I really can't fault 'The Sea Devils'. Well all right, apart from the incidental music, which is almost supernaturally irritating, I can't fault 'The Sea Devils'. Great monsters, superb characterisation, and perhaps my favourite use of the Doctor's arch-enemy, add up to make something of a classic. 

First off, the Doctor/Master rivalry is marvelous here. I've charted the progress of their relationship over the course of Season Eight in previous reviews, and I've noticed that most of the time the Doctor has very little regard for the Master, whereas the Master seems to respect the Doctor far more and is desperate to impress him. This seemed to change somewhat after the Doctor's refusal of a half-share in the Universe in 'Colony in Space', and this is evident here; the Master is far more ready to actually kill the Doctor here (rather than finding excuses not to do so), first throwing a knife at his back with a genuinely murderous look on his face, and later in episode six urging the Sea Devil leader to kill him. Despite this, his respect for the Doctor's intellect is once again on display, as he forces the Doctor to help him build a device to wake up the Sea Devils. As in 'The Mind of Evil', the Master seems to rather enjoy this brief collaboration. On the other hand, the Doctor's attitude towards the Master seems to have mellowed slightly, since his enemy has been imprisoned by UNIT and possibly because he is thus trapped on Earth just like the Doctor. Although the sunken ships arouse his curiosity, and although he seems to want to get his hands on the Master's TARDIS, he does nevertheless admit to Jo that he feels sorry for the Master, and that they used to be friends, the first time this is actually confirmed. 

The Master is both at his most charismatic and most ruthless here, exhibiting his considerable avuncular charm when in conversation with the Doctor and Jo or even Trenchard, but eager to start a war purely out of malice and a desire to avenge himself on the human race for locking him up. Delgado puts in an especially good performance, effortless switching from charm to fury in an instant; of particular note is the scene in episode six, when the Sea Devils attacking the base are defeated and he is briefly held prisoner in the Naval storeroom whilst the Doctor goes to check on Jo. Earlier, he attacked a petty officer when caught stealing equipment, but whereas there he did so casually and without obvious emotion, here he lashes out in fury, raising his voice as he does so, Delgado giving us a brief glimpse of just how frustrated he really is that his plans have briefly been derailed. The whole story is full of great Master scenes, including his sword-fight with the Doctor, him being saluted by sailors whilst he poses as an officer, and his wave goodbye to the Doctor as he escapes in the hovercraft during the final scene. 

Pertwee, for his part, puts in a very good performance as the Doctor. He is just as good as Delgado in his scenes with the Master, and helps to make their sword-fight a highlight of the story. The Doctor is generally at his eccentric, egocentric best here, gallantly diving onto barbed wire so that Jo can cross it without injury, guilelessly stealing her sandwiches later on, assuring an attacking and obviously hostile Sea Devil that he won't harm him in episode two, handling Walker in episode five, and briefly convincing the Sea Devil leader to consider peace despite the interference of the Master. In addition, the Doctor gets to pilot a speedboat and a ski-jet, and take a trip in a diving bell (rather smugly responding to Hart's question as to whether he's an experienced diver or not with the answer "Naturally!"). He also turns a transistor radio into a transmitter (in the process demonstrating that he isn't infallible, since it first doesn't work and then explodes after he's used it, in a nice moment of comic relief) and even gets to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow. In short, he's at his most capable, heroic best. That said, points are deducted for him falling for the Master's fake collapse routine in the hovercraft, although being taken in by such an obvious ruse would explain why he looks so frustrated in the very last scene (incidentally, when did the Master get the chance to obtain that mask? Surely he didn't have it in prison…). Jo also does well here, rescuing the Doctor in episode three and again in episode six (well, almost - he rescues himself, but at least she makes the effort), and standing up to Walker.

The Sea Devils themselves look rather good, despite their static eyes. I rather like them actually; although only one of them speaks (their leader), he comes across as a rather noble sort, certainly more prepared to listen to reason than Walker when it comes to discussing peace. It makes me wonder what the Doctor might have achieved had the Master not got involved. In addition, despite having less to say than their cousins in 'Doctor Who and the Silurians', the actors playing them manage to convey subtle characterisation, especially the Sea Devil guard in the submarine, who watches the captive sailors with curiosity as they play cards. As in 'Doctor Who and the Silurians', the tragedy of the situation is that both reptiles and humans have a right to the planet, but both make a peaceful solution difficult at best, the former sinking ships and killing their crews, the latter retaliating automatically and foiling the Doctor's hopes of a peaceful solution. The actions of both sides are understandable, which only adds to the tragedy.

The characterisation is generally superb, a trademark of Malcolm Hulke's scripts. Captain Hart is a stand-in for the Brigadier, displaying none of the unfortunate buffoonery inflicted on Lethbridge-Stewart by the production team of this era. His exasperation at the Doctor and later growing respect for him are very familiar and work very well, thanks to Edwin Richfield's acting. The pompous and boring but ultimately well-intentioned Colonel Trenchard is played to perfection by Clive Morton. His naivetй and indeed stupidity in dealing with the Master make raise the question of whether he was told anything about his prisoner but at least his heart is in the right place, even if his brain isn't. The scene in which he believes that the Master thinks the Clangers are extra-terrestrials rather than puppets, to the Master's obvious exasperation, nicely highlights Trenchard's lack of imagination and gullibility. And his death has a certain stout nobility to it, as he determinedly guards his prisoner to the last. The other supporting character of note is Martin Boddey's Parliamentary Private Secretary Walker, one of the most genuinely loathsome characters ever to appear in the series. Stupid, arrogant, patronizing, self-opinionated, and willing to exercise the powers unwisely granted to him with any regard whatsoever for the consequences (he seriously considers nuclear strikes off the English shoreline), he is thoroughly dislikable, and this makes the Doctor's verbal dressing down of the man and his later exposure as an abject coward all the more gratifying. 

The direction is excellent. There are some marvellous set pieces, especially on board the sea fort, which boasts some highly suspenseful scenes. Sets and model work throughout look highly effective, but most notable is the extensive filmed location work, plus footage of the navy, which integrates very well and makes the entire story seem impressively lavish. The use of the navy is part of the reason that I like 'The Sea Devils' so much I think; they serve the same purpose as UNIT, but lack the twee coziness that genuinely grates on my nerves by this point in the series and aren't blighted by Mike Yates. Overall, 'The Sea Devils' maintains the high quality of the season thus far, a quality that sadly starts to decline with the next story.

'The Mutants' has a bad reputation. It's often considered a turkey, in fact. The truth, in my opinion only of course, is that it doesn't quite deserve being dismissed so out of hand, but it comes perilously close. It is, ultimately, ham-strung by deficiencies in two crucial areas and these deficiencies seriously undermine the stories.

Before I discuss these deficiencies, I'll first explain why I think 'The Mutants' has merit. Firstly, the plot is sound. Both plots in fact. The first plot, one of racism and apartheid, is a sound premise for a Doctor Who story, allowing the series to tackle real-life issues. This plot is simple; the colonial Earth Empire enslaved the Solonians five hundred years earlier, recruiting them into the Empire whether they wanted to be recruited or not, and plundering the resources of Solos. In case any viewer misinterprets the message being conveyed, we have teleportation booths segregated for use by Solonians and "Overlords" (humans). The Solonians are, quite naturally, unhappy about this state of affairs and demand their freedom, which Earth is now prepared to grant them, but interference comes in the corpulent form of the Marshal, a megalomaniac bully who has no intention of being deprived of his powerful position. This is all solid stuff, drawing on many historical scenarios, and is generally well handled. A particularly nice touch is the Administrator's terminally aborted speech in episode one, as he tries to tell Ky and his fellows that Solos is being granted independence. He rather pompously tries to sing the praises of the oppressive Empire by explaining during his speech that Solos has benefited from occupation by gaining technology and education; never having asked for this in the first place, it isn't surprising that the Solonians are unimpressed. 

The second plot contains the life cycle of the Solonians themselves, which is quite interesting, and well presented. Baker and Martin appear to have put some though into this, and the concept of a planet with a two-thousand year orbit, with a transformation of the population every five hundred years in order to cope with this, is rather novel. In addition, the Mutt costumes look rather good, although Ky's eventual transformation into an extra from a nineteen-eighties music video is rather tragic. 

In addition to the plot, 'The Mutants' benefits from excellent direction from Christopher Barry; the cave scenes are particularly impressive, especially the surreal effects used in the cave containing the crystal. The location work meshes nicely with the studio footage, and the model work is rather good too. So given that 'The Mutants' has a good plot and excellent direction, how can it possibly be considered to be a potential turkey? Well there are two reasons really, and they are the acting and the scripting. Which, unfortunately, interact synergistically to have a much more negative impact than either of them alone would. 

There are four guest members of the guest cast of 'The Mutants' who I have seen acting elsewhere, and of those only two put in a half decent performance here. The first is Geoffrey Palmer, playing the ill-fated Administrator, a man seemingly incapable of bad acting but who unfortunately doesn't last beyond episode one. The second is John Hollis, who played the devious Herr Kaufman in A For Andromeda and its sequel The Andromeda Breakthrough. He's a pretty good actor and he struggles bravely here in the role of Sondergaard, who exists purely to help the Doctor explain the plot to the audience. The other two actors that I've seen elsewhere are Paul Whitsun-Jones and George Pravda (Castellan Spandrel in 'The Deadly Assassin'). The former previously played reporter James Fullalove in The Quatermass Experiment, and on the evidence of the surviving two episodes, he can act rather well. Unfortunately, he seems here to have read the cringe-worthy dialogue offered by the script and decided to go as far over the top as is humanly possible without actually reaching the other side. The Marshal is absolutely terrible, spouting ludicrous dialogue such as "I'm surrounded by incompetents!" It doesn't do the story any favours that we have such an unsubtle villain; a colonial type who genuinely believes in the Earth Empire, rather than a ranting xenophobic stereotype that is concerned solely with his own power and sudden desire halfway through the story to become ruler of a terra-formed "New Earth", might better serve the plot. Whitsun-Jones' over-acting grows and grows throughout, presenting us with such unintentionally hilarious moments as when he whips the blast packs behind his back as Stubbs and Cotton approach the cave mouth in episode three, in almost pantomime fashion. 

George Pravda meanwhile, seems thoroughly uninterested in his role as Professor Jaeger, although bearing in mind his dialogue I don't really blame him. His sudden obsession with particle reversal is extremely annoying; he insists that he needs the technique to complete his atmospheric experiments, but prior to the Doctor's arrival he was getting along fine, albeit more slowly; he didn't even believe that particle reversal was possible. More annoying though, is his purpose in the story. Jaeger exists to illustrate the principle often espoused (quite fairly) in Doctor Who that science must be tempered by ethics; Jaeger is the anti-thesis of this principle, not remotely concerned with the consequences of his actions for the natives of Solos. Unfortunately, the script is so unsubtle that he more-or-less states this himself, especially during the "genocide as a side-effect". 

The Solonians don't fair much better. Garrick Hagon isn't bad as Ky, but James Mellor's Varan is another matter entirely. Varan, a man whose appearance is crying out for the addition of an electric guitar, is a character blighted by some truly awful dialogue, most of which involves him talking about himself in the third person. This is presumably to indicate that the Solonians are less advanced than the Overlords. Armed with such unwieldy lines, Mellor hams it up almost as much as Whitsun-Jones. Back with the Overlords we also have Rick James as Cotton. James has occasionally been described as the worst actor ever to appear in Doctor Who, but with lines like "we'll all be done for!", I'd challenge any actor to do better. Even one of the extras is bad enough to be noteworthy; the old man in Varan's village is reminds me of the crone from the Blackadder II episode 'Bells'. 

So if the acting's that bad, presumably we can look to the regulars for solace. Or not. Katy Manning is her usual reliable self, but Jo gets so little to actually do, being forced to tag along with Ky, Stubbs and Cotton, or a combination therefore, that she serves only to explain the obvious to particularly dim viewers. Pertwee on the other hand, actually below par here, seems genuinely bored with the script. He even fluffs a line near the start of episode one, in true Hartnell style. His lack of enthusiasm is most obvious when he's confronting Jaeger or the Marshall; the Third Doctor is particularly good at righteous indignation, but his objections here to the treatment of the Solonians just seem half-arsed.

In summary then, 'The Mutants' has potential, but fails to realize it. After a strong trio of stories, this is particularly disappointing, but not as disappointing as the fact that the season is about to get unbelievably and astonishingly worse…

'Planet of the Daleks' is bad: really, really bad. The fact that it is so bad is triply disappointing given that it (a) features the Daleks, and (b) follows on from the rather splendid 'Frontier in Space'. In its favour, the Daleks look and sound better than they did in 'Day of the Daleks', but the Dalek Supreme undermines even that slight bonus. The whole thing is just rubbish

Things get off to a bad start in Episode One, with the revelation that the Doctor has decided to clutter the TARDIS console room with cheap and nasty self-assembly furniture. This is followed by the even more unlikely development that the TARDIS, like some kind of time travelling submarine, needs to replenish its oxygen supply on landing, a hitherto unmentioned drawback that makes the long-term viewer realize how lucky the TARDIS crew were not to unexpectedly suffocate during 'Inside the Spaceship' or 'The Mind Robber'. Even if we accept that the TARDIS is reliant on an external air-supply, it is a remarkable stroke of misfortune (or to be more accurate, a sign of very bad writing) that the first time we ever learn of this problem is when the TARDIS happens to be covered with fungus such that the Doctor cannot open the door. In addition, we are also presented with the TARDIS log, again hitherto unmentioned, which luckily for us allows Jo to indulge in some clumsy plot exposition. 

The episode continues in a similar vein. It is implied that Jo didn't realize that the Doctor had asked the Time Lords to send the TARDIS after the Daleks, even though at the end of the previous story Jo and the Doctor found out about the Daleks and then the Doctor sent a message to the Time Lords; I know that Jo's intelligence depends on who the scriptwriter is each episode, but even so, this isn't rocket science. However, if Jo had put two and two together she would never have ventured out of the TARDIS in search of help for the Doctor, and Nation would have to think up a more intelligent way to separate the pair of them. Mind you, Jo not realizing that there are Daleks around pales into insignificance next to the Doctor's seeming lapse of memory, which lasts precisely until the resolution of the Episode One cliffhanger, when he suddenly remembers that he specifically set out to find the Daleks. If I was feeling kind, I might suggest that his shocked exclamation of "Daleks!" at the end of Episode One refers specifically to the fact that he is surprised to find an invisible one, but Pertwee's performance fails to convey this, so I won't.

Episode One out of the way, the story launches into its sparse and economical plot. I use the word economical because it is largely recycled. The plot is this; there is a frozen Dalek army on the planet, and the Daleks that aren't frozen are experimenting with invisibility. The Thals want to stop them. That's it. What then follows is one-and-a-half episodes of the Thals and the Doctor separately entering the Dalek city, and then spending another one-and-a-half episodes trying to get out, before meeting up again on the surface for a bit. Then, the Doctor and the Thals spend one-and-a-half episodes getting back into the city, they blow everything up and go home. Along the way, we get a kind of sampling of Nation's greatest hits. I can excuse the Daleks bombarding Spiridon from space with bacteria ('The Dalek Invasion of Earth'), because it makes sense for them to reuse a successful technique, but everything else is just taking the piss. We have a hostile jungle planet with deadly plant life ('Mission to the Unknown', 'The Chase') inhabited by invisible creatures ('The Daleks' Master Plan'), and somebody hiding inside a Dalek casing so that they can sneak around the Dalek city ('The Mutants'). The resolution (Thals successfully sneak into the Dalek city and manage to immobilize the Daleks) is lifted directly from 'The Mutants'. The horrendously contrived romance sub-plot between Jo and Latep is a pale imitation of the sexual tension between Barbara and Ganatus from the same story; there, Nation carefully hinted at their attraction over a period of time, whereas here he forces it kicking and screaming into the final episode, with Latep suddenly spouting cheesy chat-up lines to Jo. If he was obviously just trying to get his end away, I could understand it, but this obviously wouldn't have been acceptable viewing for Saturday teatime, so instead we get some ludicrous implication that they have deep feelings for each other. Jo's brief moping in the TARDIS at the end is unbelievable; she's just been propositioned by someone she hardly knows and has only just met, but for a moment or two she acts as though she's just had her heartbroken. It's tacky, sloppy and unconvincing. Typical of 'Planet of the Daleks' in fact. Finally, whilst on the subject of recycled plot threads, we even get a rehash of a brief scene from 'The Daleks' Master Plan', when the convicts on Desperus hear a Screamer overhead; on this occasion the Thals hear some winged beast flying overhead, but the scenes are almost identical. 

The return of the Thals does not improve matters. In 'The Mutants', Nation used the Thals to address issues of pacifism and the need to fight for what you believe in. In doing so he presented the Thals as naпve but noble, and made them work through skilful characterisation. Here, they are utterly pathetic, badly-scripted clichйs spouting cringe worthy lines about space medicine and doing absolutely nothing useful except providing the Doctor with rope and bombs. Bernard Horsfall is incapable of bad acting, and Prentis Hancock can play short-tempered unstable characters in his sleep, but the other Thals are unmemorable at best. Codal is the worst offender; Tim Preece makes an effort, but his character exists only so that the Doctor can piously lecture him on the subjects of cowardice and bravery. Although it must be said that the worst example of this is near the end of the story, when in a cringe-worthy monologue the Doctor asks Taron to teach his people the horrors of war. Apart from being nauseating, it's internally inconsistent; if the Thals share Skaro with the Daleks, the horrors of war should not be news to them. 

Production wise, the story looks ghastly. The jungle sets are obviously studio-bound, and contrast painfully with the location footage used in the "ice pools" scene. The plain of stones is even worse, the studio backdrop looming obviously over polystyrene rocks; the 100-watt glowing eyes of the encroaching wildlife are especially woeful. The Dalek city is OK, but even the most ham-fisted set designer should be able to manage blank, featureless corridors. The rock face in the refrigerator cavern looks tackily plastic, although it positively shines compared with the horrendous model shot of the bomb exploding, when jagged broken edges of polystyrene are actually shown. And the Thals spaceship is crap too, suggesting as it does that they shop at the same bargain furniture warehouse as the Doctor. 

There isn't much else that I can say about 'Planet of the Daleks'. Pertwee puts in a surprisingly good performance given his known dislike for Daleks and the quality of the scripts, as does Katy Manning even if her character is reduced to the status of an imbecile here. The Spiridons are pure window-dressing. In summary, 'Planet of the Daleks' is rotten and a massive letdown after 'Frontier in Space.

It has always been suggested that the Doctor’s term with UNIT did not take place during the period it was broadcast, but slightly into the future. This makes sense when one realizes how many of the Third Doctor’s exploits mirror today’s problems. Day of the Daleks confronts the issue of terrorism, while The Curse of Peladon tackles the complexities of international relations. These topics are extremely relevant to the world of 2003 even though they were broadcast in 1973. The Green Death also has much meaning for today’s world. The struggle between corporate greed and the environment is one that is being fought today, with the outcome looking not so good for the earth.

The Green Death is a cautionary tale dealing with the excess of capitalism. When miners begin to die from strange green sores, UNIT is called in to investigate. The sores are linked to waste being dumped by the Global Chemical Corporation. The waste has also caused common maggots to mutate into two-foot long giants. The Doctor discovers that a diabolical machine known as the BOSS is controlling the operation of Global Chemicals. With the help of a young Welsh biologist, UNIT and the Doctor hope to overcome BOSS and the swarm of giant larvae. 

This story boasts a fine script by Robert Sloman and producer Barry Letts. Letts’ desire to make Doctor Who topical is particularly evident here. The direction by Michael Briant is top notch; suspense and atmosphere abound in this story. The sparse design work of John Burrowes creates an industrial surrounding that is reminiscent of previous Third Doctor stories such as Spearhead from Space and Inferno. 

The regulars Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney, and Katy Manning all give wonderful performances. This story marked Manning’s departure from the series. The Doctor’s reaction to Jo’s departure is one of the finest moments from Pertwee’s tenure as the Doctor. It remains one of the most touching moments from the series’ history. The supporting cast also shines. Jerome Willis is quite menacing as Stevens, the brainwashed chief of Global Chemicals. Stewart Bevan is charming and intelligent as Professor Clifford Jones, the bohemian biologist who steals the heart of Jo Grant. The cast and crew of The Green Death are key factors that make this story the classic it is.

The Doctor’s non-human foes are also notable. The giant maggots may seem silly to some, but to this reviewer they are some of Doctor Who’s creepiest creatures. Like the Autons of previous adventures, the maggots’ simplistic design makes them less sloppy looking and therefore more terrifying. They really do look like disgusting, swollen maggots. 

While the Doctor has had his share of mechanical foes, BOSS stands out from the crowd. BOSS is a rare mechanical monster because its menace comes from it being too human-like. The false humanity programmed into BOSS causes the super computer to become even more dangerous. While it makes BOSS hum tunes it also makes the computer greedy and devious. BOSS itself is a parable about the limitations of the computer. 

As holes in the ozone grow and corporate responsibility dwindles, The Green Death has a message more important than ever. The message is so skillfully delivered that it demonstrates that the “silly” children’s television show Doctor Who can be relevant to today. Because of this relevance and the quality of the story itself, The Green Death is one of the Doctor’s greatest adventures.

The Time Warrior' is one of my favourite Pertwee stories, succeeding as it does on many levels. It's funny and well scripted, well acted, and serves as a superb debut story both for one of Doctor Who's most popular monsters and also new companion Sarah-Jane Smith. 

First of all, the script is great. Faced (apparently reluctantly) with a story set in the middle ages, Robert Holmes adopts a cod-Shakespearean style for his characters' dialogue, but takes the opportunity to derive great humour from this. The best lines all go to Irongron, who gets to describe the Doctor as "a longshanked rascal with a mighty nose" and later shouts at his men, "With poltroons like this it would ill work to lay siege to a chicken coop!" Then there's "the wench is crazed", "He is a toad. Who knows what a toad thinks?", "that narrow-hipped vixen", and many, many more. Bloodaxe also gets to say to Irongron, "Yours is indeed a towering intelligence". Even the non-comedic dialogue works well, sounding convincingly suited to the period, even though it probably isn't. 

In addition to the excellent script, there is some fine characterisation. I'll discuss Linx and Sarah below, but Irongron and Bloodaxe almost steal the show. David Daker is outstanding as the former, a brash, almost piratical brigand, who took his castle by force and thinks of nothing but violence. And wine. The character is almost OTT, but remains just the right side to be believable, swinging unpredictably between vicious humour, anger and, on several occasions, complete bafflement. In addition to Daker's spot-on delivery of his lines, demonstrating perfect comic timing, his facial acting adds a great deal more to the role, especially when Linx confuses him with talk of primary and secondary reproductive cycles, and interstellar travel. Bloodaxe, his sidekick, gets less to do, but crucially provides a comic foil, since he's far more stupid than his would-be cunning Captain and John J. Carney's facial expressions find several different ways to express confusion. In addition to his double-act with Bloodaxe, Irongron also has an ongoing double-act with Linx. His relationship with Linx is a key factor in the success of 'The Time Warrior', as the pair of them constantly bicker, both having "much that the other wants", Irongron frequently attempting to bully his "star warrior", which on most occasions doesn't work and on one occasion earns him a humiliating trouncing. 

Linx is a superb villain, easily cementing the success of the Sontarans. He works well for several reasons, not least of which is Kevin Lindsay's great performance, complemented by one of the best monster costumes of the era, with a very convincing latex mask. Linx is not just a great villain, he's a great character; he isn't some stock megalomaniac who wants to rule or destroy the world, he's a stranded warrior whose sole motivation is to return to his war, which we quickly learn is what Sontarans live for. To achieve this end, he is ruthless, showing a callous disregard for the scientists who he has kidnapped, and refusing the Doctor's (genuine) offer of help if he'll just bugger off and leave human history alone, preferring instead to escape on his own terms rather than bargaining with the Time Lord. He's also sadistic at times, especially in Episode Four when he decides to let the Doctor witness Sarah's death before the Doctor is killed in turn. However, he's also a more complex character than that; although he considers humans to be primitive, he seems genuinely concerned with honouring his alliance with Irongron. The construction of the robot warrior is unnecessary given that Linx is also working on the rifles, but he builds it anyway. This is partly because of his fondness for weapons, but he also seems keen to impress his host. He also delivers a full consignment of rifles to Irongron after the abortive raid on Wessex castle, which utterly disgusts him, and at the end he makes several attempts to convince Irongron to leave the castle before it is destroyed, before giving up in disgust. This all suggests a certain warped nobility to Linx, which might boil down to honour between warriors, hence his complete lack of tolerance for the Doctor from the start, given that he considers the Time Lords to lack morale. It is also worth noting that we get a considerable amount of detail from the script about Sontarans in general, all of it fitting naturally into the dialogue without feeling like a forced infodump, another credit to Holmes' talents. 

The story also marks the debut of Sarah-Jane Smith, who makes an immediate impression. Liz Sladen takes to the role with ease, and helps make the character work. It is a good opening story for the character, as she gets to rescue the Doctor several times, leads a handful of Wessex's men into Irongron's castle on a raid, and plays a key role in defeating Irongron and his men by spiking their dinner. I especially like the fact that she initially distrusts the Doctor, which hasn't happened with a new companion since Ian and Barbara first got abducted way back in '100,000BC'. This works well because when she finally starts to trust him, it gives the Doctor an opportunity to explain that he is a Time Lord and generally point out what a splendid fellow he is without it feeling forced; it arises naturally out of the situation and also out of Sarah's inquisitive journalistic nature. The fact that she stows away in the TARDIS and thus becomes embroiled in events by accident also provides a useful mechanism for her becoming the new companion, which makes a refreshing change from Liz and Jo, who became companions as a result of working for UNIT at the same time as the Doctor. Her objection to the Doctor's occasional sexism (which he plays up here in order to wind Sarah up as soon as he notices her angry reaction to his make a "making coffee" joke) also makes her relationship with the Doctor different to Jo's, since she comes across as more independent. Whilst she grows to like the Doctor, she has a more adult relationship with him than Jo, who often seemed to idolize him. Oh, and the scene with Meg, where Sarah tells her she sounds like she's living in the middle ages and then quickly shuts up, is priceless. 

The other characters all work well, from the rough and ready Meg (Sheila Fay), to the dashingly heroic Hal (Jeremy Bulloch), the weary Edward (Alan Rowe), and his devoted wife Eleanor (June Brown), who strives to protect her ineffectual husband by sending Hal to slay Irongron. I also like Donald Pelmear's Professor Rubeish, a stereotypical eccentric scientist who proves of great help to the Doctor (he rescues him from Linx twice) and also provides further comedy (his response to the Doctor's line about going to find a young girl is "Young girl? I would have thought he's a bit old for that sort of thing"). Pertwee is also great here, as the Doctor gets to outfight Irongron and Bloodaxe at the same time, swing to safety on a chandelier, and generally swash his buckle. 'The Time Warrior' shows the Third Doctor at his best, courteously dealing with Edward and Eleanor and supping wine in their castle, cheerfully throwing smoke bombs at Irongron's men with great relish, making quips as they try to shoot him with rifles, and fighting Linx hand-to-hand (unsuccessfully, as it happens). 

Production wise the story is generally OK, although the corridors and "wooden" doors in Irongron's castle are obviously plastic. Fortunately, the location work compensates. In addition, mention must be made of Linx' spacecraft, which is one of the more memorable spaceship designs that the series came up with. 

In summary then, 'The Time Warrior' is a great debut for the Sonatarans, a great debut for the new companion, and generally a hugely entertaining story. And if even takes the time to name the Doctor's home planet.

I rather like 'The Curse of Peladon'. Well-scripted, acted and directed, it forms an effective story for one of the Third Doctor's comparatively uncommon forays into space during his exile. With this in mind, 'The Monster of Peladon' might be expected to be a similar success, reuniting the same writer, director and designer and featuring the return of the Ice Warriors. The fact that it is both weak and tedious therefore comes as a considerable disappointment. 

'The Monster of Peladon' is, at best, a pedestrian runaround. The plot is recycled directly from 'The Curse of Peladon', the only differences being that the Ice Warriors are the villains this time and that the discontent amongst the Pels stems from the poor treatment of the Miners rather than from the unwillingness to join to the Federation represented previously by Hepesh. We have the return of Alpha Centauri, an indecisive leader needing guidance from the Doctor and his companion, a traitor in the midst of things, a series of deaths seemingly caused by the spirit of Aggedor, and the return of the real Aggedor himself. On top of which the Doctor is sentenced to death and thrown into a pit to face his fate again! As though this were not bad enough, a plot which previously nicely filled four episodes is here stretched out to fill six, resulting a story that it bloated and dull. It is a clichй to describe a Doctor Who story as a series of captures and escapes with numerous chases through corridors and tunnels, but this is exactly what we have here. Very little happens before the Ice Warriors make an appearance, resulting in three episodes of derivative swill, in which the Doctor is alternately branded a traitor and forced to prove his innocence, in which Sarah is held captive several times, and in which miners run around tunnels bickering. 

Once the Ice Warriors enter the picture, things become mildly interesting, but any weight lent to the story by this new (if wholly predictable) development is undermined by the absurd plot contrivance of the mines of Peladon having a) central heating and b) air conditioning. To add insult to injury, the latter of these we are told is essential to the survival of the miners, which rather raises the question of how the non-technological Pels managed to mine the (apparently very old) tunnels prior to joining the Federation. 

Mercifully, we are gifted with two decent villains. Alan Bennion is an old hand at playing Martian warlords by now, and Azaxyr is a commanding presence. He also boasts, in my opinion, the best "Ice Lord" costume to appear in the series and makes great use of his billowing cloak. The return of the Ice Warriors as villains is welcome, and despite their increasingly knackered costumes, they still look pretty effective, as they trudge slowly but menacingly about. Eckersley is also rather effective up to a point, well acted by Donald Gee (making amends for his dodgy accent in 'The Space Pirates'), who gives a laid back but striking performance. Unfortunately, he is rather undermined by the script in Episode Five when the question of his motivation arises. I can buy the idea that he is motivated by greed and seeks to become rich through his dealings with Galaxy Five, but he suddenly gets a horrible line about wanting to rule the world which just doesn't sit very well with his general demeanour and is utterly cringe-worthy.

The other characters are generally rather forgettable, although all of the guest cast are, to be fair, at the very least competent. Nina Thomas' Thalira is so vacuous as to be a non-entity, but this is more a shortcoming of the script rather than her rather endearing wide-eyed portrayal. The return of the likeable Alpha Centauri is also welcome, if somewhat unnecessary. Sadly, the two regulars fare surprisingly poorly. Pertwee is back on autopilot and delivers a muted and unenthusiastic performance. Sladen is fine, but the script gives Sarah very little to do except play the hostage and deliver a woefully feeble monologue on women's lib to Thalira. 

Production wise, the story is very sloppy. The notorious close-up shot of Terry Walsh in a silvery wig at the end of Episode Four is diabolical, but isn't the only problem. When the Doctor gains control of "Aggedor" in Episode Six, the first time he uses the weapon the footage of the statue vanishing is recycled from Episode Five, resulting in the hole in the refinery door mysteriously vanishing. And Vega Nexus, a budget-priced Azal, looks terrible. In short, after the excellent 'The Time Warrior' and 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs', and the entertaining 'Death to the Daleks', 'The Monster of Peladon' heralds the down-turn in quality that blights every Pertwee season since the sublime Season Seven. Sadly, for Pertwee's swansong, things don't get any better…