It's one of JNT's "shopping list" stories, which never turn out well. Plot should drive everything, not be driven by the need to include specific locations or characters.
The story opens with an unseen Time Lord communicating with a masked being who appears in negative. The Time Lord's voice is treated slightly - but as soon as you know that Michael Gough is in the cast then the game's up. The reveal that he's the traitor on Gallifrey becomes an anti-climax.
A technician named Talor detects his activities, so Hedin kills him. This draws attention and leads to suspicions, so you have to wonder why Hedin didn't just incapacitate Talor and make it look like a minor accident. He only needs him quieted for a short time, as he expects Omega to return any day now.
It's very lucky for him that he only has a pig-headed Castellan and a vainglorious Chancellery Guard Captain to contend with.
Yes, the masked figure is Omega, last seen being annihilated in a matter / anti-matter collision big enough to turn a black hole into a supernova - as if one's the opposite of the other.
It's left unexplained how he survived.
Also unexplained is why, if you're going to bring back a popular old foe, you don't retain such an iconic original costume and plump for something over-designed instead.
To stop Omega from transferring into the matter universe, the Time Lords decide to execute the Doctor. It is obvious that he had to have had help from someone on the High Council to make transfer - it's explicitly stated that only someone on the High Council has the authority - but this is ignored by everyone until halfway through the story, once Omega's been revealed, and the second half needs something new to maintain interest.
If the Doctor is the most dangerous person in the universe, and time is pressing, why imprison him in his vast TARDIS and not in a cell which is much easier to guard? Even if he can't pilot the TARDIS away, he could give the guards the runaround long enough for Omega to make his move and thus threaten the entire matter-universe.
The Doctor also gets escorted through public areas of the Capitol - which sadly these days resembles an airport departure lounge. 1980's stories date terribly.
Also, does the Doctor really need to die? Would it not be more efficient to use the Doctor to ensnare Omega and destroy him instead. What's to stop Omega simply trying again and again until eventually succeeding?
In a contemporary interview with Johnny Byrne he thought that the inclusion of Amsterdam made sense and was well-integrated into the plot. I'm afraid he must be the only one. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for this story to be set in that city, other than because JNT wanted the holiday / publicity. (At one point you actually see him ,in a sheepskin coat, herding passers-by away from the filming).
There are locations all over the planet which lie below sea level - ones which are remote and highly unlikely to have the geeky hikers stumble across them.
Picking a major city is just asking for trouble - though at least in Amsterdam something like the Ergon might not actually draw attention - certainly not for those who might frequent certain coffee shops and cafes.
When the script actually draws attention to how bad a costume is then you know you're in trouble.
How on earth did Robin know about that underground crypt in the first place, and that they wouldn't be caught? The house is hardly abandoned if there's a gardener coming in.
My own personal bugbear with this story is Coincidence. All drama depends on it, if you want to wrap up the plot within a reasonable running time or page count, but the level of coincidence in this story is off the scale.
Had the Doctor somehow managed to cross paths with Tegan in London, that's one thing - she lives there, and he visits regularly. But for him to just happen to come across her again in a city we've never seen either visit before is far-fetched. Then we have the fact that a relative of hers just happens to be one of the people who accidentally stumbles into Omega's lair - and she's intending at that very moment to come and visit him.
The Doctor isn't reunited with Tegan when she's working, and so can't rejoin him and Nyssa. No, she just happens to be free right now.
There's also the issue with the Youth Hostel. The idea that the staff just happen to twig that it's Tegan they're looking for, out of goodness knows how many Australians who visit Amsterdam, is also pushing it too far.
The story at least mentions Leela and K-9, but would either really be absent if the Doctor was going to be executed? Assuming they are off on some sort of mission, they'd be using a TARDIS surely, so could get back immediately. Why is Andred no longer commander of the Chancellery Guard? Are the Time Lords racists now, that they victimise someone for marrying an alien? Why did the Doctor miss the wedding? Surely they would have ensured that he could attend, having brought them all together?
Last, but certainly not least, watch the Behind the Sofa for the story when they get to the scene in which Omega looks down at the boy beside the pipe organ and smiles. Everyone watching throws their hands up. This scene was praised back in 1983, with parallels drawn with the Frankenstein Monster and the little girl by the lake in the Universal classic, but watching it today I'm afraid Davison comes across looking like a child molester...
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