The Mysterious Planet [TV/1986.9.6 ~ 9.27]

★★★★☆

  Now that the Jodie Whittaker era of Doctor Who is a thing of the past, I have new perspective. When she first came on and people harped on about how supposedly terrible both her and the show was, I couldn't understand. When I first jumped into Colin Baker's tenure on the show and found myself enjoying Season 22 tremendously, I couldn't understand. When I first got into The Trial of a Time Lord, I couldn't understand the general consensus that this was terrible... and predictably, I enjoyed Flux much, much more than most Doctor Who fans did. I realised that the Sixth and Thirteenth Doctors have more in common than I initially thought (they also both have the rainbow color scheme on their attire, something I love), and found myself yet again facing the fact that no two opinions are the same in fan circles.

  So yes, I have a very positive view on Trial of a Time Lord. It allows Colin Baker to show a much more mellowed, but still incredibly powerful and scene-stealing Doctor, and makes for some fascinating telly with great ideas and well-written scenes. Yes, the trial scenes are pretty intrusive and... even in fictional standards, the whole "trial" aspect of it may be laughable under scrutiny, but thanks to the talents of Baker, Lynda Bellingham and Michael Jayston, they're sometimes the most riveting (when emotions are heightened, Baker jumps out of his seat filled with fury and Jayston obliges with a silkier but far more aggravated exchange). 

  Plus, the standalone story of The Mysterious Planet is so easy to watch and a joy from front to back. Robert Holmes always did have a talent to make anything fascinating, and a post-apocalyptic society with one primitive offshoot living outside as hunter-gatherers while the civilised few are groomed underneath the remains of the London Underground by a giant robot is brought to life with quite a bit of aplomb. Fun characters say brilliant lines (and even better, great actors bring them alive), and set designs are pretty good for a show that's supposedly suffering budget cuts at this stage. On paper there's nothing that "stands out" in The Mysterious Planet, but in its finished form it's simply such a fun runaround with Holmes writing some classic dialogue for his great characters. The Sixth Doctor on telly reaches one of his highlights here, and Nicola Bryant is on fire at this point as Peri. What is there not to like?