The Doctor, Mel and Ace fall foul of Parking regulations…

John Dorney’s unusual but effective story is very much in the mould of stories like Paradise Towers or The Happiness Patrol, tapping into an area of the McCoy era that tends to be overlooked in favour of the master player on three thousand and seven chessboards that his Doctor became. The Time Lord’s definitely not working on some arcane plan here (unless he’s keeping it incredibly well hidden), becoming caught up in events on a planet that is an oddity in the Doctor Who universe.

There’s lots of influences at play here (there’s one bit that seems inspired by throwaway lines from Marvin the Paranoid Android around episode 5 of the original Hitchhikers’ radio series), and Dorney plays to the core team’s strengths, separating the TARDIS crew for long periods and bringing them in contact with oddball characters who would definitely be at home in the 1987 series. As Sophie Aldred notes in the extras, this seems to be a younger Ace, less careworn than the one who’s suffered alongside Hex, but it’s definitely an older and wiser Mel, still naturally optimistic, but who’s had a bit of the sheen knocked off her innocence.

Director Ken Bentley has brought together a strong cast, with Gabrielle Glaister’s Cowley obstinately refusing to conform to stereotype, while Daniel Burnett’s sound design and Jamie Robertson’s music help sell the strange enivronments.

Verdict: A lighter story than many – at least initially – that throws a few curveballs along the way. 8/10

Paul Simpson