This is a perfectly fine serial. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that it's pretty good! It felt gritty, realistic and grounded. The setting felt well-developed and interesting, as well as somewhat realistic, and lots of the characters are great (Milo Clancey in particular). There's also some nice twists, subversions of expectations and dramatic irony which I really like. I liked the pacing.

banger utter banger I will not allow anyone to say otherwise

Dull, boring, and with little redeeming qualities. The acting doesn't work. The pacing doesn't work. This is the kind of serial that non-Who fans think the rest of DW is like. There is a germ of an interesting story here, but sadly it is bogged down by the other 95% of the content.

My biggest complaint is that the TARDIS crew are minor characters in their own show.

The Space Pirates are plundering space beacons owned by the Issigri Mining Corporation for valuable argonite, blowing them up in the process. Both of these sides have distinctive and interesting characters with believable motives you can invest in. As with much of this season, there is a "spy thriller" feel running through some of the plot - can we trust Milo Clancey? Should The Doctor and co. be trusted by anyone?

The scenes where the space beacons are pilfered and destroyed are especially good, full of drive which keeps you hooked in the moment. This is helped by the fantastic model scenes - alongside the fantastic sets in The Web of Fear this is some of the best production we have seen in the series so far (lets hope they keep this up into the 1970s!)

This is a story which I would especially like to see returned in its entirety to the archives.