We now come to the season long story, The Trial of a Time Lord, which can also be viewed as four separate stories, but they’re all tied together by the single overarching plot of the Doctor once again standing trial by the Time Lords, with his prosecutor the Valeyard determined to see him put to death. This season had a lot of meta subtext, basically reflecting the then real world trial Doctor Who was on with the BBC, this was one of the closest points it came to cancellation after dwindling viewing numbers and a determination from the higher ups in the BBC (such as Michael Grade) to see the show cancelled. Which briefly was what happened at the end of Colin’s first year which resulted in an 18 month hiatus, but the BBC eventually buckled to fan pressure and the show was renewed for another year. When the initial cancellation was announced, the original Season 23 was in pre-production with several stories scripted, people contracted and even paid off in full.

Despite the fan outcry of wanting the show back, the BBC still left the show at a major disadvantage, the budget was cut once again, the episode number was vastly reduced and from here on till the end of Classic Who there would only be four stories per season. On top of which, JNT by this point had wanted to move on to other TV projects, but was being forced to stay on as producer by the BBC, the best writer in the show’s history Robert Holmes had scripted the opener and was halfway through finishing the finale before sadly dying after a short illness. He’d written a rough outline of the finale’s last episode which Eric Saward had stepped in to finish, but after several arguments with JNT and Saward’s long history of not being a fan of Colin Baker, he angrily quit the show and took the rights to the script with him. Meaning the writers brought in to finish the story, Pip & Jane Baker, weren’t even allowed to know what was in the original script. It’s honestly a miracle this season managed to buy the show a few more years of life and how they were able to turn things around after.

The season opens with honestly the most spectacular opening shot in the show’s history as the TARDIS is pulled into a Time Lord space station, then we cut to a crappy interior set and things immediately go downhill from there. The Time Lords are once again placing the Doctor on trial for interference in the lives of other civilisations, an idea that had been done much better in The War Games. The prosecutor for the Doctor’s trial is the mysterious Valeyard who presents his first case, an adventure he had with Peri very recently on the planet Ravalox. This brings us to The Mysterious Planet, Robert Holmes’s final completed script and sadly it’s not one of his best works, although I will that The Mysterious Planet is honestly the best story of the season. Most people would disagree with me and it doesn’t exactly feature the best parts of Trial of a Time Lord (apart from the opening shot), but structurally it’s better put together than the stories that follow, it’s the one that’s the least broken by either logic or behind the scenes shenanigans.

It doesn’t take the Doctor and Peri long, but they discover that Ravalox with its Earth-like atmosphere, environment and indigenous population, is in fact Earth billions of years in the future, somehow far beyond the orbit of it’s sun after a devastating firestorm that propelled it across the universe and wiped out most of the population. As is normally the case, the survivors have formed their own tribes and communities, some living above ground, others below in the old London Underground, some primitive others more advanced. But everything’s being overseen by a robot named Drathro and a pair of intergalactic conmen are planning to steal the robot’s closely guarded secrets. The event is being viewed from the courtroom and as a result sections of it are edited out, commented on, misinterpreted and other clever stuff like that. What’s not clever is the story keeps interrupting itself so the Doctor and Valeyard can hurl insults at each other like preschoolers with a complete disregard to legal jargon. I’m no legal expert but I’m pretty sure you can’t just change the entire proceedings of a trial midway, a trial that initially started off as a simple inquiry. Another positive is Glitz and Dibber, the classic Robert Holmes double act who are a pair of conmen manipulating everyone around them so they can gain access to the robot’s secrets, Glitz in particular would go on to appear twice in the show and was one of the few good things about this and Season 24. Again, The Mysterious Planet is not good, but it is the best of the season and certainly the most coherent.

You know, I'm not rating this serial that high, but it wasn't that bad either.  That opening with the models and CGI was genuinely impressive, exciting, and amazing.  That energy continues well into the early courtroom scenes.  Even though I know what's happening, there's a good sense of intrigue going on here.  What's happening?  Why is the Doctor on trial?  It's good stuff.

The actual execution outside of the framing device is a lot weaker, though.  It feels like the actual mysterious planet of The Mysterious Planet is a little boring.  Some Doctor Who sets and alien worlds look great - this is not one of those situations.  It really feels like everything is just barely holding together at the seams.  And the characters living there felt flat and boring.  It all felt so artificial - like these were costumes and sets rather than people and places.  Still, I found Six and Peri pretty entertaining.  They have good banter here, for once, and it already feels like a huge improvement from last season.  Again, it's just not that bad.  Not that great, but not that bad, either.

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

Previous Story: Plight of the Pimpernel

What a start to Season 23, like the nothing the show has seen before. It's probably been said many times, but that model shot is gorgeous and for a second I genuinely felt like I could have been watching something big-budget like Star Trek. The courtroom framing device is excellent, often more interesting than the story itself. The Valeyard is a great villain so far, performed wonderfully by Michael Jayston. He's the perfect foil to Colin Baker's eccentric and obnoxious Doctor (not hate on his Doctor I absolutely love him).

The actual plot to the story is nothing remarkable but it is surprisingly competent for this era of Doctor Who. I like all the various narratives going on, Sabalom Glitz and Dibber are a fun little duo. The reveal that the planet they were on is Earth could have been done a bit more impactfully in my opinion. Ironically, I think it's where Chris Chibnall lifted the "barren planet is Earth" reveal for Orphan 55.

The big robot is not the most compelling villain, but he does the job for the story. I'm not the biggest fan of the way this adventure ends, it feels quite rushed and like they suddenly remembered that there had to be a bit of action beyond getting captured and re-captured over and over. A promising start to the season though.

Next Story: Mindwarp

The "story" part - ie not the trial - of the Mysterious Planet is Doctor Who at its most average. There's chase scenes down corridors, big robots, and side characters in silly outfits. Whilst I wouldn't go as far as to say they've figure out how to write Peri, someone has realised that audiences prefer it when their two main characters seem to like each other, which is a very nice change from s22.

The trial section is more fun, with the Valeyard, Inquisitor, and Doctor all playing off each other. It's not, like, groundbreaking television, but it is such a welcome change to have a Sixth Doctor serial (or part of one) that could reasonably be called "enjoyable"

It's no secret that Doctor Who's twenty third season was riddled with production issues. After Season 22, a more traditional Doctor Who season had been planned, where the Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) would travel to Blackpool, fight the Celestial Toymaker and visit holiday planets where good people are turned into killers. However this was all aborted when the BBC decided to cancel the show, unsatisfied with its current state of being. Thankfully this premature cancellation was reversed due to a very high profile press campaign (complete with possibly the most embarrassing charity single of all time), but the BBC cut the season in half, resulting in the season we now more traditionally call 'The Trial Of A Time Lord'.

It's a clever idea, to have a over-arching story across the season like this which directly reflects what was occurring in real life. Just as the Doctor finds himself on trial by the Time Lords, the show itself was also finding itself under scrutiny - by the BBC. What we're given here is a really intelligent meta-commentary on the state of the programme at the time, under direct threat of cancellation, a general sense that the Doctor's life could be ended at any moment. It's like the production team are protesting their case to the viewers, explaining exactly why the BBC should allow them to continue. Judging by these opening four episodes, I'd say they pleaded their case well.

This is the episode where we are introduced to the character of the Valeyard (Michael Jayston) for the first time, later revealed as an incarnation of the Doctor who is said to fall somewhere between his twelfth and final regeneration. Colin Baker and Michael Jayston's bickering is on fine display here, with the Doctor calling the Valeyard everything from a 'boatyard' to a 'graveyard'. These two actors bounce off one another so well, and are easily the highlights of the trial sections. They really bring the Doctor's trial to life, imbuing it with so much life and personality.

The actual four part adventure, entitled 'The Mysterious Planet', is  pretty much standard Doctor Who fare. It's nothing particularly remarkable, but it's serviceable and it does its job. Some elements such as the planet being Earth all along, and humans being made to live beneath the surface because they believe it to be uninhabitable feel a little unoriginal, the latter in particular feeling like a direct copy of a major plot point from 'The Enemy Of The World'.  It keeps you captivated throughout its runtime and never particularly drags, but at the same time it's a largely forgettable runaround for the Doctor and Peri.

Speaking of this Doctor-companion duo, their relationship is a lot better here than during Season Twenty Two. The Doctor and Peri have a much friendlier rapport, which feels like a direct response to the more spiky relationship seen in the previous season. Gone are the Doctor's snarky remarks and Peri's seeming disgust around Colin Baker's Doctor, and in its place is something warmer, more akin to the kind of friendship we have become accustomed to between the Doctor and their companion. It's the little things like the Sixth Doctor placing his arm around Peri in comfort that ultimately make all the difference in warming us more to this pairing.

Another endearing partnership in this serial is that between mercenaries Glitz (Tony Selby) and Dibber (Glen Murphy). These two are a lot of fun, bringing to mind other iconic guest star duos such as Garron and Unstoffe from 'The Ribos Operation', or the fan favourite Victorian double act Jago and Litefoot. Glitz's 'hate for competition' combined with Dibber's hapless nature offer many comedic moments throughout the serial, and it's a real shame Colin Baker's era didn't last longer so they could have become reoccurring characters. Perhaps it's time for Big Finish to bring these two over to the audio front?

Thankfully Lynda Bellingham - who here plays the Inquisitor - did get a chance to reprise her role for Big Finish before her untimely death in 2014. The Inquisitor is without a doubt one of the greatest Time Lord characters outside of the Master or the Rani to be introduced to the series. Her stern, no nonsense demeanour is perfectly portrayed by the superb acting talents of Lynda Bellingham, who embodies the role with a great deal of authority and presence. She was, without a shadow of a doubt, perfect casting for a role like this, and it's hard to imagine any other actor being quite as successful in the role.

Overall, 'The Mysterious Planet' is a passable start for Doctor Who's twenty third season. Whilst the over-arching story regarding the Doctor's trial begins strong, the narrative presented within this arching storyline reflects a screenplay which feels somewhat less confident in its conviction. It's a serviceable Doctor Who story, but it never progresses towards becoming something great, or more than the sum of its parts. What it does show however are some clear improvements regarding the Doctor and Peri's previously more spiky relationship; it's much more fun watching them interact as friends here.