I'd agree that this is one of the very best stories. The weird thing is how close it comes to being an almighty failure. The whodunnit essentially only has one suspect. The political satire is pretty broadbrush. The action film bit has the Doctor being very violent (although the Hinchcliffe era Doctor was more violent than most fans realise, as I've argued in the past).
It works because of the speed, which is pretty relentless, and the scope. Before this you simply couldn't show Gallifrey in detail. It pretty much invents everything about the planet. About 75% of what we know about Gallifrey in TV Who comes from this story. Aside from Omega and a few hints of something we never really saw in the late 80s, most of the rest is just window dressing. But as well as world-building, it knows when to disorientate. The early Matrix in particular are disturbing in a way rarely seen in the programme before or since (the end of The Trial of a Time Lord is probably the nearest reference point, again deliberately channelling this story).
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-10 08:46 pm (UTC)It works because of the speed, which is pretty relentless, and the scope. Before this you simply couldn't show Gallifrey in detail. It pretty much invents everything about the planet. About 75% of what we know about Gallifrey in TV Who comes from this story. Aside from Omega and a few hints of something we never really saw in the late 80s, most of the rest is just window dressing. But as well as world-building, it knows when to disorientate. The early Matrix in particular are disturbing in a way rarely seen in the programme before or since (the end of The Trial of a Time Lord is probably the nearest reference point, again deliberately channelling this story).