Capture / escape / capture / escape... This story is composed almost entirely of captures and escapes - or at least that's how it feels.
To take just the Doctor: (1) he is captured by the freighter crew, (2) he is freed when the Ogrons attack, (3) he is arrested by Earth space policemen, (4) he escapes when the Ogrons attack the prison, (5) he is recaptured by Earth security a few minutes later, (6) he is freed by the Draconians, (7) he escapes from the Draconians, (8) he is recaptured by Earth security, (9) he almost escapes from the lunar penal colony, (10) the Master captures him instead, (11) he escapes from the prison ship cell, (12), he is captured by Draconian space security, and finally (13) he gets captured by the Master / Daleks.
Jo shares most of these, but towards the end she gets captured by the Master, escapes from the Master, gets recaptured by the Master and escapes from the Master - all in just two episodes.
Even the Master gets captured and escapes at one point.
Where exactly is the TARDIS, and in what state, for it to almost collide with a spaceship? We hear that the spaceship is travelling through hyperspace, but the TARDIS has never been said to travel that way. If it dematerialises to travel, how can it then be in a solid enough state to have a collision?
The freighter crew tell of a near collision with a small blue box, and the mind analysis machine shows the same small blue box, yet General Williams still doesn't believe the Doctor.
And what is it with the fancy gowns and opera gloves for an interrogator? Apparently the director had a big say in the costume designs for this story...
Once on the freighter, Jo sees another spaceship change appearance when she hears the strange sound. Why would she see it as anything different if she has no idea who it belongs to? We later find out she's been subjected to a device which targets the fear centres of the brain, but she has absolutely no reason to fear this spaceship at this point, and wouldn't know a Draconian or Ogron vessel from any other.
The Master's device fortunately picks on people who just happen to have a shared fear, so that every single human sees Draconians, and every single Draconian sees humans. Why do some not see spiders, or snakes, or clowns?
If the device can be so fine tuned that the Master can determine what people see, why does Jo see a Drashig when confronted by a freighter crewman in the first episode?
The Doctor also sees a Draconian on a screen in the same instalment, but why does he not see it as the Ogron it is - or do the Ogrons employ Draconian glove puppets for such eventualities?
Does the Master trust the Ogrons to use the device on their own? He only seems to have one of them, and his whole plan depends on it, so it's a huge risk giving it to the stupid Ogrons.
Why the attack on the prison, risking an Ogron or two being captured or killed, when all the Master had to do was wait for the Doctor to be sent to the Moon?
The lunar penal colony obviously imposes strict conformity, yet the Doctor is allowed to go with the rolled up trouser leg and sandals look, which Pertwee probably adopted at his home in Ibiza, instead of the customary boots.
Why was the Doctor given his own gear back in the Earth jail, when Jo has to change into the black judo outfit?
Jo saw Ky transform into a super-being not that long ago, so knows that the Mutants of Solos are not monsters, yet she sees one when the device is used on her by the Master.
Why is the Drashig she sees only about 5' 5", instead of 30' high?
A problem we already noted with The Mutants - people treat being suddenly exposed to the vacuum of space like it was just a bit of a breeze, instead of being sucked out the door.
How does the Master's device, which uses sound, work in space?
General Williams spends the entire story refusing to believe the Doctor's stories, and he has a pathological hatred of the Draconians so doesn't trust them an inch. Suddenly, as the story nears its conclusion, he accepts everything the Doctor and the Draconian prince say without question.
No-one mentions the fact that Williams' ship must have been armed during the initial incident which started the war. (Actually this was explained as a non-weapon manoeuvre by Williams, but the scene was cut).
Why has no-one in 20 years talked about this incident and explained to Williams the Draconian tradition and empty gun ports?
Cameras. This entire story revolves around people seeing things that aren't there, yet no-one has any kind of CCTV, or cameras of any kind, that would have shown the truth. The idea that people wouldn't have surveillance cameras in the future, back in 1973, is odd. The first commercial CCTV system was introduced in the US in 1949.
The first Draconian we see on the freighter is obviously wearing a crude rubber mask rather than proper make-up and half-mask.
When the Doctor does his space walk you catch a glimpse of a studio crewmember inside the spaceship hatch. How can a little bit of air from his oxygen tank allow him to catch up with a spaceship flying rapidly away from him?
The second episode accidentally reran the end credits for the first, meaning actors who appeared did not get a credit on screen, and people who didn't feature did.
One episode of this story also got broadcast in Australia with the naff boingy-boingy theme tune rearrangement.
When the Doctor is first locked up on Earth, the authorities fail to remove his sonic screwdriver - a device which unlocks prison doors. Likewise, the Draconians fail to search the Master for his hypno-device when they capture him. Both these things could have been deadly weapons.
The Doctor is the greatest ever enemy of the Daleks, yet they leave him in the hands of the Master - someone who seems to go out of his way not to kill the Doctor and so frequently helps facilitate his escape.
The ending. Even with the director of the next story attempting to sort out Paul Bernard's mess, it is still rubbish. The Master simply vanishes for no apparent reason. What makes this worse, of course, is the fact that this is Roger Delgado's last appearance as the Master.
After Day of the Daleks and The Time Monster, you have to ask yourself why Bernard was hired in the first place.
Even the Floor Tiles of Doom in Death to the Daleks implied a threat, but the cliff-hanger to Part Four of this story is simply a shot of the back of an Ogron's head...
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