Here’s a series opener that manages to look cheap and expensive at the same time. It’s a studio-bound story recorded on unforgiving video, and the first glimpse we see of this story’s monster is a couple of floppy rubbery claws. I feel now as I did then, that it’s one of the least child-friendly stories Doctor Who ever presented – very talky, with some extremely OTT performances. And yet, the sets are beautifully dressed and lit and the Cossack-style costumes are lush. I love it, of course.

Once you get used to the fact that this is garnished with generous doses of humour (blimey, even I sound like Iain Cuthbertson's fruity Garron) it's irresistible to get caught up in the story. Garron’s double-act with the appealing Unstoffe is contrasted well with Paul Seed's wonderfully theatrical Graff Vynda-K and his loyal Sholack. Added to this is the newly formed double-act of the uncharacteristically chauvinistic Fourth Doctor and the haughty new Romanavoratrelundar. I’m not sure this gang would quite make up for the lack of action and location filming for the younger viewers, but they’re pretty entertaining. The actors having a ball, and it’s infectious.

I love that, within this flamboyant tapestry, there are other subtler characters. The Seeker is terrifying in her way, and Binro is lovely and injects the tale with a lot of heart.

I watched this on a whim, and ended up revisiting the whole four episodes. I think you have to be in the mood for it, but if you are, it's great fun. I even warmed to the bloody-jawed Shrivenzale!