Whilst being an all round better story, this has a few similarities to The Next Doctor. It starts rather well and the general premise / set up is delightful. Unlike The Next Doctor though it has a solid one off companion with unique skills and motives, a completely alien environment provided by the deserts of Dubai and a brilliant cast helping The Doctor along on his adventure.

Whilst this one does not suffer from the "missing companion", again like The Next Doctor completely loses the plot once you meet the chirruping insect-like aliens. They die and then all proceedings completely devolve into a run-around. Malcolm is a good one off addition to UNIT. Simple honest fun. I do wonder why RTD shied away from a regular UNIT cast given the historical significance of the Brigadier.

The fun fluffy stories from Tennent's (first) era are all over now. We're into the end game.