‘Mystical mumbo jumbo.’ What a shame this wasn’t broadcast as produced – the first story of the 20th series. I love its mixture of weary cynicism and a sense of wonder. It’s the best material Davison has been presented with, by a writer who, I sense, has seen what he can do and channels it into a Doctor every bit as compelling (and perhaps moreso) as the previous four. The Doctor is full of energy, dashing between the TARDIS, Ambril’s office and the marketplace like a madman. Which is, incidentally, what he looks like as he bursts into Ambril’s celebratory dinner with Tanha and associated lackeys. A lot is made of this Doctor’s determination in The Caves of Androzani, as if it’s something unique to that story. It’s not – he’s every bit as driven to save Tegan here as he will be Peri.

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‘Dare you come face to face with the finally unfaceable? Children half price.’ The opening shot – a hermit in a painted landscape – looks very artificial. But that works because the whole episode is full of artifice; the Manussan culture has turned archaeology, history and religion into a commodity for tourists. Showmen and fortune tellers twist the story of the Mara into a way to cash in. Tanha is all fake charm and concern: actually she’s as dismissive as her awful, entitled son of people like Ambril, she just does more to hide it.

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‘You’re stuck with me aren’t you.’ Much as I’m not a fan of “shipping” there’s plenty here to keep the Nyssa/Tegan slash fanciers going, particularly Nyssa’s delight when she realises Tegan is still alive, and evident excitement to see her friend again. The Doctor seems less delighted – the final shot, of his barely-concealed disappointment at regaining Tegan as a travelling companion is very funny indeed, even if I can’t imagine any other period of the show suggesting the Doctor likes his friends so little.

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‘Once I too had life.’ Compared to the normal pattern, this third episode definitely feels like it’s stepped up a gear from the opening half. Maxil, previously only interesting because he’s played by Colin Baker, finally does something not completely useless and proves that Nyssa was, in fact, telling the truth – that someone in the High Council is a traitor, plus the Doctor is still alive. This is enough to prompt the Castellan to actually start doing some Castellanning (perhaps he wasn’t feeling well – Paul Jericho sounds a bit hoarse). The result is an episode that, fitfully, starts to make something of the conspiracy mystery.

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‘So much for your justice.’ An attempt to redo The Deadly Assassin with a mysterious traitor in the High Council and lots of intrigue about biodata is undermined by the Doctor’s passive acceptance of his fate. This time, he gets to spend an episode mostly standing round the TARDIS while Nyssa and Damon play Dempsey and Makepeace and try to uncover the truth and save his skin. The plus: Sarah Sutton finally gets a character; the way she imperiously tosses her head at Maxil is pure class and holding the High Council of Gallifrey at gunpoint is a power move.

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‘To kill you? Is that why they’ve brought you back?’ You can see why on paper this looked like a good idea: opening the 20th anniversary series with the first Gallifrey story since 1978, some overseas filming and the return of both an old friend and an old enemy. It’s a slightly longer list of requirements than a writer might usually have – but only slightly. It’s not like The Five Doctors.

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‘I’ll explain later.’ The punchline of The Curse of Fatal Death comes from its repeated use here to gloss over the need for more immediate explanations. It would be OK if these just highlighted Brigadier-style density on the part of the some of the flight crew, but it extends to the conclusion of the whole serial, which – having under-used the Master – doesn’t even feature him. Instead, the Doctor hand waves something to Nyssa and then, to get out of another mildly tricky explanation, abandons Tegan. Coming after Adric’s death, this just makes the fifth Doctor look like a careless idiot: the pay-off to a season when he’s continually been a bit useless.

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‘The TARDIS has turned into a helicopter!’ The end point of Season 19’s Liberty Hall attitude towards the TARDIS naturally concludes with randoms wandering in and flying it about. This undermines what should have been a jarringly wrong moment of the Master at the controls. Having unveiled the Master, Grimwade under-uses him: Ainley spends most of this wandering in and out of the TARDIS looking purposeful.

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‘I’ve always found domination such an unattractive prospect.’ Something about this reminds me of Bob Baker and Dave Martin. Possibly it’s the juxtaposition of Seventies paranormal airy-fairyness with a pretty stolid cast of contemporary characters. Perhaps it’s because elements look like a deliberate homage to The Three Doctors (a mysterious wizard figure and his lumpen guards living in a massive castle in the middle of a barren landscape, apparently using psychokinesis to create objects from thin air). In which case Captain Stapley fulfils the Brigadier role and Professor Hayter stands in for Dr Tyler.

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‘He wouldn’t want us to mourn unnecessarily. A special treat to cheer us all up!’ When the show spends more time dealing with the fall-out from Kinda than Earthshock, something’s not right behind the scenes. It doesn’t need everyone to be wailing and gnashing their teeth, but Adric’s death deserved more than a handful of lines, a non-explanation why the Doctor can’t go back and save him (presumably he just doesn’t want to), and a sudden switch in mood to everyone joking about going to the Great Exhibition (and then complaining when they don’t get there).

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