Not a lot actually. The plot is really quite sound, structurally. There are some production issues, but on the whole it doesn't have all that much wrong with it.
It wasn't the last story to go into production - that was Ghost Light - but it was the last to be broadcast before the series was cancelled, so it can sometimes be looked upon negatively just because of this, which is quite unfair.
One thing I would say about Ace's story arc, which in hindsight ends here as the Doctor returns her to her native Perivale, is that I thought the events of The Curse of Fenric might have had more of an impact. She still hates her mother and makes no effort to go visit her, despite her encounter with baby Audrey and a new understanding of her family history. She doesn't even ask after her, even if she doesn't want to actually see her. The previous story just isn't referred to.
(This is possibly down to the stories of the McCoy era often being reordered prior to the season being broadcast - but if you're going to do story arcs then you really ought to be on top of this).
The thing is, Ace has specifically asked the Doctor to bring her here, so that she can catch up with her old gang. But what if she bumped into her mother in the street? It's a bit risky going to a place where you stand a good chance of meeting someone you wanted to avoid.
We start the story with people being abducted from the streets in broad daylight by human-sized Cheetah People on horseback. Even if this is a Sunday morning - and it must be for Paterson to be running his self-defence class - it's obviously summer and so the streets of Perivale ought to have had a lot more activity. People would be coming and going from church, or popping to the shops for the Sunday papers. Others would be doing a spot of gardening, and more would be washing their cars - a Sunday Morning Suburban Ritual. And where are the dog-walkers? Using the dog as an excuse to stop off at the pub for a Sunday lunchtime drink is another ritual.
We see one woman looking out of her window just because the Doctor is crawling about in her garden - so a giant cat on a horse causing people to shout out in shock and alarm would most certainly have drawn more attention.
As mentioned, the weather is lovely - yet a children's playground is empty on a sunny weekend morning. There aren't even any bored teenagers hanging about.
The animatronic cat obviously disappoints. Fitting the necessary mechanics into a larger animal, such as a human or even a dog, is relatively easy, but the equipment of the day struggled to adapt it to such a small skull size. It looks fake, especially when you also have a real black cat in some shots to compare it with.
The Cheetah People themselves disappointed everyone on the production. Andrew Cartmel and Rona Munro wanted them to be still human, but with a few cat-like elements in their appearance, rather than actual cat people.
And Squeak's dead pet cat looks very much like one of those things you kept your pyjamas in.
Isn't it a bit of a coincidence that one of Ace's friends, out of all the people in Perivale, should be one of those targeted by the Kitlings / Cheetahs? Or was it the Master's doing? He is deliberately sending the Cheetah People and Kitlings to Perivale - presumably meaning he knows the Doctor will turn up there. But if so, how does he even know about Ace? It is clear that she doesn't know him as the Doctor has to explain to her who he is.
An issue missed in the editing is when Ace walks away from the Doctor - only to be seen standing beside him in the next long shot as the Master spies on them.
The Doctor works out how they can get back to Earth and announces this to Ace, without first checking that the Master isn't listening in and so now also knows the secret.
The climax to the story takes place on Horsenden Hill, where the Doctor and Midge play chicken on motorcycles. Both bikes and riders appear to vanish as if by magic at the point of impact - which results in a fireball. Yet neither rider is even slightly singed. Midge dies, but the Doctor is conveniently sent flying onto a handy sofa.
The Master then has him at his mercy, but doesn't so much as give him a punt up the posterior, despite it being presented to him...
We know that some of the Cheetah People survive the destruction of the planet, as one comes to take away Karra's body. But if they are so much part of their planet - created and nurtured by it - where else can they go to?
And the Doctor returns to the TARDIS as the planet perishes - his home. But where is home to the Master these days?
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