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The Time Monster grows on you, I think. Certainly viewed in sequence after The Mutants, and after sixteen weeks without UNIT it feels like a return to both form and format? Even if it probably isn't. The sheer lunacy of the amount of stuff it throws in helps too. The last time I watched this was on my phone on the Britbox app, while a toddler slept on my shoulder and I was grinning throughout. The sexist / feminist 'banter' always feels a bit more nuanced to me than is often said, partially because Stuart is played as (and by a gay) man, partially because of the obvious affection between the two characters, and partially because Ruth is both his superior and so clearly super competent. Which is more than can be said for the production, particularly of the Atlantis sections. One odd thing about the story (of many) is that Dr Who's TARDIS seems to be working perfectly. Which always makes me think that, should you ever repeat / rewatch the Pertwee era in its entirety, it might be worth moving this one to after Planet of the Daleks, to give Delgado something closer to the finale he deserved.

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