For me this is one of the best Hartnell Stories, one of the best Historical and one of the best Showcase for a Companion. While i always enjoyed Steven already (he is superb in Time Meddler, Daleks Masterplan, solid in Myth Makers and ehhh in Galaxy 4) this is the one where he really makes a mark on the Show. This is easily his finest hour. In general, this one feels unique, one might even make a point of calling this the very first doctor-lite Story at its core. While I can definitely see the flaws, for me there is so much good in it, even if it suffers from being basically the most destroyed serial there ever was (barely any production pictures, no telesnaps, one of the poor audio recordings and so on).

Following Steven in this one is brilliant, especially for how dark and morbid it can get, Purves really can show off here. Hartnell as well is great here, both as the Doctor and as the Abbott, it’s a great shame we can’t see it, but even his voice is very distinct which works so well. Having it being kinda ambiguous at the start if he is or isn’t the Doctor works great and of course that final Monologue with Hartnell at the end is superb and his best Performance in the Role. Ann Chaplet works really well here too, and the Actress does the best with the Material she is given. And from what we can see the Costume are top notch as it was always the case with the Historicals.

I honestly must say it being so dialogue heavy is great, because unlike some other Stories, it works much better with solely the Audio, while I would love it being recovered, as with any missing Episode, stories such Smugglers and Myth Makers do suffer slightly more from being missing due some of their Action. As for the Pace, while I do I agree it’s pretty slow, for me, it’s very effective, while the chosen historical Moment for me is one that I haven’t tipped my toes into before I saw the Story, just from the Title alone, it works for me pretty well. It being so slow kinda makes you dread, and I think the last Episode gets enhances because of it, since when the Doctor returns it’s so hectic, there is no “But i can’t say Goodbye”, just “We must leave NOW!” For me, this slower Pace builds a dreading Tension that gets solved greatly at the end of the Story with Steven getting angry with the Doctor about Ann’s possible Death. It works especially great with the knowledge of the previous Story, and even some EU Stories add more to that Moment.

One of the very best for me.