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

Previous Story: Gobbledegook

This story starts off immensely strong, The Fifth Doctor's character is much stronger than we've ever seen before, he's flippant and confident. He doesn't put up with the locals here and I don't blame him given their questionable ideals. I love how he takes charge of the situation in a way I haven't really witnessed since Tom Baker.

The major twist, though I saw it coming from a mile away was absolutely fantastic. The Daleks are not heavily advertised in this story which I appreciate, the only hint you'd get is the Dalek creature on the cover but even that could be mistaken for one of the numerous aliens of the Whoniverse.

I think this is quite possibly the best version of the Nazi/Dalek allegory, I've always thought that would be the most logical step for the Daleks, as they've been spiraling into generic screaming robots ever since 1963. What better would way to make them feel fresh but to truly dial up the fascism.

The ending was a bit fast and I feel like more could have been done, but that final reveal at the end that they were on Florana the whole time was another great twist this story had to offer. It's also a fun conclusion to the constant teases of Florana since the Third Doctor's era, as he's finally visited with his companions (though I know he's done it in other mediums before this).

I can't say this is my favourite Dalek story, it might be, but there's just so many I'd have a hard time remembering what's good or not. Still, I have to commend this story for truly making them feel unique again, quite possibly the biggest challenge anyone writing Doctor Who has.

Next Story: Hexagora