This story is ice hot! It's fun, it's camp, it has interesting concepts and great costuming - everything I could want in a story! It was the first time I actually enjoyed a serial in full in, oh, eight seasons? Not a dull moment. I'm not even sure where to start with this review.

At the beginning, I suppose. From the first moment we see Paradise Towers we're clued in on the kind of story it's going to be. The corridors are eery and provoke and instant sense of unease, especially as we see the last yellow Kang running for her life. There's a quick tone shift, but that sense of unease remains for the rest of the story as it becomes clearer and clearer that there's something wrong with every single part of the Tower.

I love the Kangs. I really like the colour-coded costuming and their fun names. I think the slang is realistic and natural (hell, people today have started using unalive!), and considering we see older people use the same terms I suspect it was a general shift of language between the 1980's and the 21st century, when this is set. I think it's perfectly reasonable.

I also really like the old ladies. It's made clear that they're all cannibals, and while that does make me question where the Kangs get their food if they don't know how to work a vending machine and the Rezzies have resorted to cannibalism, I think it's an interesting touch. It adds to the general uneasiness but as it leans pretty heavily on the fairytale image of a witch fattening up children to eat, it remains lighthearted.

The Caretakers are also an interesting concept. You'd think that sticklers for the rules who follow them to a T would be dull and no fun to watch, but somehow they make it work. The Chief Deputy's change of heart towards the end is great.

Then there's the weak link, and the reason I couldn't rate this story 5/5. I don't like Pex. I find him grating for most of the story. Neither his false bravery nor his cowardice is endearing, and for the most part the only thing I could think when he died was "Good riddance."

The villain is also a bit of a weak point. The machine the Great Architect is trapped is doesn't have a particular interesting design and mostly feels like a knock-off Audry II the first time we see it. Once he takes over the Chief's body there's a bit more personality, but for the most part he feels like a generic villain with a side of zombie.

But that doesn't take away from the rest of the story for me. The sets are jam-packed with details and the whole place feels lived in. The atmosphere is expertly crafted. I would happily recommend this serial to all my friends. Maybe I could get a Kang cosplay group going....

This serial somehow simultaneously had far too much and far too little going on. As many others have said, it likely would have benefited greatly from having just one more episode, or, if they really couldn't afford that, getting rid of the pair of Americans to make more time for the characters to actually matter to the story.

The pacing is very odd, especially in the first part. I kept finding myself confused and wanting scenes that feel as though they've been cut out last minute. More time on the Chimeron planet, more time to see Delta and Billy fall in love, more time to grieve Murray and the other people on the bus. Perhaps a script editor going to town with a red pen could have saved this episode.

That's not to say I hated the whole thing; the atmosphere is fun, but after the camp dream that is Paradise Towers this simply doesn't hold up. I also appreciate that they allowed the locals to speak Welsh.

A solid intro to this new story and new companion. I really enjoy the way it starts in greyscale, mimicking the way Alice sees the world and her depression, and the colour crashing in along with the Doctor and the rainbow dog. It's a fairly simple and basic story, quickly wrapped up, but it's got good heart to it. I immediately like Alice, she's relatable. I felt that most of the jokes didn't really work for me. I'm intrigued by the Time Lord in the doorway and excited to continue this story.

I haven't actually read any H.G. Wells books so I feel like I can't really comment on this one beyond saying the unfunny jokes are repeated to oblivion as usual. Maybe it would have been funnier if I was more familiar with the books, but somehow I doubt it.

This story isn't even trying. Unlike most of the other ones, it doesn't focus on the backstory or the aftermath, and is for the most part a shot-for-shot replay of the character's original scenes. I actually quite liked her originally, so I really feel this story does her a disservice by making her as generically mean and foolish as all these stories too to all the characters involved.

This story earned a star entirely for the use of the word "cactussy", which I'm certain was not as funny when this was originally written as it is now with the development of certain slang. That aside, it's okay. I don't like when these poke at the plot holes of the original stories they're riffing on, and this one was definitely reaching for some of those.

About what I've come to expect from these. Most of the jokes fall flat, and the ones that somehow don't are still fairly cringe-worthy.

Perfectly serviceable. Yet another story aided by focusing ona villain rather than a character with too much personality or empathy. There are a few fun references to other serials, and nothing in it is outright offensive.

Somehow, not as egregious as most of these, but still nothing special. I think it helps that Nilson is already not a very enjoyable character, so this doesn't feel too far-fetched like most of these tend to.

This story is, unfortunately, less than the sum of its parts. A lot of it is treading common ground; a sequel to an unseen story, like with Face of Evil; a deformed villain who wants Peri for his bride, like in Caves of Androzani; yet another explanation for the Loch Ness monster, like in Terror of the Zygons. Most of those aren't even good stories. The sequel to an unseen story is good in concept but tends to be more confusing than anything in execution; I've expressed my distaste for Zek in my Caves of Androzani review; and while the Loch Ness monster could be fun, we've already done that, so a second explanation creates a bit of a mess.

All that aside, I didn't think the story was terrible. The secondary cast was filled with interesting characters, and the actors held up the story quite well. The only exception in my opinion was Herbert. I found him as insufferable as the Doctor did, and didn't see a reason for him to be there for the most part. I did think the reveal that he was H.G. Wells was quite charming, however.

Things fell apart more in the second part. The pacing was very odd, and the climax where the Doctor attempted to sacrifice himself really suffered for it. It stretched far too long, and with Herbert acting as comic relief I found it extremely difficult to be invested. I knew they would survive, but they weren't even trying here. It doesn't help that when they inevitably returned the Doctor refused to explain how; really showing the hand of the author there, it's obvious they just couldn't be bothered to think of an explanation.

So while I didn't suffer watching this as much as some people clearly did, and I might choose to rewatch it (if only the first part) in the future, I wouldn't exactly recommend it.