I am, first and foremost, a fan of New Who. I enjoy Classic a lot, but the longer early serials have always been a struggle to get through. As such, I expected a condensed, cut down version to be a great way for me to enjoy these stories without getting too distracted or bored. Unfortunately, it doesn't work.

The colourisation is well done, though it feels like the colours were chosen more as a way to show off than to really enhance the story. We know the Thal's outfits are tan, not blue, for example, from later serials. The Dalek city being multicoloured also doesn't make sense to me, as it's supposed to be made entirely of metal, and the Daleks are colourblind. Maybe it's a clashing of expectations, but honestly, some of the shots almost gave me a headache from how vibrant they were.

The score is good, though, as others have said, it doesn't fit. The music over the escape montage was far too silly for what was supposed to be a very tense scene. There were multiple moments where I felt the score was attempting to convince me to feel certain emotions, which the original story would have caused through slow build and getting to know the characters.

So we're back to the edit. Some of the cuts are very obvious and jarring, the flashbacks serve no purpose and are more annoying than anything as they make me feel as though the creators don't trust the viewers to pay attention, the montages are more confusing than anything, and the worst part is, despite all the trimming, the story is still boring.

The problem is, this show was written and filmed in a way that allowed for long scenes and lots of breathing room. The more I watched, the more I felt there is simply no way to cut that down in a way that makes both a coherent story and a fast-paced one. That's the sort of thing that needs to be decided early in production.

Do I prefer this to the original? No. Would I choose to watch the original over this version? I'm not so sure. There is something to be said for shorter runtimes when you're trying to get through a show as massive as Doctor Who. But maybe not quite this short.