Series 4 was always a step too far and in fact was never envisaged by the series creators. The creaking spaceship is only matched by some the storylines that had all the qualities of something made up after an especially heavy night out.
This was by some measure the low point of the series, in fact the nadir of the entire project.
What else can we do with these characters? I know, who hasn't had a doomed romance yet? Tarrant hasn't?
So we get Stephen Pace tripping along with Zukhon's daughter, holding hands like a couple of 14 year olds.
Cringeworthy.
Meanwhile, the ambassadors gather in series of costumes that would have made Village People blush.
This episode, more than any other, revealed a project that was begging to be put out of its misery. As I said at the outset, series 4 was an afterthought. Something that someone thought was a good idea at the time. Rather like Operation Barbarosa.
A tragedy for such a fine show.