I want to preface this review with the fact that going into this story arc, I had enjoyed Colin Baker’s performance as The Doctor (as I later did in The Trial of a Time Lord) and I found that the disdain for his interpretation grossly overexaggerated. With this in mind, I had hoped the same was true for The Trial of a Time Lord. Alas, it’s mostly spot on.

The Mysterious Planet started off well enough with a beautiful location scenery, lovely incidental music, and an interesting mystery, but it quickly devolved into an annoying mess. Populated with annoying characters such as Katyrca, Drathro, and The Twin Dilemma wannabe pair, Tandrell and Humker, the plotting quickly became boring, especially with the incessant and unnecessary interruptions to the trial. The only redeeming qualities are the creation of Sabalom Glitz and the return of Tom Chadbon (the lovable Duggan in City of Death).

Just as the serial before it, Mindwarp started off nicely (again with beautiful scenery, lovely incidental music, and an interesting mystery), but it, too, devolved into a mess, one that was clearly predicted the moment Sil showed up. I simply couldn’t stand Sil the first time around in The Vengeance on Varos and I only give that story such high markings because the story was so well written. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case here. The only redeeming quality of this serial (for me, anyways, I think others hate him) was Brian Blessed’s bombastic performance as King Yrcanos, who reminded of me a drunk and wild John Rhys-Davies.

Of the individual serials, only Terror of the Vervoids interested me. The story reminded me of a classic Tom Baker horror/adventure, especially because of the nature of the Vervoids. In addition to never having a problem with Mel (beyond her screaming, which was limited in this serial), nearly all of the characters were interesting on some level, although I did want to strangle Professor Sarah Lasky on several occasions, particularly at the end when she declared she should’ve realized she was blinded by her own ego. Even the the court interruptions were less frequent and less obnoxious this time around and even served a purpose in regards to the story.

Finally, The Ultimate Foe. Going into this serial, I thought it would make or break the overall arc, and unfortunately, the serial broke it. There are several missteps that the serial makes, particularly the identity and true purpose of the Valeyard, as well as the terrible waste of The Master’s appearance. The story would have been far more interesting and griping if The Master was the one who was behind the trial from the get go, while the Valeyard was a merely pawn in his scheme (a willing one or not, either would have worked). Instead, we get this poppycock about the Valeyard being the amalgamation of the Doctor’s dark side somewhere between his twelfth and final regenerations (which I already knew ahead of time, but it’s still complete rubbish). Nonetheless, it was not without its good moments, particularly The Doctor’s passionate speech about the corruption of the Time Lords and the sequences in the Matrix, as well as the return of Sabalom Glitz.

In the end, The Trial of a Time Lord was a complete misfire when it had the potential of being something quite amazing, despite covering old ground (The War Games).