None.
This is my mum's favourite Pertwee story, so I do have some not small affection for it, although I don't think it's brilliant. Three episodes too long, clearly. And even at that size the plot still wouldn't be thrilling. There are gripping moments though, particularly two of the cliffhangers which are better than any in the previous story. It's been a while since I last saw this, but isn't there also a race to build a translation device, only for the aliens to speak English anyway? Talk about a waste of time.
I hate the "transmigration of object" stunt. One of the earliest signs that the writers were perhaps more interested in indulging themselves than the viewers, a lamentable trait which would reach its culmination in the awful The Time Monster. Terrence Dicks is a very fine writer, but I don't like him as a script editor at all. Even the time-jumping scene at the start I just cannot stand. I feel like even the often clown-like Troughton would have drawn the line at this. But Ronald Allen is good, even if John Abineri's character suddenly turns mad near the end, as if the many writers who worked on this never really knew how it was going to end. There is subtext to enjoy. The touch on xenophobia is always appreciated, and although everyone defers to authority a bit too much for my liking, I also like how it's those at the top who are shown as to blame. But this is not a consistent or streamlined set of scripts.
Personally I think it should just be a few episodes shorter. I really enjoy it but I still feel it should be a tad shorter.
Great story on the whole, but there are perhaps a few too many characters (after a while, figuring out who's who and who is in on the conspiracy can become quite difficult), and the ending is definitely a bit of an anti-climax. Plus, the trans-migration of object thing is complete bullshit, and sticks out ridiculously in what is otherwise a fairly grounded and realistic story (by Doctor Who standards anyway).
Back in 1970, six-year-old me managed to persuade my big brother to make an audio recording (on a big reel-to-reel tape recorder) of Episode Five—why that episode in particular, I have no idea. Regardless, for decades it was probably the Pertwee episode I was most familiar with—at least in terms of the soundtrack! And, from childhood, I was always particularly impressed by one piece of dialogue between the Doctor and the Brigadier.
Specifically…
Doctor: Somebody’s using these creatures, Brigadier. They’re not free agents. They were brought to Earth for some purpose.
Brigadier: Conquest?
Doctor: Possibly. Or is that what we’re supposed to think?
For years, I just kept thinking: Ooh, that’s so grown up!
@PFisherCockburn Ummm this is "Explain your issues with Classic Doctor Who". Not "Say something nice about Classic Doctor Who".
What do you think?