Firstly, this story pretty much completely recontextualises the previous entries to The Stranger series, disconnecting the series from Doctor Who quite a bit. I don't really mind this, but it could bother some people. I found this mostely enjoyable to watch. I liked the directing, and the pacing felt good. However, it felt somewhat confusing with a lot of the sci-fi elements being somewhat poorly explained. This did serve to create a nice, mysterious, atmosphere, which I liked, but it also made things a little hard to follow. There's also not that much actual substance here, in my opinion. To end on a positive, I liked all of the acting.

Maybe this is the horrific low standard of other BBV product but this was thoroughly passable, minus a dodgy line or two. I like what it's attempting a lot more than what it actually is, but the low budget slummy decay of the episode works in it's favor, with a character constantly pissing in alleyways and everything looking like it's falling apart. It fits the themes of decay and everything, it is nearly quite good, and it feels fresh, because you usually don't see Who-adjacent adventures filmed in such dire looking locations. For my first Stranger story, I wasn't too lost. Though the technobabble results in some hysterical lines at points:

"Yes. The Enforcers, the Custodians, the Emissaries! All part of that vile bureaucracy which choked the dimensional pathways with their regulations, because to them upholding the rule of our creation were more important than the creators themselves!" Okay David Troughton whatever you say

In terms of other madness, there's a bit where Louise Jameson randomly yells "Physical!" in the middle of a scene, which I would joke about, but two scenes later, there's a bit of a disgusting scene where Colin Baker grabs her by the hair and we get this abhorrent dialogue, which is making this go down in score DRASTICALLY:

STRANGER: I’m physically assaulting you, and you don’t want me to leave?
TAMORA: Well, maybe I fancy you.

Ugggghhhh. I wanted to make a joke about Louise Jameson yelling Physical! and the Stranger won't even let me have those little joys.
Anyway, this is the point of BBV when they're still actually trying, so it's hard to mark it down THAT poorly. The so bad it's good and the "actually fairly good" scenes in it are numerous enough that you'll likely get a kick out of it. Pretty middle of the road.

Yay! We have a comprehensible plot and somewhat interesting concept this time! And Louise Jameson, who did an excellent job with what she was given, had a pretty major role. It was nice to see her act very well as always.

However, this installment loses major points for me due to some pretty dodgy lines (that made me grossed out at times) and a severe lack of atmosphere that the other installments had. Like seriously, who decided every building exterior for shooting was going to be so bland? I understand they have no budget, but at least there was some color and depth in the other sets.

So all in all, I'd give this a 2.5 due to improvements in some aspects but a lack of progress in others.

oh boy, i love boom mics. at least this plot was actually comprehensible, i suppose, although god its really not even pretending to be doctor who any more. just do your own thing now

what a waste of my time