I have a particular fondness for this episode, possibly more than it deserves.

What is there to dislike, you may ask?

Well, there's some hamminess in, to be sure. The Graff is a bit over the top, and not a nuanced character. The seeker even more so, and I'm no fan of the precognition plot device. Garron may seem to be a bit of a caricature, and Unstoffe's ad libbing to try to grift a couple of extra pennies may seem a bit to obvious. Tom Baker is a ham, and he may not be to everyone's tastes when he's obviously amusing himself. For that matter, the resolution has the Doctor setting up someone to be killed, with no qualms or second thoughts whatsoever.

Absolutely none of that bothers me, though. If there's one thing that does bother me, it's the shrivenzale's floppy foot. There's just no way that comes across as menacing. I wish they could have done just a little bit better with that.

Well, then why the heck do you like it, you may ask?

Well, the opening scene with the White Guardian is just lovely. Cyril Luckham's performance is spot on. The atmosphere in the scene is just right. It's a nice setup for the season, and a unique way of introducing a new companion. Speaking of which, I like the Fred joke.

I think Garron and Unstoffe are a nice double-act, and very entertaining to watch. I like the thought that was put into how the Doctor knows the segment is not one of the crown jewels. It's a little thing, but writers often forget little things. The plot is solid enough, but what really makes this story stand out is, of course, Binro the Heretic.

Binro is, I suppose their version of Galileo, but with a different arc. He has lost everything because he has held firm to his believe that his planet is not the center of the universe. He has been ridiculed and cast out and now lives in squalor, but he still has the heart to offer sanctuary to Unstoffe, which for him is risk with no reward. And what does he get in return? Validation. Nigel Plaskitt's performance when he tells his protector that someday people will turn to each other and say "Binro was right" is beautifully heartfelt. It's wonderful, sure, but the look on Timothy Bateson's face in that moment is positively magical.

In that one instant, and flaws or failings I might have seen in the story fade away to nothing.

I love this story - objectively, maybe a little more than it deserves - but when has love ever been objective?

Here’s a series opener that manages to look cheap and expensive at the same time. It’s a studio-bound story recorded on unforgiving video, and the first glimpse we see of this story’s monster is a couple of floppy rubbery claws. I feel now as I did then, that it’s one of the least child-friendly stories Doctor Who ever presented – very talky, with some extremely OTT performances. And yet, the sets are beautifully dressed and lit and the Cossack-style costumes are lush. I love it, of course.

Once you get used to the fact that this is garnished with generous doses of humour (blimey, even I sound like Iain Cuthbertson's fruity Garron) it's irresistible to get caught up in the story. Garron’s double-act with the appealing Unstoffe is contrasted well with Paul Seed's wonderfully theatrical Graff Vynda-K and his loyal Sholack. Added to this is the newly formed double-act of the uncharacteristically chauvinistic Fourth Doctor and the haughty new Romanavoratrelundar. I’m not sure this gang would quite make up for the lack of action and location filming for the younger viewers, but they’re pretty entertaining. The actors having a ball, and it’s infectious.

I love that, within this flamboyant tapestry, there are other subtler characters. The Seeker is terrifying in her way, and Binro is lovely and injects the tale with a lot of heart.

I watched this on a whim, and ended up revisiting the whole four episodes. I think you have to be in the mood for it, but if you are, it's great fun. I even warmed to the bloody-jawed Shrivenzale!

Nowadays it seems standard for Doctor Who to tackle a series arc but during the classic series it was very uncommon. Sure, there was 1964's The Keys to Marinus but that was more of a single serial arc - it didn't take up the entire season. The only true examples in the Doctor Who's classic series of a season-long arc are The Trial of a Time Lord...and the Key to Time. And so it was the job of The Ribos Operation to introduce what the arc was about.

The idea behind the Key to Time was that in each story the Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana (Mary Tamm) would arrive somewhere where one of the pieces to the Key to Time is detected to be by Romana's locater. The Doctor and Romana are recruited by the White Guardian (Cyril Luckham ) to find all six segments of the Key to Time. With all six segments together, the White Guardian can restore the balance of order and chaos to the universe. They arrive on the planet Ribos, where Garron (Iain Cuthbertson) and Unstoffe (Nigel Plaskitt) are trying to sell Ribos to the ruler of planet Levithia the Graff Vynda-K (Paul Seed) by convincing him it is full of a rare and powerful mineral known as 'Jethrik'. They place a lump of the rare mineral in the glass case housing the planet's crown jewels and show the Graff, who becomes convinced the planet is a rich source for it. When the Graff realises he has been conned, the Doctor and Romana are forced to work with Garron and Unstoffe to claim the Jethrik back.

I'll admit, I was rather disappointed with this story as I expected more from the opener of a quest storyline. It is a fun tale though and typical of writer Robert Holmes' style. It is great fun the way the narrative subverts the heist genre; instead of trying to steal something FROM an unsuspecting owner, it becomes about trying to steal something BACK. This prevents the heist genre from becoming predictable, offering a fresh take that sometimes the genre could need.

The problem is that it doesn't offer any memorable conflict. The Graff is a bit of a generic threat; all he really does is order executions and understandably become extremely angry at being conned. He's certainly no threat compared to Daleks or even the Cavemen from An Unearthly Child, where you feel like the TARDIS crew are in danger. The Ribos guards seem a bit useless too. You've got towonder who hired them considering one of them lets a complete stranger (IE the Doctor) pull their whistle away without any forcible protest. Surely a proper guard would be a bit more forceful: pull the Doctor's hand away and blow the whistle to call for the guards? The Graff's guards aren't much better either but at least they seem a bit more threatening and imposing than the guards on Ribos.

If anything makes this a Doctor Who story you have to see, it's the comical relationship between Unstoffe and Garron. Unstoffe and Garron make a brilliant double act and one that no doubt reminds some Whovians of Jago & Litefoot. They are hugely entertaining and definitely the best part of this rather average serial. Ian Cuthbertson and Nigel Plaskitt play to Robert Holmes' writing well and it's a crime that they never got the chance to record Big Finish audios. Ian Cuthbertson sadly passed away in 2009 and Nigel Plaskitt is still alive but Undtoffe without Garron like all great double acts really wouldn't work.

Also: James Purdie's lighting for this serial is very impressive, especially for the White Guardian scene. The scene with the White Guardian looks suitably dream-like and a nice almost Hawaiin-like quality that plays nicely with the ethereal quality of his being. I'd say it's definitely the best classic series serial for lighting - it prevents the show from feeling cheap even though it was made on a shoestring budget, meaning it can compete better with the blockbuster films of the time.

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Overall, The Ribos Operation is a disappointingly average opener for a season-long story arc. There's nothing too special to be found here, however it can be applauded for its inventiveness with the lighting and subversion of the heist genre. The double act between the characters of Unstoffe and Garron is brilliant too, it's just a pity that the story offers little in the way of conflict for the Doctor, Romana, Unstoffe and Garron. The Gaff is certainly not going to be considered one of Doctor Who's greatest villains anytime soon.

I found this episode dull and over-long. The new K9 didn't have much to do, and Romana was something's of a non-entity as well. Maybe I'm just still annoyed about Leela's poor send-off and had my hopes set too high for Romana, but this isn't a great start.

On the subject of characters, Garron was fine as a magnificent scoundrel, but to me he felt like a cheap imitation of Harry Mudd from Star Trek, an all-around more fun and compelling character. Unstoffe was okay, and being the only nice character he served as a good contrast to everyone else. Binro absolutely stole the show and was probably my favourite part of this episode.

I enjoyed the little reveal of the Doctor's scarf under the guard's cape and Romana shutting K9 up with her dress, but these little moments weren't enough to salvage this episode.

This is a fun introduction to the Black and White Guardian storyline with a really memorable set-up at the start I think really worked to gear viewers to know what to expect out of the season. It's done really well and left me excited, especially with this also being Romana's introduction, too.

So it starts out very energetic and full of excitement, but I do feel as though that once we get into the thrust of this story on Ribos, that goodwill fades pretty quickly. The story is pretty boring and I checked out of it quite quickly. It is far from unacceptable, but easy to forget a lot of the plot line and I didn't really care much for the characters outside of the Doctor and Romana. The latter of the two being a Time Lady feels pretty good, I like the idea of her possessing a lot of intelligence but lacking the Doctor's experience. I feel they get a good handle on her character here but it does improve over time. I do like the look of the setting though and the ending had a nice feeling to it in the snow, still leaving me with that same feeling of excitement for the possibilities of what was to come out of the series going forward.