Trapped within E-Space, the Doctor, Romana and Adric are searching for a Charged Vacuum Emboitment – the gateway back to our universe. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack...
Then, by pure chance, a brand new CVE rips into being. Its makers are The Farrian, a warlike race who possess the technology to break into E-Space. But they have come to invade and plunder this new territory, and the riches of the planet Ballustra are their first target…
The Invasion of E-Space contains examples of:
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: While they are locked in a prison cell together, Romana and Adric talk about their pasts and bond a bit. Romana notes that she and the Doctor have never really bothered to do this with him before.
- Apocalypse How: A Class X-4; if the CVE collapses, an entire star system and possibly all of E-Space would be destroyed.
- Call-Forward:
- Romana puts the Doctor into the Zero Room to help him recover from his injuries.
- The Farrian used Block Transfer Computation to build the technology that allows them to create the CVE.
- Continuity Nod:
- Romana talks about Adric stowing away on board the TARDIS and his status as an Alzarian Elite. Adric has also been practicing crossing his fingers, first learning about the superstition when he initially met the Doctor.
- She is also relating this story from E-Space, at a point after she parted company from the Doctor but before she returned to N-Space and Gallifrey.
- Deuteragonist: Marni Tellis narrates the half of the story that Romana doesn't, acting as a bit of an Audience Surrogate to humanize the aliens of Ballustra. She also joins up with the Doctor partway through the story and acts out the companion role while Romana and Adric are busy with their half of the adventure.
- Face Your Fears: Though she is a highly intelligent and competent investigator, Marni flees in terror when the Farrian launch their sneak attack. She manages to overcome her fear and face off against them with the Doctor.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Though Romana was the one antagonizing him, Mexin decides to shoot Adric in the leg, not realising that his Alzarian physiology allows him to recover from the wound quickly.
- Married to the Job: Marni Tellis, an enforcement lead investigator, has been married and divorced twice due to her unwavering commitment to her career.
- Mistaken for Special Guest: Mexin assumes that Adric is a Time Lord simply because Romana is one. This works out well, since he probably would have shot Adric somewhere more vital than the leg if he had known about his Alzarian healing powers.
- Time Skip: Unlike the TV stories, which appeared to progress one after the other, this story establishes that Adric joined the TARDIS crew two months ago, during which time they have been searching E-Space for a CVE back to their main universe.
- Unobtanium: The Farrian are invading E-Space to mine Ballustra for a mineral called Genellium which is an incredibly efficient power source for faster-than-light travel. It is vanishingly rare in N-Space but abundant on Ballustra.
