I did not expect for a fun, world-building romp like this to spring up out of nowhere!

Straight off the bat, we get thrown into a hilarious dynamic between the Doctor and Romana. Tom Baker is clearly having a lot more fun than last time. One moment I actually had to stop the episode for is when he gets slapped in the face with a glove, snatches it and slaps him back. Such an underrated moment! Romana already proves her worth as a companion, with a mix of independence and confidence to stand up to the Doctor as well as the standard scared companion tropes - and the Doctor's being very protective to her. Her naivety is a great start to her arc, being surprised at creatures from other worlds, but that cliffhanger to Part One was very odd - How didn't she see it?? Overall, though, a playful introduction to Romana, and it was surprising considering I wasn't too fond of this incarnation initially. K-9 gets a bit of time to bond with Romana I but he's ultimately just there to fight off the enemies. Something that gets on my nerve a little is the cut on Tom Baker's lip from where a dog bit him, but that's just a personal pet peeve.

Graff is probably the overall villain here, and he's probably the weakest part of the story. Without the context of the story, he's just a very generic war lord. However, with the combination of his tragic backstory and his struggle against the conmen, this makes him a very compelling villain of the piece until his arc ends by dying with dignity - something he never quite mastered as seen throughout the rest of the story. Also, was there a little gay reference when his friend dies? Man, that’s progressive if so!! The monster in the cage looks a bit trash, but it's 1978, I'll get over it.

The castle reminded me of both the Peladon stories and the Mind Robber. This fictional tale is ten times better with this world-building, showing the different aspects of society on this world. It never feels like there's any exposition going on, but we learn about the culture subtly, and Robert Holmes manages to pull this off excellently. Whilst the visuals might not work, the way the story is told makes up for it.

Speaking of world-building, there's quite a lot of characters that contribute to this. That old witch lady was weird, I got Sisterhood of Karn vibes off her. I mean she did develop this strange world with the fairytale vibes, but aside from that, I don't really get why she was there. The conmen were a hilarious duo with a complex character arc - with the inexperienced Unstoffe learning to deal with conflict on his own, and Garron being a great form of comic relief, with his confidence and cockiness being thwarted by the Doctor and Romana at every turn. Binro was an interesting one, too. Some of these characters are totally unnecessary to the plot, but it totally improves the story and the world around them for having them in.

This is really underrated, and a really great start to Season 16! The visuals are a bit rubbish, but that's common with the Williams-era and it's more than made up for with hilarious dialogue and a fun plot. Something that I also want to praise is Dudley's remarkable score! This sounds like something from the Revived series, and I've never heard anything like it! Soundtrack for this episode, please! I'm excited to continue this arc and develop this new TARDIS team further!