This episode is a very difficult one for me, because it's, in equal measures, one of my favourite Hartnell episodes, but also tragically awful due to one unforgivable aspect. And if you've seen the episode, you'll probably know what it is.

Let's start with the positives: William Hartnell f*cking shines in this episode, it's easily my favourite portrayal of his. He just gets so many wonderful character moments in this, whether he's gleefully smashing a vase over an assassins head during a nice, refreshing match of "fisticuffs", or drawing inspiration from the old "emperor's new clothes" tale by playing an entire room of insecure people for complete mugs, gaslighting them into wanting to hear music that he isn't actually playing just because he said "if you can't hear this, you're all uncultured swine's." This is Hartnell at peak cheeky impishness, and any time he's on screen being his usual mischievous, giggling gremlin self, it's a joy to watch.

On top of that, I have a soft spot for just how unapologetically camp it goes in it's pursuit of being a classic 60s comedy. This is basically just Carry On Doctor, full of goofy fourth wall breaks, actors who've perfected their damn-near cartoonish shocked faces, and a lot of witty banter between the characters. Dare i say, there were more than a few moments that actually manage to get a chuckle out of me.

Now for the part that ruins it. Despite their attempts, the really weird, creepy, rapey parts that were lifted from your bog standard raunchy 60s comedy, where Nero shamelessly chases the very noticeably uncomfortable Barbara around the palace with his intentions painfully clear was NOT one of those moments. Barbara is treated so poorly in this episode, and her "character arc" is absolutely disgusting. From the moment she meets the character called Tavius, he's characterized as friendly, caring, compassionate to Barbara's plight, and the story outright states that if he wasn't the one to buy her, she'd be in an even worse position with someone else. Yes, it's a morally f*cked situation they both find themselves embroiled in, and it may be true that she'd be in a worse off state, (even though the one she finds herself in still has her being chased by a filthy little horndog, and almost poisoned by his jealous wife) but the fact that the episode expects her to "come to her senses" after rightfully telling the repugnant git to sod off, and even come to thank him for being a friendlier slave master is just horrific.

There is one element to the Nero lusts after Barbara plotline that, removed from context, i would have found really funny, and that's the schtick of The Doctor just narrowly missing The Companion again and again. I know this because Partners in Crime did it better over 40 years later, entirely because they didn't tie it to any uncomfortable, rapey storyline for that episode (Because, let's face it, if Nero had tried that sh*t with Donna Noble, she would have given the filthy c*nt a fat lip, regardless of if he was emperor.)

So, on the whole, The Romans is an episode that had a good chance of being my favourite Hartnell episode, but it's hard to understate just how much the horrifically dated rape humour drags it down from greatness. If the stuff where they play attempted sexual assault for laughs was completely removed from the episode, I would have been prepared to give it a 4-and-a-half, but, no such luck, and as such, this is the score it's stuck with, and it's only this high because of just how adorable Hartnell is, and how funny *some* of the scenes can be.