The Mysterious Planet

Part 1 of The Trial of a Time Lord is a brilliant kick off for season 23. Easily the nicest model / CGI shot the show has ever seen. The courtroom drama framing device is exciting and gives the show the kick up the bum that it needed last season. All together it’s feeling fresh and new. As are The Doctor and Peri who are not just playing nice but seem to be getting on famously as we watch their pre-recorded adventures in the courtroom matrix.

Part 1 sees Holmes’ writing on form with his signature double acts, believable characters and intricate plotting. It leaves you with high hopes that season 23 will be leagues ahead of 22.

Parts 2 to 4 of The Trial of a Time Lord don’t quite hit home as effortlessly, but the courtroom scenes continue to entertain. It gets bogged down with unexciting giant robots - something the show has wanted to do several time but has never quite pulled off. The human characters who make up the future tribe (another Doctor Who trope) are more interesting but do eventually come across a little one note.

Rather than a satisfactory beginning, middle and end you end up with a dramatic soup. Characters running around from one place to another, getting captured, then escaping. It’s pretty standard Doctor Who.

Thankfully the framing device and mysteries surrounding the censorship of what we are viewing is exciting. The Valleyard is a promising adversary who bounces off Colin Baker's Doctor nicely. He still may be my least favourite Doctor - but I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.