I find it hilarious that when Doctor Who comes to the 80s, it goes totally 80s. The score, the visuals, everything about it screams 80s. Also, those opening moments are ridiculously bad - a minute of panning along a beach. And I'm not joking; it's a full minute.

It's obvious that there's a clear difference in performance in Tom Baker from Part 1 to Part 4. He's still a bit joyous as he encounters Mena and the Argolins for the first time, but as he continually spouts technobabble that is rather hard to understand throughout, we can tell that he's starting to get bored. I'm not sure what to think on his outfit, I do like it but it feels a bit too big and baggy and we can barely see Tom in it, and it's more of a costume than just random clothes that you could wear on the street - which is probably JNT's intention, looking at the other Doctors in his run and what they wear. The cliffhangers surrounding the Doctor shocked me - Part 1's with it zooming in on his scream is terrifying, and then when he comes out of the Generator in the cliffhanger to Part 2 shocked me - I audibly screamed. Part 3's cliffhanger was really weird, but that wasn't to do with the Doctor and I'll talk about that later. I'm loving that they're adding weight to cliffhangers rather than just adding them for the sake of adding them. It's good to see Romana back on form, the chemistry between the two is excellent, especially considering they were going to be married a few months after this was broadcast - I love them bouncing ideas off each other and challenging the other's intellect. Also Romana is far stronger and more independent than she was in the previous series, yelling at the Argolins rather than being a screamy Dr Who girl. This is what I was expecting off her. Thank god John Leeson is back for this season as K-9- Oh, no wait, he got damaged chasing a ball in the sea. Oh, well. Nice to see him make an appearance.

The ending to the story was superb - it was so fast-paced and thrilling, with all of the Pangols coming out of the Generator, listening to what he says, like his own private army, and Romana's reaction to it just sold us on how bad the situation was. Pangol was a fairly interesting villain, rather stereotypical and it was obvious that he was the big bad of the story. However, the twists and turns surrounding him with the subplot of the Foamasi and the secret agent helped to keep it mysterious and develop Pangol's motivations as a villain. However, what were they thinking for the cliffhanger to Part 3? How on Earth did that Foamasi fit inside a human mask? Was it like a compression suit? Sure, it was shocking, but it looked really silly and I couldn't help but laugh. But the different villains contributed to one big story and kept it interesting throughout, which is good because a lot of stories do have trouble with pacing - this isn't one.

The visuals are SO MUCH BETTER! They just looked so awful in the Williams Era, but they've improved so much here - the first look we get of these updated graphics is the opening titles. It must have been a shock after six years of the same, iconic title sequence that we get something brand new, upbeat, full of flashing lights and zooming through space. Then the Doctor gets to Brighton at last - it's a bit grey and boring, so they decide to go to the Leisure Hive, with a really odd transition. I've never seen anything like it done on the show before - it's a testament to the unique direction of this episode. Then we see the exterior model shots of the Leisure Hive for the first time and it looks fantastic - the set itself isn't as good, but there's still a lot to take in - so many different places throughout, the generator, the boardroom, the bedrooms - it's really beautifully crafted. However, something I struggled with is working out what the Leisure Hive actually is - it's a holiday resort controlled by a Government who's politics primarily involve the Hive?

The Argolin culture is explored in great detail - the worldbuilding is established and set up efficiently, and Mena's death is incredibly impactful, and they all look really cool. The Foamasi, however, don't. Let's just leave it at that. I've already mentioned how their subplot of their investigation was interesting, and I do feel like it was a bit of a shame that they didn't just kill off the ambassadors, making it that much more exciting, but went with a copout at the end. Slightly disappointing - but all of the side characters were great.

So many synths! This soundtrack felt to different to what had come before, taking on an entirely different approach - I love Howell's take on the rather creepy theme, giving it a wildly contrasting feel and the score helps to build the atmosphere and tension - the beauty when the Leisure Hive is unveiled for the first time, and the action, exciting, dangerous feel when the New Argolins come out of the Generator.

This is an underrated story. Often surrounded in technobabble, but interesting and exciting. I'm really excited to see what's next for Season 18. David Fisher does it again!