Colony in Space [TV/1971.4.10 ~ 5.15]

★★★☆☆

  Not as much of a snoozefest as some would make it out to be, but not as cleverly written a masterpiece it's held up to be by some others, Colony in Space veers from really good to dull until it settles on being 'pretty entertaining'. In terms of political metaphors, I'd say this is on par with The Mutants; when it comes to pure entertainment, I consider Colony to edge out a litte bit with all the gunfights and every scene with Roger Delgado's Master. There's something utterly intriguing about space-faring groups of  humans using the same kind of firearms contemporary Earth culture (i.e. the 1970s) used, bullets and all. It gives the colonists a sense of realness, that there really is a possibility the future of the human race would come to this. It's the Star Wars effect six years prior, with grimy spaceships and lived-in areas, and it's something I enjoy taking notice of whenever it's on the screen.

  Many people bemoan the fact that the Master only appears for less than three episodes, but I rather think putting him on the back portion of Colony in Space was a smart idea -- since this really only ever seemed to have been written as a four-parter and the additional two episodes would've seriously dragged without his involvement. Of course, this 'damage control' role the Master takes means it's not exactly his finest hour or anything, but Delgado always makes up for an etnertaining watch. Here he is, impersonating a person of authority and planning to steal a precious cultural artefact from an indigenous species which acts as a dangerous weapon as well. Classic Master, and Delgado is simply delighted to be asked back. 

  You may find Colony in Space overlong, but for its colonial commentary and deep dive into how scummy mining corporations (or corporations in general) are, I cannot in all honesty actively dislike it. It's too entertaining to be bad! Plus, it's nice to see Jo's breathless and realistically scared reaction to ending up on another planet, light years away from home. I'd be tentative to leave the TARDIS too if what I saw was a boring old quarry.