Day 561: Four to Doomsday Part 4

This is an odd story to look at, quality-wise. The first few episodes are, in my opinion, not very good. They take too long to get to the heart of the plot, and they deal with some of the characters in appallingly bad ways. But the last half of this story is so fantastically bonkers that it almost makes up for the first half.

We learn that Monarch, the villain of the piece, is going to invade Earth for its silicon resources, as well as colonising it so that he can help to enslave the human race so that he can discover the secret of faster than light travel. He wishes to travel faster than light because he hypothesises that this will allow him to go backwards in time such that he can witness the creation of the Universe. Once he reaches the creation of the Universe, he expects to meet himself, as he is also operating under the belief that he is God. That's a really weird evil plan to have, and you have to admire Terence Dudley, the writer, for developing this plan as it certainly adds a lot more creativity than a simple "we wish to be all powerful" plot, instead going for a "I am God and I wish to meet me and rewitness the creation of the Universe" ploy.

What follows after that point is an oddly action packed couple of episodes as the Doctor rushes about trying to formulate some way of stopping Monarch, culminating in an impressive sequence as the Doctor leaps into space to reach the TARDIS. It's all surprisingly good, and makes the entire story feel a lot better. So whilst this story may have some problems, for the sheer scope of the concept that it tries to pull off, you have to admire it for what it achieves.