And then the thing actually starts...
It's really, really hard to believe that this is the story that follows The Caves of Androzani. It barely looks like the same series, let alone the following week. It's astonishingly lurid, and the introduction of twin geniuses Womulus and Wemus (well, that's how they pronounce it) makes the heart sink. Every moment not in the TARDIS in part one manages the dual feat of being both uninvolving and hideous to look at. Almost none of the guest cast come out unscathed -- Maurice Denham, as Professor Edgeworth/Azmael, almost manages it, but he has to deliver great swathes of plot and have mental conversations with the giant slug Mestor. Oh, and, surprisingly, Oliver Smith as Noma, the main Jacondan, feels very naturalistic despite looking like a bird/man hybrid. Everyone else wavers from barely acceptable (Kevin McNally, who gets better once he's away from the space police office set -- what is up with that set, by the way? It's a really awkward mishmash of props --- everyone seems to be doing their work on late '70s desk calculators, for instance -- that looks like a rush job more than anything else133) to almost unwatchable (Helen Blatch as Fabian, sad to say), and the fact that the plot is revolving around the twins does this story no favors whatsoever.
The only redeeming qualities of part one are the TARDIS scenes. Colin Baker doesn't give us a particularly likeable performance as the sixth Doctor, but then he's not supposed to, and you can tell he's not taking anything for granted. The moment in the wardrobe room where he hides in the clothing racks and laughs in an unhinged fashion is strikingly good. In general, though, Baker chooses to play the part with a more artificial, theatrical bent, and he spends lots of time declaiming and standing proudly. You can tell this is deliberate though (as Peri comments on it), and besides, it's about the only way an actor can survive inside that coat. Now, truth be told (and it's possibly because 30 years' worth of familiarity has lessened its effect), I actually kind of like the colorful patchwork quilt coat, but it's not an outfit for small performances. Fortunately Baker delivers. Where things get less successful are the mood swings -- not so much that they're there at all (you can tell what they're going for), but that some of them are genuinely frightening (the attack on Peri) and others seem designed just so that Peri and the Doctor can bicker, which isn't very entertaining to watch. Still, at least they're keeping things unsettled and therefore not safe.
I wish I could say it gets better in part two, but it doesn't. The main plot might be quite good, but it's frankly hard to tell under such an awful veneer. And while there are some more interesting Doctor moments (such as cowering in fear behind Peri), the moment he's introduced to that main storyline the fun gets sucked out of his performance too. Now that he has to pretend to know people and actually act generically heroic, it's just less interesting to watch. Baker still does his best (and the rubbing of the cat badge for (presumably) luck is a nice touch), but it's frankly hard to care by this point, so much has the rest of the proceedings drained the audience's good will.
It can only get better from here, right? Right?
133 And special mention for how the BASIC program that makes the screen display X.V.773 LAST LOCATION etc., complete with the word RUN ready for the actor to hit RETURN and execute the code, is clearly visible for a second or two before the program actually runs.