Part 1 sees the Doctor and Peri land in the mining village of Killingworth in the 19th Century, they've been manoeuvred off course as the intended destination was Kew Gardens. They arrive at a particularly turbulent period in history as Luddites destroy machinery, but these men are more savage then normal. The Doctor discovers a group of geniuses are gathering, including George Stephenson and Humphry Davy. The Doctor has more then just the Luddites to deal with, The Master is about, so too is fellow renegade Timelord The Rani, he discovers the reason for her presence on Earth and soon tries manipulating the situation to destroy the Doctor. The Rani needs to extract a tiny amount of fluid from the human brain, she does so by luring men into the bath house and rendering them unconscious. The Doctor deduced that all the victims were clean, and had therefore had a bath, he ventures to the Bath House, where The Rani discovers him.....
This is one of my favourite Colin Baker stories, I can understand why it's a period not to everyone's taste, but I like Colin. Had he been given a different costume, and some better story lines things would have been a lot different, however this was a highlight.
Definitely benefiting from its setting, the production values naturally look fantastic, the Ironbridge works look so good. The costumes are great, apart from the Doctor's revolting clothes and Peri's stomach turning dress, what were they thinking????
Standout performance is undoubtedly Kate O'Mara, she made a seriously impressive debut, she definitely made her stamp. The Master was a little one dimensional simply feuding with The Doctor, she had lots more layers, purposeful, intelligent, seeing both The Doctor and The Master as a mere inconvenience. The Rani needs to return one day!
Overall a very interesting story, great music, some very good performances (Kate O'Mara) and lots for the Doctor to deal with, a fun cliffhanger, sadly Peri is rather obsolete in Part 1. 8/10