The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara become embroiled in the problems of the court of King Pygmalion…

No, this isn’t some twisted take by Marc Platt on the plot of My Fair Lady (or any of the other variations of that tale) – this is the original King Pygmalion, from Tyre, and the problems that he has with his sister Elissa. As always, Marc Platt’s historical recreation is superb, capturing not just the characters of the period he’s writing about, but their different take on morality – things that we simply take for granted might not be what the TARDIS crew he’s writing about do, and those definitely may not fit with those of the time in which they land. It’s one of the few times that you really can’t complain too much about any sort of deus ex machina ending, given the beliefs of the people – and indeed the way in which the time travellers present themselves.

As with all these new First Doctor adventures, the feel is very much of the black and white era, down to the way in which you can guess that certain regular characters’ input into an episode might have been pre-recorded on film (a la The Reign of Terror). David Bradley’s Doctor becomes more fine-tuned with each outing, with Claudia Grant’s Susan often very much the schoolchild she seemed to be when Ian and Barbara first met her. Like them, Jamie Glover and Jemma Powell’s Ian and Barbara feel spot on – I hear their voices but mentally I’m seeing William Russell and Jacqueline Hill. That’s not to say that Glover and Powell aren’t bringing their own interpretation but that they are true to the spirit of those original performances.

Director Ken Bentley and producer David Richardson have done a great job with the casting. Ajjaz Awad and Jo Ben Ayed work very well as Elissa and Pygmalion, as is Orion Ben as “Eric” (properly Aiyaruc), a character I’d liked to have spent a bit more time with, and who I hope could potentially return. Joe Meiners’ sound design and Bentley’s direction ensure that a suitable pace is maintained, and the emotional thread, particularly between Ian, Barbara and Elissa, is given due prominence, without ever going against what was established in the TV series.

Verdict: Another thoroughly enjoyable pure historical from Mr Platt! 9/10

Paul Simpson