N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

Poor Tegan! I bet she wishes she’d stayed in Amsterdam now.

I’d lamented that Arc of Infinity was really the only time we were able to see the Doctor and Nyssa working together on their own, but I’d forgotten that for huge swathes of Snakedance Tegan is possessed by the Mara so we do get to see that partnership again.

“I offer you fear in a handful of dust.”

Megaphone Man, Snakedance: Part Four

Snakedance isn’t quite as strange as Kinda — at times it almost feels like a traditional Doctor Who story — nor is it quite as good as its predecessor — although its snake effects are slightly better — but Snakedance is still a cut above your usual fare.

The script is literate, the design and direction lovely and the acting top-drawer. There’s a very young Martin Clunes as Lon behaving badly and a similarly youthful Jonathan Morris as Chela amidst, it must be said, admirable support for the regulars all round. Colette O’Neil as Lon’s mother Tanha, John Carson as the avaricious Ambril and Brian Miller as Dugdale stand out but there’s barely a weak moment from anyone.

“I’d forgotten how impressive it is.”

Tanha, Snakedance: Part One

Indeed, as with Kinda, there was a distinct lack of note-taking on my behalf. It isn’t always the case, but here that scarcity of scribbles lays testament to the high quality throughout.

Although I am going to dock it a mark for the absolutely pointless and totally out of character scream Nyssa is made to utter at the cliffhanger to Part Three, Snakedance is another excellent Fifth Doctor tale, one that restores my faith somewhat after the last two stories.

One thing though — if Tegan’s return to the TARDIS is marred by the Mara, doesn’t that make the Mara a marrer!