It's easy to see why the viewer at the time struggled to get past the terrible opening story, odd decision to make the character so unhinged at 1st and the woeful costume. Then came the 'incomprehensible unless you'd got every Doctor Who fact at your finger tips' Attack...!
Look beyond that though and there's two genuinely classic stories that are more than worthy of rubbing shoulders with the series' finest.
Firstly, and most obviously, is Vengeance on Varos. This is way ahead of its time in offering a macabre critique of 'reality television' and contains a cracking guest turn from Martin Jarvis.
But my favourite is the (in my book) underrated Revelation of the Daleks.
Set amid the funeral home 'Tranquil Repose' with Davros as the 'Great Healer' this is as dark as it gets. Davros using the dead for new Daleks is pretty grim - as is the representation of the half converted Stengos. For me it's the Daleks, and particularly Davros, at their manipulative best. Once they start shouting and shooting they're infinitely less interesting.
Baker's Doctor, perhaps helped by the blue cloak over the costume, rises to the challenge with a top class Doctor-y performance. Peri too is settled into her role well here and is an excellent foil.
On top of all that is a cracking collection of well-rounded characters. I suppose that has been something of a theme of my selections so far but good one-off stars are a sign of a good script and a rich tale.
Here we've got Clive 'yes Hyacinth' Swift as the slimy Jobel (and who could forget his 'de-wigged' demise?), the Orcini/Bostock double act, the besotted Tasambeker, the duplicitous Kara and even Alexei Sayle's DJ. Natasha and Grigory are perhaps a little less well sketched but are still decent additions - as are Takis and Lilt. It's hard to think of a guest cast stretching to quite so many memorable one-offs.
All that and it proved the 45-minute format could work. See you in 2005!
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