A nice romp, extremely camp and enjoyable. The plot is a bit thin, and both the Chimerons and the Bannermen are pretty flat, but most of the other side characters are great (except Billy, who felt like a cardboard cutout for most of the run). Ray was especially delightful, though I'm glad we ended up with Ace as a companion instead. I'm not sure why the Americans were there, but I'm glad they were. Overall, it's not one I'd go to rewatch, but it makes for fun background noise.

I may be biased, since I love the goofier Doctor Who stories, but this is one of my favorite stories of all times. The pacing is relatively quick, even if it does gloss over some details. But as a whole, it handles the 50's setting very nicely, and Burton's a nice supporting character. It does wrap up rather quickly, and leaves myself wondering what happened to warrant the attempted genocide? The character of Ray would've been an interesting companion. It would be a nice What-If or a solid unbound, so I'm looking forward to getting more things with her. I'd prefer a bit more depth into the Bannermen war, but as it is, there's plenty of opportunities towards the return of the Bannermen. I understand that this isn't everyone's favorite story, but I'm very glad I picked this up when the Collection Blu-Ray came out here in Australia. This story feels very 7th Doctor, as it has all the silliness of his early years, but the dark undertow of later stories like the Curse of Fenric and Ghost Light.

Conclusion: One of my favourite stories ever, goofy as hell, but manages to juggle that with the underlying darkness that this story has. It's musical, but not too musical, and that helps to make it one of the few Classic Who stories I can watch whenever.

📝5/10

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time! 

"Delta and the Bannermen: A 50s Fling with Flawed Execution"

Delta and the Bannermen brings a quirky mix of nostalgia, alien threats, and strange plot points to the table. At its best, it’s charmingly creative and lighthearted; at its worst, it’s sluggish, bizarre, and tonally uneven.

The story opens with a unique and fairly enjoyable first episode. The idea of a space thug team (the Bannermen) chasing a fugitive to 1950s Earth is a simple but serviceable premise. The setting—Wales in the late 1950s—oozes warmth and authenticity, with its rock ‘n’ roll vibes and mid-century charm. The music pushes hard to recreate the period, and while it’s an admirable effort, it sometimes overdoes the “50s rock” motif to a distracting degree.

Unfortunately, the plot slows considerably after the introduction of the key players. The middle episode drags, lacking momentum despite the promise of an intergalactic chase. The Bannermen themselves don’t really hit their stride as villains until the latter half, and by then, much of the tension has fizzled. When they do finally start rampaging in earnest, they come across as creepily over-the-top but also disappointingly underdeveloped. Their leader, Gavrok, is a prime example—he’s forgettable, lacking any unique or memorable qualities to make him stand out.

The subplot involving the Chimeron Queen, her green baby, and the baby’s strange musical powers is perhaps the story’s weirdest angle. While imaginative, it feels too bizarre and underexplained to resonate, and the resolution—simple and, frankly, stupid—fails to satisfy.

The acting is hit-and-miss. Sylvester McCoy finally feels like he’s settling into the Doctor. Here, he ditches much of the clumsy clown persona from earlier stories and strikes a more heroic balance: quick-thinking, selfless, and ready to risk it all for others. McCoy shines, proving he’s capable of leading the series in this new era. Bonnie Langford does well with what she’s given, but Mel is again sidelined, separated from the Doctor for much of the story. She feels underutilized, which continues to be a recurring problem.

Guest performances are serviceable but unremarkable. Don Henderson and Belinda Mayne are fine, though their characters feel somewhat stripped-down and uninspired. The American tourist characters provide comic relief but feel completely unnecessary and shoehorned into the narrative, as if to pad out the runtime.

The pacing is uneven. The story slows to a crawl in Part Two before picking up speed for a final episode that, while faster and more exciting, never quite reaches the level of tension or payoff it promises. The build-up to the climax lacks punch, and the resolution feels anticlimactic.

The production design works well enough for the setting, though it’s nothing groundbreaking. The 50s period detail is genuinely lovely and helps ground the story in its nostalgic atmosphere. It’s clear that effort was put into capturing the era, even if the sci-fi elements clash awkwardly at times.

Overall, Delta and the Bannermen is a story of missed opportunities. It boasts some creativity, an evocative period setting, and a Doctor who’s beginning to hit his stride. However, its sluggish pacing, underdeveloped villains, and bizarre narrative choices prevent it from being anything more than middle-of-the-road. It’s a harmless, forgettable adventure that doesn’t demand a rewatch.

This serial somehow simultaneously had far too much and far too little going on. As many others have said, it likely would have benefited greatly from having just one more episode, or, if they really couldn't afford that, getting rid of the pair of Americans to make more time for the characters to actually matter to the story.

The pacing is very odd, especially in the first part. I kept finding myself confused and wanting scenes that feel as though they've been cut out last minute. More time on the Chimeron planet, more time to see Delta and Billy fall in love, more time to grieve Murray and the other people on the bus. Perhaps a script editor going to town with a red pen could have saved this episode.

That's not to say I hated the whole thing; the atmosphere is fun, but after the camp dream that is Paradise Towers this simply doesn't hold up. I also appreciate that they allowed the locals to speak Welsh.

This whole serial felt really random, a lot of the decisions characters make felt like they came out of nowhere, and the whole story didn't feel well thought out. And what was the deal with the two American men?

The Bannermen were boring, standard villains.