Battlefield: into the final classic season (😨), but with an encore for the Brig! By now fans had built him up into this legendary figure, and as such this story thoroughly celebrates him.

And UNIT gets a bit of a makeover, with a more international flavour to it. #DoctorWho

So often in this era you have ambitious new writers with wildly imaginative ideas… that just can’t be effectively conveyed given the available time and budget.

The Target novelisation clarifies everything (especially Morgaine and Mordred’s universe) immeasurably. #DoctorWho

Sad to see the reduced circumstances of the classic TARDIS interior in its final appearance. Just the console and a few fake walls in shadow.

“Oh shame!”, as Bambera would say (ah, the momentary shock in 1989 when we all thought she was about to say shit! 😆) #DoctorWho

Who would have ever thought Nicholas Parsons would be so good in a role like this? Sometimes JNT’s “stunt casting” really worked.

Sylvester also gives the best performance of his time in the role. We’re light years away from the pratfalling of Time And The Rani. #DoctorWho

They’d worked out by now how to do decent #DoctorWho on the available budget, by making everything mostly earthbound, but still managed to give us one last believable alien planet.

And the Cheetah People makeup is easily equal to the cat nuns from nearly two decades later.

What a season. What an era. What a TARDIS team.

And what a pity so few at the time, either in fandom or in the BBC, could appreciate what they had… #DoctorWho

As always in #DoctorWho, there’s a never-ending cycle where a “disliked” era becomes more loved with the passage of time, as the kids who enjoyed it grow up and replace the grumpy adults who slagged it off. It happened before and it’ll happen again.

Every Doc has their day. 🙂

The opening doesn’t make much of a concession to new viewers, launching straight into an info-dump with references to Time Lords, Daleks, Skaro, the Master, regenerations… helpfully showing RTD what *not* to do!

And what’s with the Daleks having Smurf voices? 😆#DoctorWho

I always think Grace’s whole look and character was designed to echo Scully from The X-Files, which was massive at the time.

And elsewhere they lift from Classic Who - the two hearts X-ray and the new clothes scene are obviously taken from Spearhead From Space. #DoctorWho

It’s impressive how, with little over an hour of screen time, Eric Roberts gives us one of the campest Masters ever.

No mean feat, given the competition! #DoctorWho

THE DOCTOR KISSES A LADY!

*clutches pearls and collapses onto nearby fainting couch*

#DoctorWho

Night Of The Doctor: I’m now cheating slightly by jumping ahead to this minisode but, well, you have to really, don’t you?

What a brilliant surprise this was. I still remember scaring the shit out of the cat with the yell I let out when McGann appeared. 😄 #DoctorWho

I’d forgotten just how short this is. It crams in a hell of a lot into under seven minutes, with another tantalising glimpse of how McGann’s Doctor might have been.

The dialogue is noticeably Moffat. You can’t help but picture Matt saying the “bring me knitting” line. #DoctorWho

The funny thing about the Big Finish companions getting namechecked is it means he forgot to mention any that were/will be created afterwards.

No mention of Grace either! 😆 #DoctorWho

Rose: right, here we go into 21st century #DoctorWho. Honestly, going from 1989 to 1996, detouring to 2013 then back to 2005 has given me whiplash.😵‍💫

This was a… well, “fantastic” relaunch. Eccleston & Piper both brilliant. Wise to start with Rose as the audience POV character.