (1969), Doomwatch (1971), Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (1974) and Quatermass IV (1979).
Facts
Trevor went on to become a successful artist, with his works bought by the likes of Jack Palance and David Bowie, who he met on the set of Virgin Soldiers (1969), becoming friends. Although Trevor died peacefully at home in his sleep, he once jokingly told his friend Stewart Osborne that he "wanted to die of syphilis, rotting away in some lofty garret surrounded by a cloud of laudanum smoke, whilst an almost endless procession of attractive young women came to stand weeping in the street below his window".

James Marcus (Peasant) Jun 23 1942 to May 4 2020
Doctor Who credits
Played: Peasant in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)
Played: Rask in Underworld (1978)
Career highlights
James debuted in Hello, Good Evening and Welcome (1968), and later The Virgin Soldiers (1969), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Chinese Puzzle (1974), The Naked Civil Servant (1975), Let's Get Laid (1978), Grandad (1980-84, as Bert Bamford), McVicar (1980), The Chinese Detective (1981), Mitch (1984), King of the Ghetto (1986), Pulaski (1987), Dodgem (1991), Woof! (1992/95), Lovejoy (1993), Heartbeat (1995) and The Last Detective (2005). He also played series regular Sidney Tate in London's Burning (1986-90) and wrote and directed the Ray Winstone film Tank Malling (1989).
Facts
Mega-trivia: James's sister-in-law was also actor Roy Marsden's sister-in-law (ie, his wife's sister was married to Roy's brother!). James (born Brian James) started out as a rock 'n' roll musician in the late 1950s/ early 60s, before training as a printer.

Peter Miles (Professor Whitaker) Aug 29 1928 to Feb 26 2018
Doctor Who credits
Played: Dr Lawrence in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970)
Played: Professor Whitaker in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)
Played: Nyder in Genesis of the Daleks (1975)
Played: Tragan in The Paradise of Death (1993, radio)
Career highlights
Peter made his first appearance in The Ballad of the Artificial Mash (1968), followed by Softly Softly (1968), The Borderers (1970), Colditz (1972), The Sweeney (1975), Survivors (1975), The Hill of the Red Fox (1975), The Eagle Has Landed (1976, uncredited as Hitler), Disraeli (1978), Blake's 7 (1978-79, as Rontane), The Whistle Blower (1986), Little Dorrit (1987), Bergerac (1990), The Punk (1993) and Monarch (2000).
Facts
Peter was also an accomplished jazz singer, and enjoyed a primetime set with his band at the 2006 Ealing Jazz Festival. He was a childhood friend of legendary singer Dusty Springfield - in fact the first recording Dusty ever made was with Peter. He appeared in a South Bank Show special about Dusty in 2006.
In 2017 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Peter here.

Gordon Reid (Phillips) Sep 6 1939 to Nov 26 2003 (natural causes)
Career highlights
Gordon's CV starts with Dr Finlay's Casebook (1965) and takes in Redcap (1966), Sat'day While Sunday (1967), Once Upon a Time (1973), The Hanged Man (1975), Rock Follies (1976), Ladykillers (1980), Hammer House of Horror (1980), Juliet Bravo (1983), The Bill (1989), Lovejoy (1992), Leon the Pig Farmer (1992), Mansfield Park (1999), The Others (2001) and Peak Practice (2001). He enjoyed a regular role as Angus Livingstone in the relaunched Dr Finlay (1993-96).
Facts
He died after collapsing on stage (halfway through Act II) while performing as Vladimir in Waiting for Godot at London's Finborough Theatre. His lifetime partner was theatrical writer/ director Michael Richmond.

Carmen Silvera (Ruth) Jun 2 1922 to Aug 3 2002 (lung cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Clara in The Celestial Toymaker (1966)
Played: Queen of Hearts in The Celestial Toymaker (1966)
Played: Mrs Wiggs in The Celestial Toymaker (1966)
Played: Ruth in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)
Career highlights
Canadian Carmen's debut came in Emergency Ward 10 (1961), then Z Cars (1962), Compact (1964-65, as Camilla Hope), Harry Worth (1968), Dad's Army (1970), Father Dear Father (1973), The Double Dealers (1974), Lillie (1978), The Gentle Touch (1980), Angels (1983), La Passione (1996) and Revolver (2001), but will be best remembered as Edith Artois in over 80 episodes of the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo! (1982-92).
Facts
During World War II, Carmen was evacuated from Toronto to Montreal and narrowly escaped death when, at the last minute, her name was taken off the passenger list of a troopship that was sunk by the enemy shortly afterwards, drowning 350 children. Carmen's father Roland was quite a name in the world of flat-green bowls, and every year Coventry and District Bowls Association run a competition for the Silvera Shield.
This is Your Life: Carmen was the subject of Thames TV's This is Your Life on January 30th, 1991, surprised by host Michael Aspel during a recording of the sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!.

Martin Taylor (Corporal Norton)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Skybase guard in The Mutants (1972)
Played: Corporal Norton in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)
Career highlights
Other work includes Love and Mr Lewisham (1972) and Frightmare (1974).

Terry Walsh (Warehouse looter) May 5 1939 to Apr 21 2002 (cancer) Click here for Terry Walsh's entry on Terror of the Autons

Terence Wilton (Mark) Born Nov 5 1943
Career highlights
Terence's earliest role was in The Liars (1966), then Vanity Fair (1967), Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Edward II (1970), Edward the Seventh (1975), Bulman (1985), Waterfront Beat (1990), Rides (1993) and The Forsyte Saga (2002).
Facts
Terence has toured the world in many Shakespearean productions, and played Horatio Nelson in the Trafalgar 200 celebrations in Trafalgar Square in June 2005. His wife is actor Lucy Tregear.

CREW

Malcolm Hulke (writer) Nov 21 1924 to Jul 6 1979 Click here for Malcolm Hulke's entry on The Faceless Ones

Paddy Russell (director) Jul 4 1928 to Nov 2 2017
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966), Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974), Pyramids of Mars (1975), Horror of Fang Rock (1977)
Career highlights
Paddy had worked in the 1950s as production assistant on various Rudolph Cartier shows, as well as the Quatermass serials and the 1954 adaptation of George Orwell's 1984. Paddy also directed for Compact (1962), The Mind of the Enemy (1965), The Newcomers (1967), Late Night Horror (1968), Little Women (1970), The Moonstone (1972), Harriet's Back in Town (1973), My Old Man (1975), Z Cars (1967-76), Within These Walls (1975-76), 3-2-1 (1979-80), The Omega Factor (1979), The Squad (1980) and Pick of the Week (1988).
Facts
Along with Julia Smith (who directed two Doctor Who stories in 1966/67), Paddy was one of the first two female directors for the BBC. After she retired, Paddy moved to the Yorkshire Moors and lived in relative seclusion, but worked for various cat charities.

Barry Letts (producer) Mar 26 1925 to Oct 9 2009 (cancer) Click here for Barry Letts's entry on The Enemy of the World

Terrance Dicks (script editor) Apr 14 1935 to Aug 29 2019 Click here for Terrance Dicks's entry on The Invasion