Ben has returned from action at sea to visit his friends, Jamie and Polly McCrimmon, and ends up helping defend their village from invasion.

Simon Guerrier’s script for this unusual Second Doctor story takes full advantage of the original concept of the Early Adventures, as laid out by producer David Richardson – recreating stories from the period in a way similar to the ‘lost stories’ released by the BBC, complete with linking narration by one of the actors involved with the original. As is noted in the extras, there’s a definitely cinematic feel to this, with plenty of key plot points depending on physical actions that have to be described – director Lisa Bowerman juggles the different requirements well.

We know something is off from the start – Jamie and Polly married, the presence of mysterious electrical gadgets and a figure with an (unnamed) Tissue Compression Eliminator who releases strange fog into the village don’t exactly feel like the start of a normal Second Doctor story. The presence of the titular Home Guard might have pushed the story into overt comedy but instead it feels more like a homage to the real Dad’s Army than its screen incarnation – Brian Murphy’s character in particular. Frazer Hines, Anneke Wills and Elliot Chapman are each portraying familiar but different versions of their character(s) and Wills and Hines both do strong double duty.

James Dreyfus once again does excellent work as an earlier version of the Master – aided by some lovely hints in the sound design and music by Toby Hrycek-Robinson and tips of the hat to Dudley Simpson’s motif for the errant Time Lord – and Molly Hanson’s Jill Sandbrook is a character it’d be interesting to meet again.

Verdict: A clever concept brought to life well. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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