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

Previous Story: Terror of the Vervoids

Quite possibly my favourite Classic season finale. It's so ridiculous and thrilling that I can't help but enjoy it. It ties up the entire season perfectly. The first episode starts incredibly strong and the fact that the Master showing up was as cathartic as it was, is a testament to just how good of a villain Michael Jayston's Valeyard is. It really ups his credibility as a villain when even a villain as good as the Master hates him. The reveal that the Valeyard is actually a future version of the Doctor was a lot better than I expected it to be. I'd heard about it before and thought it was silly and pointlessly included but it doesn't feel like that at all after watching it. It certainly doesn't "break canon" in any way either.

The scenes inside the Matrix were very evocative of The Deadly Assassin, another story with a lot of themes of Time Lord corruption. In fact I'd say all the Time Lord stories since then have been building up to this story. You could argue that this starts all the way back in The War Games in fact. Sabalom Glitz's role in the story felt a bit out of place, but I'm not complaining because I think he's quite a fun character. It did start to feel a bit rushed by the end of the second part, especially with the Master sub-plot. I do wish he'd taken a smaller role or atleast for once not an entirely evil one. Overall, an incredibly epic finale to one of the most modern-feeling and enjoyable seasons in all of Classic Doctor Who.

Next Story: The Wormery