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

I’ve suggested previously that I’m not a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland or stories that seem like stream-of-consciousness, anything-can-happen-and-probably-will flights of fancy, so I should probably hate The Mind Robber, but it has so many good moments, it’s pretty much irresistible.

“We may be in a place where nothing is impossible.”

The Doctor, The Mind Robber: Episode 2

All of the episode endings are strong, Bernard Horsfall is great as Lemuel Gulliver, there’s a marvelously polite Rapunzel, it has toy soldiers, Medusa, a unicorn, and for an episode and a bit, a completely different actor playing Jamie! (A great idea, even if it was born of necessity. The Doctor never stood a chance though – there appears to be no part of Frazer Hines’ face on the original puzzle!)

Zoe comes over all Avengers-like in the fourth episode, throwing the Karkus around like a lamé-catsuited Emma Peel. Later on she and Jamie literally become part of the story. As I say, so many good moments.

To cap it all, it doesn’t outstay its welcome – Episode 5 is so short, you hardly have time to sip your cup of tea before it’s over – whereas The Celestial Toymaker (for me its nearest Doctor Who forebear) felt at least three episodes too long.

The only thing you could say if you were being churlish is that it goes down a tad in quality after the literally brilliant Episode 1, with its explosive cliffhanger surely ranking as one of Doctor Who’s finest.

But it possibly needs to be re-titled ‘Shush Jamie’, the number of times the Doctor tells his companion to be quiet!

Next week: “The Invasion”