This was the show's 25th Anniversary story and there are references to the date as well as to the show's history throughout the story. The first part also presents some very interesting aspects in that it has different strands of story from different periods of time, plenty of mystery and hints of a darkness plus a suitable cliffhanger with the arrival of an old enemy. Sadly there are some flaws in this opening part and after that the subsequent parts are more flawed and less impressive.
The enemy arriving at the end of the first part in a dramatic cliffhanger are the Cybermen and their appearance is an exciting cliffhanger. Unfortunately in the second and third parts of the story the Cybermen are shown to not be at their best. As is too often the case in Cybermen stories their dark menace and power is undermined by showing too much weakness, having too many human-like behaviours and not sounding very impressive. Their plot to acquire the Silver Nemesis makes sense but is far too close to the Dalek's trying to acquire the Hand of Omega earlier in this same season. This story is very derivative of Remembrance of the Daleks with the Doctor having hidden an ancient item of power from Gallifrey and one of his great enemies seeking to get hold of it.
One story thread involves South American based Nazis travelling to Windsor, England seeking the all powerful weapon. This aspect is a good concept which starts quite well and is helped by a lead role played by Anton Diffring, veteran actor from many war films. Sadly once they start battling with the Cybermen they become too similar again to Remembrance of the Daleks where a fascistic group of humans were trying to gain possession of the weapon as a subplot to a greater alien threat. They add something to the story though.
Another story thread is based around a mysterious woman, Lady Peinforte travelling somehow from 17th Century Windsor to 1988 seeking the same weapon. This aspect of the story seems odd and illogical right from the start but in the first part you can easily believe it will all make sense in the end. Unfortunately it never really does. It is OK that she is a mysterious character who has met the Doctor before and 'knows his secrets' but we are none the wiser about her motives, her plans or how she can time travel as well as not knowing what she knows about the Doctor or what happened in her earlier confrontation with him. It feels inadequate and is not helped by the comedic treatment of her and her sidekick in the story.
The Doctor's dark secrets are intriguing and Ace is a great companion so their presence in the story is good but they are taken on all sorts of pointless tangents in Parts 2 & 3 especially. It also is highly questionable logic once the story pans out why the Doctor sent the Silver Nemesis on a trajectory which brings it to cause problems every 25 years and why he needs to set alarms for certain dates to do things when he is a time traveller!
There is plenty of entertainment and mystery but the plot makes little sense and is a carbon copy in many ways of Remembrance of the Daleks only a couple of stories earlier. A disappointing effort for a big anniversary.
My ratings: Part 1 - 6/10, Part 2 - 5/10, Part 3 - 4/10. Overall - 5/10.
The enemy arriving at the end of the first part in a dramatic cliffhanger are the Cybermen and their appearance is an exciting cliffhanger. Unfortunately in the second and third parts of the story the Cybermen are shown to not be at their best. As is too often the case in Cybermen stories their dark menace and power is undermined by showing too much weakness, having too many human-like behaviours and not sounding very impressive. Their plot to acquire the Silver Nemesis makes sense but is far too close to the Dalek's trying to acquire the Hand of Omega earlier in this same season. This story is very derivative of Remembrance of the Daleks with the Doctor having hidden an ancient item of power from Gallifrey and one of his great enemies seeking to get hold of it.
One story thread involves South American based Nazis travelling to Windsor, England seeking the all powerful weapon. This aspect is a good concept which starts quite well and is helped by a lead role played by Anton Diffring, veteran actor from many war films. Sadly once they start battling with the Cybermen they become too similar again to Remembrance of the Daleks where a fascistic group of humans were trying to gain possession of the weapon as a subplot to a greater alien threat. They add something to the story though.
Another story thread is based around a mysterious woman, Lady Peinforte travelling somehow from 17th Century Windsor to 1988 seeking the same weapon. This aspect of the story seems odd and illogical right from the start but in the first part you can easily believe it will all make sense in the end. Unfortunately it never really does. It is OK that she is a mysterious character who has met the Doctor before and 'knows his secrets' but we are none the wiser about her motives, her plans or how she can time travel as well as not knowing what she knows about the Doctor or what happened in her earlier confrontation with him. It feels inadequate and is not helped by the comedic treatment of her and her sidekick in the story.
The Doctor's dark secrets are intriguing and Ace is a great companion so their presence in the story is good but they are taken on all sorts of pointless tangents in Parts 2 & 3 especially. It also is highly questionable logic once the story pans out why the Doctor sent the Silver Nemesis on a trajectory which brings it to cause problems every 25 years and why he needs to set alarms for certain dates to do things when he is a time traveller!
There is plenty of entertainment and mystery but the plot makes little sense and is a carbon copy in many ways of Remembrance of the Daleks only a couple of stories earlier. A disappointing effort for a big anniversary.
My ratings: Part 1 - 6/10, Part 2 - 5/10, Part 3 - 4/10. Overall - 5/10.