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

Previous Story: The Mark of the Rani

This would be such a good story if it weren't so horrifically flawed. There's an underlying theme of eugenics throughout this story that really put me off, since it primarily came from a Second Doctor (who I assume to be post-War Games) I was originally willing to excuse it as some heavy Time Lord conditioning. Of course this is a retcon and doesn't change the content of this episode in anyway. Add that onto the fact that the Sixth Doctor reiterates most of these ideas later on in the story and it means you can't justify it in anyway. Even though this is technically regarding aliens, it still feels really icky and wildly out of character for either Doctor (and the Doctor in general).

Considering Robert Holmes wrote stories with 2 you'd think he'd be able to get it right. At the very least he does get the dialogue for Jamie and the Doctor down to a tee and their (minimal) interactions with the Sixth Doctor and Peri are really fun. Honestly I was willing to let most of this go until the third part. Not only is it so boring and largely irrelevant to the plot, it also features a scene where the Doctor is being pursued, finds a jar of cyanide, has enough time to soak some cotton wool in it, waits for his pursuer to ambush them by putting a butterfly net around their head and choking them with cyanide until they die. And then quips about it. One of quite a few needlessly gruesome, offensive or idiotic moments that plague what could otherwise be a fun adventure featuring beloved returning characters.

Next Story: Davros