Doctor Who: 15 Cool Details Peter Harness Just Revealed About The Zygon Invasion
Peter Capaldi is even better than you think.
Peter Capaldi's second Doctor Who series tried something different. Instead of relying on standalone episodes with the odd two-parter thrown in, showrunner Steven Moffat did the opposite, giving almost every story in the series two episodes to work with.
While Heaven Sent is the undisputed king of this series, you could easily make an argument for The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion when awarding the silver medal, and on the whole, it's a story that greatly benefited from the two-part format.
Spinning a globe-trotting tale about a rebel group of Zygons attempting to claim the Earth for themselves, the plot bounces between so many locations and characters that it's hard to imagine it all being crammed into a lone 45 minute chunk. And with one of Peter Capaldi's greatest ever Doctor Who moments thrown into the mix, it's a powerful, gripping story, and the best use of the Zygons we've seen to date.
Continuing the current trend of Doctor Who lockdown watch-alongs, writer Peter Harness recently took to Twitter for a global rewatch of The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion, and he shared more facts and hidden details about these episodes than you can shake a sonic screwdriver at.
Here are the best things we learned!
15. Moffat Pitched The Story As A Sequel To The Day Of The Doctor
The Zygons were first introduced all the way back in 1975's Fourth Doctor story Terror of the Zygons, their sole appearance in Classic Who. After that, they weren't seen again until 2013's 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor.
On Twitter, Harness stated that Moffat felt like he had "unfinished Zygon business" after penning the latter episode, which is partly what prompted him to suggest the idea of The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion to Harness.
In fact, Moffat pitched the story by using the phrase "sequel to Day of the Doctor", and the opening of The Zygon Invasion - which reminds audiences of the human-Zygon peace treaty that was established in the 50th - makes it abundantly clear that these two stories are essentially companion pieces.