Prisoners of Conciergerie (The Reign of Terror Episode 6)

The one where the true identity of James Stirling is revealed...

After a really awkward staring contest in which the actors have to look at one another silently as the title and writer captions fade in and out, we finally get to know who James Stirling - the English spy - is... it's Lemaitre! After all that, Lemaitre's scheming and eavesdropping was in order to make friendly contact with Ian, in order to learn Webster's dying message!

We then gets lots and lots of explanatory dialogue and info-dumping, setting the scene for what is an episode packed full of incident but also quite heavy on talking politics. If you didn't know anything about the political history of France before watching The Reign of Terror, you'll be an expert now! I do love the Doctor's focused insistence on getting his granddaughter out of Conciergerie however, and his frustration at having to delay Susan's release. As he says to Lemaitre: "Very well, if you must tell your story then get on with it."

A Bargain of Necessity (The Reign of Terror Episode 5)

The one where Ian and Barbara have a falling out over Leon's death...

Barbara and the Doctor are happily reunited, but when the Doctor asks after the welfare of his granddaughter, Barbara replies: "She had a slight fever but she's recovered now." Slight fever?! And how can it have gone so quickly? Susan and Barbara went to the physician to seek a remedy for her worsening condition, and it was from there they were brought to the prison, so there's been little time for the illness to pass naturally. Perhaps it's just writer Dennis Spooner being lazy again...

The scheming Lemaitre is listening in to their conversation and learns about the existence of Jules Renan and his network. The Doctor has his own scheme to set Barbara free, but instills about as much faith in the viewer as he does Barbara when he says: "You know my plans always work perfectly!" Hmmm, we'll see about that.

The Tyrant of France (The Reign of Terror Episode 4)

The one where Susan is threatened with blood-letting...

The Tyrant of France is the earliest episode of Doctor Who that has been reconstructed as a cartoon, as the BBC does not have a copy of the lost episode in its archives. While I did watch the cartoon version on the DVD to review the episode, I'll restrict myself to commenting on the original material available, which is the (sometimes quite poor) off-air soundtrack.

The scene where Lemaitre takes the Doctor to see Robespierre in his office is a cracking way to kick off the episode, as there's some juicy discussion between the tyrant and the imposter about the state France finds itself in. The Doctor is a formidable opponent for Robespierre, who is unfortunately played by a rather shouty, stagy Keith Anderson who perhaps thinks he's projecting for the theatre rather than television. Dennis Spooner writes Robespierre really well, but Anderson does not make the best of the lines. However, it's great to have the Doctor challenging Robespierre on his reign of terror and asking whether the executions are actually feeding the rebellion.

A Change of Identity (The Reign of Terror Episode 3)

The one where the Doctor delves into the dressing-up box...

Wow, just look at that opening street scene! Okay, that first extra is blatantly waiting for a cue before he makes his way across the set, but the attempt to depict a bustling, city centre street is admirable, and by and large achieved. We have several passers-by, and even a coughing old hag (our friend Eleanor Darling from last week?), into which wanders the magnificent William Hartnell, who seems to blend in so well in his Edwardian attire.

And Roderick Laing's sets are gorgeously detailed and seem to go on and on. He's created a lot of depth to these streets, with alcoves and walkways and stairways, and you can tell that even more in the set photos that exist.

Guests of Madame Guillotine (The Reign of Terror Episode 2)

The one where the Doctor's homicidal side rears its ugly head again...

One of the beauties of Doctor Who is how it can lurch energetically from being appalling to being fabulous in the space of one week, and such is the case with Guests of Madame Guillotine, which is streets ahead of A Land of Fear in every way. Where episode 1 was almost devoid of humour and any meaningful characterisation and plot development, episode 2 turns everything on its head, as if script editor David Whitaker had had a quiet word in writer Dennis Spooner's ear to pick up the pace a bit.

I instantly want to know more and spend more time with the two cackling hags sitting outside the Conciergerie prison, for instance. We only get a tiny glimpse of them, but they seem interesting, and it's so rare to get more mature female characters in 1960s Doctor Who. In fact, I'm trying to think if there have been any so far, and I can only think of Cameca from The Aztecs. Though uncredited on screen, these two characters are called "knitting ladies" in production paperwork, played by Eleanor Darling (erroneously listed in paperwork as Dalling) and Leila Forde.

A Land of Fear (The Reign of Terror Episode 1)

The one where Ian is overpowered by a small boy...

The first few moments of A Land of Fear are highly representative of the episode as a whole - ponderous, pedestrian and hesitant. Director Henric Hirsch is in no rush to show anything happening, and when he does he's in no hurry to move on. It feels like an age between the episode beginning and anything actually happening on screen. There's plenty of plinky-plonky music, then a couple of random men cross the screen at a distance (almost as if by mistake!), then we're shown various bushes before the TARDIS fades silently into view at last.

And sadly, Hirsch never really gets out of first gear. There's a nice little scene in the TARDIS where Ian cleverly persuades the Doctor to join he and Barbara for a farewell drink, as the Doctor believes he's got them back to 20th century Earth. Quite why he thinks this is possible is a little vague, but on first appearances, the view outside does indeed look very English. In fact, as Barbara says, it looks like Somerset.