I like this more than you do, but as with all the Hartnell comedies, there's an uncertainty of tone which makes it hard to get into or to really love in the way that, say, City of Death or The Androids of Tara might be loved. As you say, Ian's plot is largely laugh-free, and fairly typical of the era and does not quite gel with the farce elsewhere. I do also find the scenes of Nero chasing Barbara unpleasant, even when I try to take account of the mores of the era.