4.5/5, a wonderfully fun story that I'd happily recommend! Spoilers throughout.

I thought it was clever how, for the Third Doctor's first trip off Earth, the story still centred around very human politics and recognisable allegories and examples of human problems that we still struggle with. This indicates very effectively that, even though the format may be changing, the show will still explore the same political ideas that is has been committed to throughout Three's run.

The allegory with the native americans was lost towards the end, which is a shame, because I thought the serial could have been going somewhere really interesting with it, but even so, the story had other underlying themes whcih it did carry through to the end succesfully, with the exploration of the politics around settlers being especially noteworthy. Spinning thehuman colony not as a hostile takeover of an already inhabited planet but as necessary for survival and freedom for this group gave a dimension to this story that allowed me to care for the settlers whilst still acknowledging the faults in their intentions.

The characters introduced were easy to care about, and felt more real than these side characters usually do, so, hats off to Hulke! Even though I suspected that all but Ashe had survived the explosion, I still wept when the ship blew up. The relationship between Winton and Ashe, two characters with conflicting views and personalities, who were yet able to honour and respect one another, was the highlight for me. Honourable mentions for Mary Ashe as a female character who was not treated as a damsel in distress, or as a heartless iron lady, but as a competent, brave, and confident young woman who was treated by the story no different than if she'd been a man. Norton, a spy taking advantage of Ashe's kindness, played the ominous and slimy role well. Caldwell's position as a traitor out of conscience was an absolute treat; his attempts to do good to counter his evil boss's schemes and his own guilt while still showing his fear and reluctance to leave the IMC were driven home by the context of a time where work was hard to find in a way that meshed well with the political messaging of the serial, whilst also making him feel fleshed-out and 3-dimensional. I'm always a big fan of found family, so his final decision to stay with the colonists made me choke up a little. Wonderful stuff.

As always, I applaud the anti-capitalist messaging, with the politics of mining corporations that harm the people living in the area and the environment terribly, as well as disrupting any chance at normal life, being a prevalent contemporary issue that the serial was not afraid to raise loudly and unasbashedly.

I thought the dynamic with Jo and the Doctor being helpless against the Master, unable to make the others around them listen when they try to warn them, was an innovative new way to use the Master. The format was the same as always with the threegado era, and yet their new position as nobodies made their warnings worthless and suspect, evoking new feelings as I felt helpless alongside them.

The ending of the serial was so funny - the Brigadier's bemused expression at Three and Jo's antics was absolutely priceless! However, the serial did suffer a little in my eyes from the obvious problems in the scientific side of the plot - you don't have to be a genius to raise an eyebrow at the idea that exploding the city-weapon would somehow *reduce* the amount of radiation! And, as I said before, the twist away from the Native American allegory was disappointing, though did not bring the story down too far, as it still had strong characterisation, good pacing, and managed to wrap everything up in a neat little bow. An enjoyable serial with good ol' fashioned Classic political messaging, this one gets 4.5/5 stars from me!