“Kings are recognised only by the power they wield.”

Seems I might be alone in this, but it’s really not for me this one. A dark, gritty and rather depressing set of episodes set in 1500s France. It’s bleak and really delves into the political standings of the era, and while I feel I have learned something of the time period, I found the story itself to be incredible boring.

Perhaps not helped by the entire story being missing, with only the reconstruction to view. It’s a lot of dialogue, a lot of slow paced scenes, and a whole host of characters that I found rather hard to keep up with it all.

Peter Purves does a good job, being the main focus of the story around the other cast side characters. While Hartnell’s role as the Abbot is a fun idea, but doesn’t really actually mean much to the story, and without being able to see the performance, it’s hard to gauge really what was different here. Though, the ending with Hartnell’s little speech is brilliant, and warm.

I can see why people enjoy this, but just didn’t really work for me. Too slow, and really not what I look for in compelling Doctor Who episodes.