The 58th serial is called Colony In Space. The Doctor has finally been freed from his Earthly prison by the Time Lords who have a specific job for him. That was really Terrance Dicks doing. He's said several times that he things keeping the Doc on the Earth limits the stories to alien invasion or mad scientist, so, as soon as he could he got the Time Lords to free the Tardis. The Doctor is giving Jo her first tour of the Tardis and he's as surprised to find his ship working as Jo is in finding out that the Tardis is bigger on the inside than the outside. The Tardis jumps to it's preset destination with the Doctor and Jo aboard. At first Jo doesn't believe they have gone to another planet but she soon adapts to the situation.
It was writer Malcolm Hulke who first pointed out to Terrance Dicks that the Doctor being stuck on Earth really limits the stories to the 2 types of villains. Hulke is the writer of this serial and he hasn't taken advantage of the Doctor's new found freedom. His story is another alien invasion story. This time it's the Earth people who are invading. Earth people from the year 2471 are colonizing a planet that has a primitive race already living there. That's one invasion, even if it isn't hostile. The sure weren't invited to stay. The colonists are having a hard time growing crops but they still feed the primitives a bit of their food. It helps keep the peace between the two peoples. An Earth mining company ship comes to survey the planet and they find enough valuable mineral to make all the miners rich. That's the second invasion force and they really suck. The miners try to scare the colonists into leaving and people die. The Doctor rumbles their game and exposes their naughty plan. The two groups fight back and forth, there's plenty of capturing and escaping and a few gun fights. The show is made better by the outdoor locations and the larger color studio.
The Master shows up pretending to be an Earth official and sides with the miners. The Master kidnaps Jo and forces the Doctor to lead him to the primitive city. The Doctor had already been there and found that the society had once been highly advanced but suffured a setback. The Master seems to know that the primitives have a super bomb and he wants it. That plan is foiled and the bomb blows up some of the primitive city. The invading miners are put down and the colonists are now in charge. The bomb's radiation turned out to be the problem with the crops. Destroying it has reduced the radiation and it looks like the colonists will be A-OK. The Doc and Jo leave and arrive back in their lab with the Brigadier wondering where they've been for a few seconds. Not one of the better stories but I put it on 1.5 speed and that helped make the 6 parter move faster. I have to admit I am still liking this Doctor the best so far. He's a bit of a jerk but that seems to be what the Time Lords are.
There's a couple of the usual featurettes with interviews and clips, some photos and a commentary track.
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