74%

I have always enjoyed this story and have wondered why it has always been so lambasted. Over the years I have concluded that there are a lot of people who are fixated on moments. A story can be poor but if there is one scene that is really good then that is its saving grace. Conversely, if a story is quite good but there is one truly bad scene then the whole thing falls apart. Its a case of throwing away a perfectly good apple because there is one black spot on its surface. So it is that this fairly decent story (which bears up under repeated viewing) suffers from one bad scene - and it never ceasese to amaze me how many people laud this as the sole reason why the entire story is poor. For those who don't know, the scene in question involves one character standing on a mine... I'll concede that its a poor moment - but its one moment and it does not warrant relegating this story to the bottom of the barrel. I've seen worse stories and I have seen stories that are genuinely overrated (and good examples of the other argument - bad stories which are inexplicably praised simply due to one scene being really good).

I would recommend this as an example of an enjoyable, generally well-written, very well directed Colin Baker story. Its a rare gem from a period when the show was definitely showing signs of growing weary. As always, though, I blamed the people behind the scenes and not the people in front of the camera. Its a light story, entertaining and, provided you can ignore the minefield scene, a really good slice of Doctor Who.

True, there are other flaws such as the under-use of The Master, but let's be honest, Ainley's Master was seldom used to any good effect. Nor can the return of the Master (from the dead) be overlooked - but again, this is more the production team's fault than that of the story authors.

The Colin Baker era is much maligned: partly because he wasn't given enough decent material; partly because he was saddled with an unfortunate costume; partly because neither Eric Saward nor John Nathan-Turner had given any thought as to the direction to take the series; partly because the production team were showing signs of growing weary; partly because the programme had indeed started to rest on its laurels; and partly because the series was suffering from under-promotion.

One other matter I must mention is John Lewis's score which appears as an alternate audio option for episode 1: it is dire - I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but I cannot think of anything good to say about it. Its a primitive score which I can only say thankfully was never used. So many things can break a production - bad direction, bad acting and a bad score is another. Jonathon Gibbs' score is far superior, without a shadow of a doubt.