Doctor Who: Tartarus

The Fifth Doctor visits the great Roman orator Cicero at his villa... and they are almost immediately abducted by aliens. They're taken somewhere that feels rather like a video game based on Greek and Roman myth, which occupies the bulk of the story. The result inevitably feels rather like The Mind Robber, with perhaps a touch of The Keys of Marinus. In this respect, the story is nothing special, since we've seen similar things done before and (while it's not actually the Land of Fiction) this doesn't ring many changes on the formula.

This leaves the story relying on the characters and their portrayal and, fortunately, this is done very well, making this more than just the formulaic runaround that it could otherwise have been. Cicero is well depicted, in particular the clash of personalities with the Doctor, with both of them feeling that they are the natural leaders of the group. Tegan shines, finding herself in a situation where her lack of academic smarts puts her at an advantage against the Doctor and Nyssa. She also bristles against the casual acceptance of slavery in the Roman Republic, which leads to a subplot with one of Cicero's slaves.

The latter is, perhaps, a little overdone as capable, seeming to have few weaknesses. The semi-cliffhanger ending make it likely that something is being set up here for a larger plot arc, which might explain the vagueness about his background - for instance, Cicero expresses surprise that he's able to read, but nothing more is made of this. Nonetheless, he's a worthy addition to the cast of this story, and where it's going we shall see...