Frontier in Space: Episode One

I've often wondered if this was an attempt at recreating something along the lines of the Dalek Masterplan. Frontier in Space is a terrific story, but all events lead to the events on Spiradon.

Part 1 is a great episode, I love the story, I love the ideas, and most of all, I love the Draconians, known for being Pertwee's favourite monster, they were terrific, a great design, with a personality and culture seldom seen. It amazes me that The Draconians have never returned in new Doctor Who, they were a real triumph of the Pertwee years.

A very rich content, we learn that Earth and the nobles of Draconia are on the brink of war, but someone is obviously behind it. It's always good when The Doctor is separated from his TARDIS.

Pertwee and Jo are delightful together, she had now become so resourceful.

The news broadcast reminds me a bit of Masterplan also, we witnessed similar scenes.

Why all the high collars, they must have been so uncomfortable to wear.

The main aspect of the story I noticed is the ambition of it. In a way its like a mini Doctor Who Flux hopping around from place to place with an overarching story. The story mainly acts as a piece of world building where the doctor navigates a politically unstable landscape, trying to prevent a terrible war. The story is very noticeably cynical on authority whether its the facist leaning ideology of General Williams or the sexist traditions of the Draconian court. Because the serial spends a lot of the time in exploring the world it, does drag quite a bit. Jo Grant also barely gets anything to do and could easily be removed from the story without any impacts. Despite this Pertwee and Delgado are in top form and the final cliffhangers is probably one of the best in the shows history.