Psh. And they say the classic doctors are non-sexual creatures.

This is a Barbara episode, which was just what was needed. She had until now established herself the least, but this gives her the chance to show off her pragmatic cleverness and some of her morals. Which is great stuff.

The other focus is the rewriting of history. Can it be done? And should it be done? It’s kind of difficult to look back on with the modern knowledge, because that doesn’t really allow me to judge this attitude on its own. It also feels slightly contradictory. Didn’t they interfere with the daleks? With Marco? With Marinus? So why now?

Modern knowledge pushes me towards this being a ‘fixed point in time’, but that’s very handwavy. Instead, I think we can look at it as the show discovering what it wants to be. At this point, that’s still a diary through history, instead of true fiction. I know a shift in that perspective is coming, and I wonder how it is handled. Will it suddenly appear or will it transition. Time will tell.

The other elements in this story work well. Ian has shown himself as capable throughout the episode, but might comes before the fall, which is a small, but fun subplot. The doctors romance is mostly comedy, but it gave me a big smile. I also like how the 2 overlap to test the relationship between our cast, which is very strong by now.

I do think the major villain is pretty weak. He basically walks around, plans and hates, which could be good, but gets monotonous. The strongest villains are the ones who have an understandable perspective, but are still a hindrance (like Marco Polo). Still, he works for getting the most out of our cast (except Susan, but that’s fine for an episode).

I wonder if moral clashes are going to come more often in these stories, that would be interesting. For now we have a pretty good tale of a society that just wasn’t ready for change, but also some hope, because there was a first shift within its people. It’s a bit of a pessimistic approach, but it is done well enough that that isn’t a hindrance.