It was mentioned in the previous entry that the new script editor, Dennis Spooner, has a considerable amount of range with his writing, being able to tackle both comedy and drama well. This is also shown within this serial itself, as we see that there are, in essence, two separate strands of story going on. The first is an action adventure, with high stakes and high drama, as Ian searches to find Barbara so they can both escape from the clutches of slavery. It is obvious why this deserves to be serious, because slavery is a legitimately serious issue. It concerns people being held against their will, and forced to give up their basic human rights for the pleasure of others. So, there aren't many laughs to be had with this plotline.
On the other hand, the Doctor and Vicki have found themselves caught up in a farcical plotline involving assassination attempts on Caesar Nero, assassination attempts of the Doctor and the Doctor having to learn how to play the lyre. As was mentioned previously, this storyline is genuinely funny, and it's because it obeys one of the basic rules of farce, having things build up and up until we've got a whole host of problems for the hero to deal with. The fact that assassination attempts can be brushed off as something that just happened in Ancient Rome makes it clear why this can be funny, in contrast to the serious slavery plotline. Human Rights abuse is still an issue, whether it be through asylum seekers or indeed through slavery itself, these issues are still somewhat prevalent in society, and we tend to see these things on the news and such each day. Assassinations, on the other hand, are not a part of daily life, and so we are slightly removed from the experience, particularly as it is clearly a part of daily life in Rome, and therefore we are further removed from it. We can watch and look at this culture from afar, and laugh at the differences between it and our own culture. But when it comes close to home, it becomes more serious, as we think about how our culture actually is.
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