When it comes to Nu Who, there is a certainty aloofness to those who grew up with the original Doctor Who; the message boards are filled with people despairing at the new seasons and while this mostly has to do with the poor quality thereof, there is an element that seems to view the original with different (nostalgic) eyes from the modern episodes (not you Theo!). Particularly prone to eye-rolling are events which occur against all internal rules/logic but which are done for the sake of making a story happen. So, imagine how I feel finding that the very same thing was done all those decades ago to mark the 10th anniversary of the show being on the air.
The plot sees the Timelords permitting the three versions of the Doctor to come together in the same time so they can combine to fight the menace of Omega. It is a story that they could have done anything with and it is a shame that they do not make more of the strengths and have a lot of areas which are underdeveloped. In terms of what works, the banter between Pertwee and Troughton having some amusing clashes of character is the main draw here. Troughton in particular seems to be having the most fun, since this is a bonus for him, and he does steal the scene every time he pops his head up. I would have been interested to be a fly-on-the-wall in Pertwee's dressing room, since it must have been odd to have the last guys in the job coming back, particularly with one being better than you (although maybe that is just my preference – Troughton remains my favorite to date). The shame is that we do not get more of this, I would have happily watched a whole episode of them biting at each other, but sadly the narrative keeps them all apart (well, health kept Hartnell away).
It is also a shame that this strength is lost within a poor serial. The plot is okay but the main villain is like a stroppy teenager crossed with an OTT professional wrestler (even has the outfit for it – and a scene in which he wrestles Pertwee). Stomping around yelling at everything certainly doesn't work that well – particularly following a season where The Master was a much better and more refined villain. I watched this serial at Christmas, which seemed fitting since the monsters working for Omega resembled a trifle once half of it is eaten and the rest slops over onto itself; suffice to say they are not the most threatening creature I've seen in this show. The wider writing is also poor; Levene's Benton has more to do but Courtney's Lethbridge-Stewart suddenly seems to be unable to process other worlds and beings despite that fact that he has been exposed to them for a very long time – he comes over as a bit bumbling here and I have no idea why.
So, a rather "meh" start to the tenth season, albeit with the pleasure of seeing Troughton again, and seeing him and Pertwee do some good work together.
