With four widely varying opinions of what constitutes an engaging and entertaining television episode from any time before 1998, it’s not often that we come to complete agreement over the rewatchability and recommondability of a classic Doctor Who story. When it does happen, that’s more than a red-letter day; it’s a day worth playing a scratch-off lottery ticket or two.

With more affection for Anthony Ainley than we can reasonably ‘master’, we collectively praise a well-told and well-executed long-game villain payoff. From Byrne’s snappy script to a rare but well-earned bit of praise for Adric’s role in the plot, there’s very little we have to critique, even jokingly…well, except for the Keeper’s melting makeup. (But then again, if everything were flawless, why bother reviewing it?)

We’re all firmly in the “Tremas Adoration Club”, and to the great surprise of half of us — and we’re not naming names — the other half did not even realize that the “Master to come” was the actor portraying Tremas. Beevers is a delight in his role, although more’s the pity that 96% of his face can’t even be seen. If it were, perhaps more people would recognize and include him in the wider public pantheon of televised Masters. (Thank Omega for Big Finish…)

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