From what I gather this is a story that tends to get ragged on a bit by the fandom and to be honest, I don't really see why. I believe this is the first Doctor Who story they ever shot out of sequence, meaning this is the first story they filmed with the new Doctor. Considering this I think Peter does an amazing job, he gets right into it, running about and giving the same energetic yet troubled performance you see in the rest of this season. I think this story works well because of where it's placed in the season. This is Five's first regular story and it's also placed in between Castrovalva and Kinda, two very unique stories that lean into more abstract concepts. In comparison this one feels like a very regular Doctor Who story, and it functions well as that.

For this era especially I think this story is very well made. The sets look great compared to other sets around this time; the costumes are great as well, particularly the urbankans who I think are underrated. The plot is fairly good, Monarch wanting to use earth's resources to fuel his own delusions of meeting himself at the beginning of time. While the side characters are not the most interesting the visual design and story carries it. There is however one element about this story that I am inclined to agree with the haters on, this is probably the poorest showing for Five's companions. Nyssa gets little to do, Tegan spends most of her time complaining and being unhelpful, and this story probably more than any other can be pointed to as causing the fandom's long standing hatred for Adric. Still I think this is a fun story and a good outing for Five, it was in fact his cricket ball moment in Part 4 that made him my favourite classic Doctor when I fist watched this story. 8/10 / 4 stars.