This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Plight of the Pimpernel

What a start to Season 23, like the nothing the show has seen before. It's probably been said many times, but that model shot is gorgeous and for a second I genuinely felt like I could have been watching something big-budget like Star Trek. The courtroom framing device is excellent, often more interesting than the story itself. The Valeyard is a great villain so far, performed wonderfully by Michael Jayston. He's the perfect foil to Colin Baker's eccentric and obnoxious Doctor (not hate on his Doctor I absolutely love him).

The actual plot to the story is nothing remarkable but it is surprisingly competent for this era of Doctor Who. I like all the various narratives going on, Sabalom Glitz and Dibber are a fun little duo. The reveal that the planet they were on is Earth could have been done a bit more impactfully in my opinion. Ironically, I think it's where Chris Chibnall lifted the "barren planet is Earth" reveal for Orphan 55.

The big robot is not the most compelling villain, but he does the job for the story. I'm not the biggest fan of the way this adventure ends, it feels quite rushed and like they suddenly remembered that there had to be a bit of action beyond getting captured and re-captured over and over. A promising start to the season though.

Next Story: Mindwarp