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

Previous Story: The Ultimate Foe

While I've heard of Iris before, this is my first proper story with her and wow, what an interesting character. For starters, she's played really well by Katy Manning, so much so that if she wasn't on the cover I wouldn't have recognised her. She's nothing at all like Jo Grant, in fact she's quite the opposite. Her chemistry with Colin Baker's Doctor is also really great, even though this is their first story together they really sell the idea that they have a long history.

This story is really interesting because for a good chunk of it there's no real antagonist or anything, it just feels like you're sitting there in Bianca's watching all this unfold. It's got some great vibes. The story picks up around halfway in, the idea that Bianca is Iris' Valeyard was a great twist. In hindsight it makes a lot of sense, Bianca is the polar opposite to Iris in the same way the Valeyard is to the Doctor. I also like how closely Iris parallels the Doctor, it's very meta. I do like the framing device of the story, it gives it a very different feel than most adventures and it gives us a little cameo from Seven. Overall, a really odd story but fun nonetheless.

Next Story: The Ratings War