Day 665: Dragonfire Part 1

There's an awful lot to like in this episode. We have a new companion, Ace, who we'll talk about more when she's had time to settle in as a character. There's also a fascinating villain, remarkable set-designs, and lots more besides. But the thing that unfortunately comes to mind when thinking about this particular episode is its ending.

The Doctor walks up to a cliff and decides that, for no particular reason, he will climb over the railing and hang down the ledge on his umbrella. The episode ends as he hangs perilously, and realises how bad an idea this was in the first place, in a literal cliff-hanger. Aside from the glorious pun, the main reason why this draws so much attention is the fact that it comes out of nowhere, and is never really explained. It all comes across as a stupid joke that they put in to please people, without considering the such things as logic or reason. And to rub salt in the wound, there's a better cliffhanger scene three minutes prior, where Ace is faced with a difficult decision that acts as a large piece of character development for her. But still, even with the momentary lapse of judgment present in this episode, this story isn't that bad, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it as Dragonfire continues.