Here’s what I was going to do. I was going to write a separate review of this episode, and then a full review of the Aliens Of London two-parter. And now, I find myself unable to do that. Why? Because the two episodes are so different from each other. So, so different. I shall explain…

We open with our cliffhanger, and the Doctor very quickly gets himself out of it. But remember, this was a three-tier cliffhanger! No matter. In one swift move, the Doctor solves every problem. For now. Cue titles. I gave a cheer. This set the standard for the rest of the episode. I cheered a lot. And laughed a lot.

Seriously, this was a hilarious episode. Right from the very beginning, with the Doctor’s pathetic-sounding explanation to the military about the alien cover-up, I was laughing every few seconds. We have a lot of chasing through corridors this time around, with another cheer from me. I’ve warmed to the Slitheen, too, partly due to the way blink, partly to the way they move. Velociraptors, anyone? A few belly-laughs later, the Doctor, Rose and Harriet (great character!) have locked themselves in the Cabinet room. And spend the remainder of the episode there.

This was a great move on the part of RTD, who’s delivered a script here that’s about as good as The End of the World. The Slitheen’s plan, with its subtleties and intricacies, is pure genius. Keith Boak has done a better job here too, and manages to keep the action going even while our main characters are stuck in a room for half an hour.

Oh! The dialogue! This is cracking stuff… the best RTD dialogue so far, and acted beautifully. Meanwhile, Mickey and Jackie are fighting off their own monster, and we’re treated to our first “gross monster explosion” of the season. Vinegar, Hannibal, “You kiss this man?”… gorgeous stuff. The Doctor and Mickey are again displaying a wonderful chemistry together, even when just talking on the phone.

David Verrey, by the way, delivers an excellent performance here as Joseph Green, the acting PM (although we all know what he really is). The direction and the music add to the atmosphere the moment he announces to the world that they are at war. At this point, I realised I was no longer laughing – I was too riveted by the drama. I’d always thought Joss Whedon had created an amazing thing with Buffy, a perfect fusion of comedy and drama. We all know RTD is an immense Buffy fan, and if you look at Queer As Folk, it’s obvious he knows how to pull off exactly the same fusion. Never has this been clearer than in World War Three. Did I say this was cracking stuff? Well… er, it is.

The effects, too, are gorgeous. That missile heading across England’s south-east had me completely convinced. The resolution of the story is perfect, and we all know Harriet Jones will make a wonderful PM.

But back to Rose’s domestic life. Camille Coduri as Jackie deserves a mention here for adding a bit more substance to her character, just as Noel Clarke did with his character of Mickey in the previous episode. I was really touched by the way she handled Rose’s decision to join the Doctor permanently on his travels. When I heard the closing sting, I sat back with a satisfied grin.

As a whole, I don’t think I could ever watch Aliens Of London followed by World War Three. Oddly enough, in the event of a huge new series marathon, I might even skip the former and move straight onto the latter. Like I said before, the two episodes are just so different! The acting, the script, the music, the direction, the effects, the pacing, the humour, the fear factor, the drama… with Aliens Of London, I really thought this series was about to go downhill, at least for a little while. Mercifully, World War Three proved me wrong. It only dipped for one week, then shot straight back up. My confidence in this series has been reassured. Bring on the Dalek!!!

As the first Second Part of a previous story, this very much feels like writing a review I have already written. I’ll try and separate the 2 as best I can. I never have reviewed the Classic show in separate episodes (or Big Finish for that matter) – but the nature of the new series means that thinking has changed – and 13 reviews will result. A separate episode title also emphasizes the new episode.

For those who loved Aliens of London, it’s like an extra helping of goodness. For those like me who thought it was an entertaining slice of new Who, even though not upto the excellence of previous episodes, then mixed feelings arose. It would be nice to see Rose in her home environment again. Would the Doctors jealousies be strengthened? Jackie would in it more – plus point. Mickey would be in it more – the characters growing on me. More Harriet Jones – excellent. More overweight politicians – no thanks. Runaround in Downing Street – sounds fun. More Big Bouncy monsters – increasingly not so sure about more of them.

The original title of 10 Downing Street actually suits this episode far more than the overly dramatic one used. It’s not as sensational – but this World War Three business just never really convinced. It never happened for a start.

The Cliffhanger was nicely resolved, and that’s where the runaround started, in very effective doubles for the real place may I add. I’m not completely struck on the Music employed in the new series – and this was another example of it not quite gelling to the action smoothly. It was fun seeing CGI Slitheen chasing after our heroes though. The tense scene with Rose and Harriet hiding in a back room was also effective. The Doctor took the rise too much though – especially as he kept opening the doors to gloat at the Slitheen – why didn’t they just go for him then? But then the Slitheen were so incredibly slow – except when they were CGI!

The standard of the supporting cast has been excellent this series – and Harriet Jones more than lived up to her introduction in the previous episode. A caring, compassionate MP may be a contradiction to the popular view – but that’s exactly what we get from Penelope Wiltons lovely portrayal.

The fat MPs were better this week too. I was really impressed with David Verrey as he faced the press, in an attempt to get the access codes. I also enjoyed the mellowing of the Doctors attitude to Mickey – as he finally showed his mettle. The whole UNIT business on the Computer was a ridiculously contrived solution, but fun all the same.

However the Slitheen never quite made the grade as Monsters for me. The intergalactic Scrap Merchants was a good idea – very Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, but they were a bit embarrassing overall. I thought the new Doctor Who was going to play everything straight. I thought Russell Ts Script took the mickey of the aliens a little too much. The whole gastric emissions, that continued forcefully throughout this episode, stripped them of any scariness and seriousness. Maybe Russell T knew this, so had some fun instead. Certainly my nephews and nieces were not remotely scared by them.

I really don’t care for big blobby monsters anyway, in any show. Doctor Who is better when it doesn’t have too many, and it looks like there aren’t this series – and that’s good. Most of Doctor Whos Monsters are rubbish anyway – but I suspect I may be in a minority with that theory. Saying that though DW has got it right in numerous occasions (Ice Warriors, Sontarans, Sea Devils) – but the Slitheen are not one of them. For every 1 brilliant DW Monster, there’s a dozen rubbish ones.

What I particularly enjoyed about this episode actually had nothing to do with the main threat though. It was the wonderful interplay between Mickey, Jackie, Rose and Doctor. I was happy for the main threat to disappear 35 minutes in, as that provided some excellent character scenes for these wonderful personalities. That’s what enthused me about World War Three – the way Rose was pulled this way and that. Mickey levering himself onto the bin at the end, waiting for Rose, was lovely. Let’s get the marvellous Jackie in the TARDIS too, just for a few adventures – now that would provide some tension for the Doctor.

Never short of entertaining again, the 5th Episode continued the bizarreness and silliness of Aliens of London. It’s hardly the best bit of Doctor Who I have ever seen – but it’s professionally performed and produced. It’s just wonderful to talk Who with my work colleagues, most of who watch it, but were never fans. They see it as a light-hearted romp – and who am I to disagree. Light-hearted romps have always had a place in Doctor Who – with this being as fine an example as you will find. 7/10

There's an old tradition when it comes to two-part storylines on "Star Trek". The writers spend so much of Part One setting up for an amazing cliffhanger, that Part Two almost always feels like a let-down. Before seeing tonight's episode of "Doctor Who", part of me was thinking something similar might happen here. Well, I'm pleased to report that "Doctor Who" has not travelled the same path as "Star Trek".

Russell T Davies returns with a very good script, full of some classy one-liners and the usual wit we have come to expect from his pen. Thankfully, Russell doesn't rely on wit alone to carry the story. The sheer scope of events is magnificent, with some serious dramatic tension on the line here. There's also some nice touching moments, especially as Jackie tries to come to terms with Rose's relationship with the Doctor.

As I suspected when I reviewed 'Aliens of London' last week, the overall story arc doesn't move along very much at all. In fact, aside from a slightly humourous bit at the end (bringing closure to the graffiti bit in 'Aliens of London'), there's no mention whatsoever of any of the "bad wolf" or "time war" elements already mentioned in the series. Which is no bad thing, I must admit. Makes for a nice change.

Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper continue the tradition of this series, with both of them giving very good performances. Billie really seems to be shining in this series, and is making every effort to silence whatever critics she might have left. Christopher, meanwhile, is obviously enjoying the role, and the wide variety of challenges that it asks of him as an actor. The scenes these two share are wonderful to watch.

The guest cast is generally the same as last week, with some rather fine performances from all involved. It was indeed nice to see the slightly larger members of the British acting community getting a chance to sink their teeth into some meaty roles (no pun intended). Of the guest cast, Penelope Winton comes off best, with her portrayal of Harriet Jones being perfect. It was also nice to see Camille Coduri and Noel Clarke once more.

The production values continue the high standard of Part One, but its obvious why things look so good in this particular adventure - all the sets in 'World War Three' are the same as those featured in 'Aliens of London', and its clear the money has been well spent. It was a shame more wasn't made of the team's visit to the Cardiff Royal Infirmary, as I'd hoped that impressive location would end up being used more often.

Special effects-wise, the episodes come off quite well. There's a wonderful balance between costuming and CGI for the Slitheen (although some of the CGI shots featuring the Slitheen looked a little too fake), while Mike Tucker's impressive model work comes into play once again as the episode ends, and the script calls for 10 Downing Street to be blown up! Nicely handled, and it made for an explosive end to a very good episode.

As this is the final episode to be directed by Keith Boak, part of me is sad to see his contribution over (he was, after all, the first director on the new series), but it means that we've finally moved past the first block of filming, with all its inherent problems. Things can only go up from here. Finally, Murray Gold does his usual impressive piece of work on the episode, although I spotted some re-use of cues.

Overall, 'World War Three' brings the new series' first two-part storyline to a spectacular finish. I suspect in future years this particular two-part adventure won't be held in the same high regard as the original series classics like 'Caves of Androzani' and 'The Talons of Weng Chiang'. It is, however, still an impressive piece of work, and should be celebrated for pushing the boundaries of British TV.

Overall Score: 5 / 6 (Very Good)

To be honest, it’s a bit difficult to introduce Planet Of Evil. It’s a very, very strong story but only in very standard ways, as if its formula has been taken from a textbook. I could go on about the great plot and design work while mentioning the occasional flashes of scripting and acting brilliance but, while all true, none of it is exactly unique. It’s just a bloomin’ good story, well suited to being in Doctor Who’s best season.

The jungle set on Zeta Minor has its detractors but I think it’s probably the best set the series ever had: the studio-recorded scenes are bearable (a rarity) while the film-recorded ones are terrific, an absolute triumph of lighting that actually uses shadows effectively rather than being swamped in them unintentionally. The subdued lighting obscures the fine detail making it seem even more realistic, while the addition of small details such as puddles are the icing on the cake. Amazing. It’s also helped by a good score: Dudley Simpson had got over his dire electronic phase under Barry Letts and was now producing some good material perfectly suited to the episodes themselves, here aided by Peter Howell’s augmentations. The studio interiors, by contrast, are extremely plain (season 11 style), and I notice that some of the electronic equipment in fact comes from The Ark In Space. However, I’d rather have them plain than have them extremely complicated and suffer as a result (naming no names, but it involves the Doctor strangling his companion).

The set design helps in part to create a brilliantly atmospheric introduction, in which the last survivors of the Morestran expedition are wiped out by some unseen force; the unknown has always been the most dramatic and interesting for me, and here it is only spoiled by actually seeing the victims disappear and reappear again, which doesn’t make much sense anyway.

The TARDIS scene, again a rarity in the Philip Hinchcliffe years, showcases the wonderful dynamic of Elisabeth Sladen and Tom Baker, illustrating why they were the best Doctor / companion duo; Sladen’s clumsy characterisation that held her back when she first appeared has now settled down, creating an immensely likeable and realistic character. Spotters of these things can see an enormous boom mike shadow on the wall near the beginning of the scene though (seriously, you can make out every detail of it, it’s terrible). It leads on to them entering the jungle where Sarah first experiences the monster; her acting is brilliant, such as when she says “as if my mind…left my body” in a very quiet and subdued voice, increasing the menace greatly. I’m a believer in the power of understatement, and this is a fine example. 

The spacecraft, however, comes as a real let down. The spartan sets that just about passed for the scientific base now just look boring, and the costumes are truly terrible: light cotton spacesuits with shoulder pads, open necks and flares. Morestra must be a really culturally backwards society; it’s the 380th century (or thereabouts) and they’re still living in the 1970s. The common, prosaic names of the characters implies that Morestra may be a former Earth colony, and in fact the crew are portrayed as being more multinational if their names are anything to go by than we usually see with humans (Morelli: Italian; O’Hara: Irish; De Haan: German, etc.). There is some very crude exposition here as Salamar (played dreadfully by Prentis Hancock, possibly the worst guest actor to have appeared in the programme more than twice) goes through the hierarchy of the ship to help the audience. While I’m on the subject Ewen Solon and Frederick Jaeger are the standouts among the guest cast here; suggestions that this is because they’d worked together on The Savages almost a decade earlier always seem a bit tenuous to me, but whatever the reason they are both excellent.

The shrivelled bodies left by the antimatter monster are gruesome in the extreme, even though after a while it becomes obvious that there is only one corpse prop that gets dressed up differently each time. There is a thorough explanation of the cause of death which isn’t really necessary as the mode of the killings aren’t directly relevant to the story; nevertheless it’s seriously creepy and if I’d seen this when I was very young (I didn’t, and if I’m honest it was probably for the best, I was a sensitive soul as a nipper) it would have provided some serious nightmare material.

Elisabeth Sladen’s “can’t breathe” acting is absolutely identical to other stories where she’s been cut off from oxygen (The Ark In Space, Terror Of The Zygons…do you think the production team where subtly hinting at something here? Nah), but she’s still brilliant. In fact, she’s so superior in her scenes featuring Hancock that I can’t shake the feeling she was mocking him. There’s also a nice piece of direction here where the shot of the tool she’s holding cuts to a shot of its empty place on a rack, although I notice that there seem to be some focussing problems when there are sudden movements in this episode.

Baker’s constant boggle-eyed expression is an exaggeration top his performance that I hadn’t thought had kicked in yet; it’s a shame as it’s things like that that show why he could have been the best actor to play the role yet wasn’t. The cliffhanger to the first episode is brilliant though, as the antimatter monster is revealed for the first time: it shows Hinchcliffe’s habit of finding out if special effects can be done well beforehand (surely just common sense, but you’d be amazed). Also, it utilises the image-loss effect that happens whenever something shiny is CSO’d; I always love it when what are normally problems for lesser producers and directors are integrated and used to produce great results. It strikes me as slightly odd though that the Doctor and Sarah leg it off into the jungle to let O’Hara get thrashed. Haydn Wood’s death-throes are good though, and some good direction shows the beast looming over him. The Morestran gunshots are more good effects (see how it pays to keep it simple?), although they do appear to hit Sarah as she runs off into the jungle.

The dawn sequence is amazingly atmospheric as the Doctor and Sarah hide from the monster, a scene helped by the Doctor quoting from Shakespeare (Romeo And Juliet III.v.9-10, by the way). I’d say that the film-recorded jungle scenes in this story are the best the programme ever did from a purely visual point of view. The oculoid tracker has a silly big eye but other than that it works fine as well, and I love the shots of it weaving through the vegetation.

The idea of the pool between the worlds is great (a sort of macabre version of The Magician’s Nephew), but only let down by being in fact described as a pool and it’s presented as being a simple hole. If they’d had it as that in the first place it may have been better, but I’m nitpicking so never mind. It’s also slightly patronising and lazy how the psychic Doctor has worked out the problem already so that he can talk us through it upon the presentation of some actual evidence. Sorenson provides a bit of explanation about the antimatter, a bad scene turned into a good one by his wholly ignorant foil, De Haan. Michael Wisher, by contrast, having created the most iconic character ever (after the Doctor, obviously) the previous season is here cast in the utterly thankless role of Morelli, and seems thoroughly bored. Can’t say I blame him, really.

The Doctor’s portentous revelation about the nature of the problem is very well written and performed, although the “cataclysm” idea lacks development and is only provided so as to deny the Doctor an excuse to high-tail it out of there. Also, how does Sarah know what the compression units sound like? Do they just come as standard?

Before thoughts of little spaceship mechanics indelibly lodge in my head and distract me I’ll move on and say that the cartoon starburst effect for the force field is actually quite decent if a little silly, and the cliffhanger provides Hinchcliffe with his one freeze frame per season.

The effects for the antimatter void, yet again, are great through their simplicity. Sorenson’s transformation, although similarly well visualised, has come out of nowhere and could have done with being established a bit earlier. Like I said though it looks great, and ironically blurring is used effectively to obscure his features (I’m not sure what the point of that is as we see him pretty clearly pretty soon, but even so).

Morelli being a Morestran Orthodox is more detail than we normally get with alien races (it smacks of Robert Holmes’s influence actually), even though the Morestrans like many other races are just humans by another name.

Hancock gets even worse when trying to be intense; he’s quite painful to watch and lets down the cliffhanger, which otherwise is dramatic and exciting. Episode four then kicks off on all six cylinders, even though I think it’s a mistake setting the story so much on the ship rather than the planet. The idea of an alien loose aboard the ship smacks of fun B-movie It! The Terror From Beyond Space (this was four years before Alien, don’t forget), making it the third major reference of the story, the others being Forbidden Planet and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde. It may not be original particularly, but it’s good TV all the same. 

The Doctor’s confrontation with Sorenson is another very well written and tense scene, but Hancock gets even worse still which is hard to believe considering he started at the bottom anyway. His death comes as a blessed relief, finishing off the mortality rate (not including nameless cannon-fodder extras, as usual) at a vast 80%. Is it me, or does the special effect of Sorenson’s duplication look like the video of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’? It does lead to some more great (and scary) effects as the multiple antimen roam the ship.

The resolution isn’t the most dramatic ever, but at least it makes sense. Sorenson survives, which is unusually merciful by this story’s standards, and leads to a charming resolution in which the ship’s two survivors are left to fly it on their own (sorry, unnecessary sarcasm. A fair point though, I think, even given that “emergency refuelling” business).

As far as a final rating goes, Planet Of Evil is a very tricky one to make a decision about. My memory of it was of a clear 5/5, but on re-viewing it’s a borderline between Very Good and Excellent; it would be the best story of a lot of other seasons but given the overall brilliance of season 13 I’m going to grit my teeth and withhold a maximum rating if only to distinguish this story from its peers. I’ll probably regret it later, though.

You have to laugh at second-generation clichйs, where one clichй is used to avoid using another. For example, how many reviews of The Talons Of Weng-Chiang begin with “classic is such an overused term, but…”? Now, you could argue that I’ve just said the same thing myself in a roundabout and rather smug way, and you’d be right. I also might have just given birth to the third-generation clichй. So before I digress any further I’ll lay my cards down straight: Pyramids Of Mars is an all-time top-tier platinum-card officers’-club classic. Despite this is has its share of detractors, and maybe one day I’ll understand why. Nah, probably not.

It rocks and rolls from the very beginning, with a brilliantly atmospheric introduction in the Egyptian tomb. It’s jarring to see Bernard Archard playing an ordinary bloke as it’s at odds with what I’m used to from the rest of the story, but the idea of him stumbling into a hidden chamber only to be blasted down by an unseen something within is magic. Also of note is Ahmed, the one credited cast member who doesn’t die (and that’s only because he flees for good having uttered his one line); from here on in it’s doom and gloom all the way with a massive 87.5% mortality rate.

The opening TARDIS scene is one of many from this story that had a particular effect on me in my youth, for reasons that will shortly become clear. The dialogue between the regulars is up to Robert Holmes’s usual high standard (apart from the Prince Albert joke which I never laughed at, ever) with the Doctor going through a mid-life crisis moment when suddenly all gives way to one of Doctor Who’s top three scariest moments ever: a transparent, disembodied nightmare-face materialises on the wall of the TARDIS. My word, I had nightmares for weeks and weeks when I was small, and I still feel a bit nervous every time I know the scene is coming up.

It’s a nice idea for once that the TARDIS should arrive too early for once rather than too late, especially because it leads to one of the most successful studio recreations of period detail there ever were. The shot of the sarcophagus in the mirror reminds us that Paddy Russell is at the wheel; a fearsome lady by all accounts but a superb director, so fair enough.

One notable thing about this story is how perfectly it’s constructed, with the first episode building up the premise in layers in order to make sense later. Here then we have unexplained missing professors, walking mummies, and so forth. Collins’s death makes good use of the unseen, with something emerging from a sarcophagus (can you guess what it is yet?). Namin shifting the weightless polystyrene sarcophagus lid looks just like it does every time anyone ever tries to make weightless polystyrene seem heavy, but such trivialities are forgotten with the first sight of one of the mummies: slow, silent, lumbering but unstoppable killers, which look just amazing.

The sight of blood on Warlock’s hand is a funny thing: common in Hinchcliffe (Terror Of The Zygons and The Brain Of Morbius to name two examples just from this season) but rare elsewhere. Perhaps that’s why I can’t make my mind up about whether it’s jarring or not. I’ll admit it though, the first episode does contain too much running about in the woods. That said it is one of the most effective uses of location ever with the mummies looking amazing as they stalk between the trees, and Dudley Simpson scores it with some of his best ever work.

Now we meet the late Michael Sheard putting in a bumbling but sympathetic performance as Laurence Scarman, and the dialogue between him and the Doctor over the marconiscope is priceless. “Beware Sutekh” provides us with the next layer of the plot; those who criticise the “glacial pace” of the original series (step forward Radio Times, turncoat that y’are) should be silenced by this expertly constructed yet deliberately slow-paced story.

I’ve always thought that the space / time vortex effect looks like a load of flying smarties, but it’s actually a pretty good effect for the time and in this instance it leads to one of the most terrifying cliffhangers of them all. The black-clad figure, whose footsteps cause the floor to smoulder, striding forward to kill his loyal servant…and some people don’t like this.

With the intro over part two starts telling us how all the pieces fit together, and so begins the most exposition-heavy episode that concerns itself about mummies building rockets and power sources on Mars. It’s well written and a great concept though, so you’ll not here complaints from me. I also get some ironic humour from the idea of Egyptian aliens being worshipped as gods – maybe the new series got its giant budget from Stargate’s royalty payments.

The Doctor getting caught in the vortex is a very contrived way of getting the TARDIS key to Sutekh (and yet the Doctor has a spare, handily) and lacks explanation apart from that “parallax coil” jive which is no help to anyone. However, the following scene of the mummy being caught in the badger trap in the dawn light is as atmospheric a moment as the series has ever made. This is followed by the deflector shield, leading to a brilliant effect as Clements throws a stick at it. Clements is really just a means of showcasing Sutekh’s power, and this simple task is performed very well indeed. After this comes another great moment: the death of Warlock is chilling in the extreme, featuring a brilliant performance from Bernard Archard.

The priest-hole scene shows up the limitations of the time as all characters have to stay facing the camera rather than each other. However, Marcus’s comment that “there are other humans within these walls” is a brilliant bit of wordplay that I’d never noticed before and the sight of him getting shot in the back only for the bullet to come hurtling out again is one of the show’s defining moments. 

Laurence sees inside the TARDIS – now he has to die. The return to 1980 is a wonderful moment (and freaky to people watching this in 1975), and puts some thought into Sarah’s question which is often asked about time travel.

The swirls as Sutekh communicates with Scarman are much more effective than the Tunnel of Smarties; this is our fist experience of Gabriel Woolf’s virtuoso vocal performance as Sutekh. The casting is perfect; and to think Hinchcliffe wanted to use a ranting “bwa-ha-ha” type.

Clements’s death is shocking in the extreme; how did this story ever get a U certificate? The cliffhanger lingers a bit too long though, with everyone holding their poses for the sting. This requires a bit of judicial editing for the reprise in part three, and thankfully it gets it.

Well, we know the plot now, so the goodies spring into action. The Doctor’s dismantling of the generator loop is a very tense scene with some good interplay between the Doctor and Sarah – but then, you have to spice up sonic screwdriver scenes somehow (SSSS…er, isn’t that taking alliteration a little too far?). The scene in Clements’s shed is fun amidst the seriousness, as Laurence’s death is unbearably intense (I had to skip forward through this when I was young). The Doctor’s reaction is an enlightening bit of characterisation and shows the regulars at the top of their game. The only thing that makes me wonder is the fact that Laurence’s body is still rocking in his chair when the Doctor walks in so Marcus could only have left seconds earlier, and yet nobody saw him.

Sarah’s missed a vocation as a costumer because her dressing up of the Doctor is flawless, rendering the covering line of “it doesn’t have to be perfect” redundant. She’s also a crack shot with a rifle, for some reason. This kind of contrivance I have a problem with. It’s a nice twist though to have Sutekh’s original plan failing at the end of part three; there’s no better way to pad a story up to length.

The Doctor’s confrontation with Sutekh is one of the show’s best ever scenes, as the two talk together almost as equals even though the Doctor remains firmly in the villain’s power. It’s let down by the sight of the TARDIS key wobbling about on a piece of string, but raised again with the possessed Doctor – will he make it?

Handily, Horus has filled the Pyramid of Mars with an oxygen atmosphere. I always liked the travel through the pyramid (I have a particular soft spot for The Crystal Maze), and the logic puzzle scene with Sarah trapped is fantastic – people still ask that riddle as if there isn’t an easy answer. However, the roll-back-and-mix effects are slightly crude in this story. Scarman’s final death is another spooky moment.

As Sutekh has apparently one the scene is set for a seriously dramatic showdown, but unfortunately endings was where Holmes’s genius often tended to falter a bit, as here he presents some naff deus ex machina worthy of Russell T. Davies himself: the Doctor grabs a random bit of machinery from the TARDIS and confines Sutekh to the Tunnel of Smarties forevermore. At least he won’t go hungry, and it leads to a great final shot of the priory burning down.

The disappointing ending is not enough to knock this story down of its pedestal. Always a defining episode of the show, despite naysayers I’m confident it will always be a favourite. It’ll certainly always be a favourite of mine – what more is there to say?

The series' opening story is, in fact, very distinctly two stories. We have the episode 'An Unearthly Child', effectively the series pilot, serving to establish Ian, Barbara and Susan. Then we have a three-part caveman story.

The first episode itself is a thing of wonder. Generally, a lot is expected of first episodes of any show, and to be fair they tend to deliver within the science-fiction genre, especially compared to their immediate successors [The Prisoner's 'Arrival', Blake's 7's 'The Way Back' and Survivors' 'The Fourth Horseman' are all towards the business end of each series' quality ratio, and even something like Star Trek - The Next Generation's 'Encounter at Farpoint' compares favourably with much of the first series of TNG]. Doctor Who's bow fails to disappoint.

It's directed imaginatively by Waris Hussein, and the steady build-up is most effective, especially as Ian and Barbara attempt to justify their curiosity about Susan to each other and themselves. Susan herself is the only bum note in the opening episode. Carole Ann Ford tends towards over-earnest stagey performance more often than not, and she's not helped by being given some silly scenes. The flashback sequences are the big problem. The idea seems to be that she's so naive and intelligent she can't help letting slip with her huge knowledge. However, it makes her look stupid as she sits in a classroom arguing that the country will have a decimal system in the future. Meaning she knows it doesn't have one now. So why is she saying it? And can you imagine even the first Doctor, arguably the most bumbling of the lot, allowing his grand-daughter to enrol in a local secondary school without telling her she wasn't to tell people about the future and the secrets of time and space?

Now, can you imagine this first Doctor doing it? This isn't the giggling, "Hmm"-ing old duffer the first Doctor that would later come along. This is a sinister, sharp-witted man. Hartnell is really having to work at his performance, and the result is an edgier and arguably more interesting Doctor. His verbal sparing with Ian and Barbara in the junkyard is an electrifying scene, as is his arrogant behaviour once they're inside the TARDIS. The episode introduces the four main characters efficiently, establishing a healthy measure of mystery in both the Doctor and Susan. One of the unusual things about the first two seasons compared to all of Doctor Who up until the Christopher Ecclestone story is that the series very much has three leads - the Doctor, Ian and Barbara. The scripts are generally split up this way too, which leads to a pair of very well-rounded characters. It helps that William Russell is a fantastic actor, regularly outshining Hartnell. Jacqueline Hill does less well, mainly through Barbara being written rather weakly, especially as Ian pretty much takes being thrown back to the stone age in a police box in his stride.

The crew dynamic is excellent, with the Doctor vaguely sinister but seemingly out of his depth, Ian definitely out of his depth but resolute and decisive, Barbara trying to back up Ian despite her inadequacies, and Susan forming a bridge between Ian and the Doctor. This dynamic basically carries the last three episodes. The plot is tedious, and the tribe of cavemen are a dull bunch. While there's a commendable stab at giving them unusual speech patterns, most of them have rather civilised English accents, just depending on missing elaborate words out of their dialogue. There seems to be a lot of the travellers being thrown into the Cave of Skulls and bemoaning their fate going on, and the likes of Kal and Za are uninteresting. The viewer is left rapidly not caring for the fate of the tribe.

If it wasn't for the near-constant arguing between the leads, this would be very uninteresting. However, the Doctor swings from arrogant to self-pitying to callous [his attempt to kill the injured caveman is shocking viewed in retrospect], with Ian battling against him. The perfomances from the regulars are excellent, though Susan isn't left with a huge amount to do but whine "Grandfather!" as the plot meanders around.

Overall, it's a mixed, unbalanced story. Aside from the first episode, the main interest is the development of the leads, and if nothing else the slight plot gives the characters plenty of space to grow. It's worth seeing, though, for a startlingly different Doctor, largely concerned with his own survival. While the sixth Doctor in Season 22, or the seventh Doctor in Seasons 25-26 were both had a different set of morals to what had gone before them, this Doctor is another, quite different Time Lord.