“Lady luck will show you the way, win the game, or here you stay.” 

Rewatched this with the new animated reconstruction. The low rating is for the story overall, as I actually quite liked the animation style and how it fitted with the story.

Much like the previous story in this season, it’s got good ideas and concepts, but the overall execution and story is rather boring. The Toymaker is a brilliant idea for a character, and Michael Gough an excellent choice, but he’s not even in the story much. Him and Hartnell get a few moments, but it seems such a waste when the Doctor is off screen for so long.

We’re left with an awkward story with different segments and different games for the companions to play again different sets of characters. It’s really hit and miss, some of the side characters, like the clowns, are extremely irritating and while one or two of the games are entertaining, it’s mostly fairly repetitive and leaves you with a sense that it could have been more.

Not a favourite, it’s a shame as the ideas are all good.