Inferno (The Romans Episode 4)

The one where the Doctor inadvertently inspires a major historical event...

No, not that Inferno, not yet. This Inferno refers to the Great Fire of Rome, and there are no planet-boring drills to be seen anywhere.

After episode 3's out-and-out comedy, the tone settles down a bit here, and gets on with the job of resolving the loose ends and getting the Doctor and his friends out of strife and back to safety. The Doctor aka Maximus Pettulian risks being eaten by lions in the circus, Ian is on the run from Nero's guards, and Barbara is constantly at risk of being murdered by a jealous Poppaea. Only Vicki seems to have escaped any direct danger in The Romans!

Conspiracy (The Romans Episode 3)

The one where things get a little bit silly...

Conspiracy is (in)famous in fandom for being the most comedic of The Romans' four episodes. There have been some claims that most of the story's comedy is confined to episode 3, which really is not the case, but it's true that the humour is at its silliest and broadest here. And after years of quite liking this episode, I've now turned against it somewhat.

It's not that the humour is done badly. Indeed, most of it is amusing enough. I think the reason I've not clicked with it this time is because I've been watching Doctor Who through, in order, seeing it as contemporary viewers would have seen it back in the 1960s. And Conspiracy just does not sit well with what has come before, and as a result sticks out like a very sore thumb. Some fans might like the light relief for an episode or two, but for me it feels forced, unnecessary and demeaning. It's just a bit too silly, don't you think, hmmm?

All Roads Lead to Rome (The Romans Episode 2)

The one where Barbara is bought as a slave for the empress of Rome...

We rejoin the action as mute assassin Ascaris creeps into the Doctor's quarters in his second attempt to kill who he thinks is Maximus Pettulian. But he surely hasn't bargained on the fight the Doctor puts up as we see William Hartnell turn into a whirling ball of energy and giving as good as (in fact, better than) he gets! Hartnell seems to be enjoying this scene a little too much as he runs rings round stuntman Barry Jackson (later to turn up as Drax in The Armageddon Factor, fact fans), clocking him over the head with jugs and wrapping him up in bedclothes. I note this episode was recorded on New Year's Day, 1965. Perhaps Hartnell had been on the celebratory whisky?

People talk about the Fourth Doctor punching the chauffeur in The Seeds of Doom, or the Twelfth Doctor socking it to a racist in Thin Ice, but the First Doctor got there many years before. We've seen how wantonly violent he can be in stories such as 100,000 BC, The Reign of Terror and The Dalek Invasion of Earth, but here the Doctor positively revels in the violence. As he says: "Do you know, I'm so constantly outwitting the opposition I tend to forget the delights and satisfaction of the gentle art of fisticuffs!"

William Hartnell: the most violent Doctor ever?

The Slave Traders (The Romans Episode 1)

The one where the Doctor and his friends take a holiday in Ancient Rome...

"There we are, safely down," says the Doctor, as the TARDIS topples over the side of a cliff. Director Christopher Barry cleverly plays with the viewers' expectations, as we next see a seemingly unconscious Ian lying flat out, we assume on the floor of the TARDIS following the fall. But no! As the camera zooms out we see that he's actually reclining in a Roman toga, scoffing grapes, while the Doctor busies himself watering some plants.

It transpires the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki have been staying in this Roman villa in 64 AD for almost a month, simply kicking back, chilling out and making the most of the Italian climate. The villa belongs to Flavius Giscard, a wealthy Roman who is currently away on a military campaign, and in the meantime the travellers have seconded it as their holiday home! I have to wonder what they'd do if Flavius came home early though...