In a close run with The Hand Of Fear, this is my personal favourite of Season 14. There is so much to love about this story, starting with an unusual adversary who has no physical presence, the supposed Italian setting, all the renaissance stuff and a secondary villain in Count Federico. I also love the Cult Of Demnos stuff and Robert James follows up his role as Lesterson in Power Of The Daleks with another superb show as the deputy leader of the cult. Star of the show has to be Norman Baker as Hieronymous, whom he plays with an evil sort of glee. It's interesting that beneath Count Federico is another villain in hiding.

Other aspects of the story I like are the triple cliffhanger at the end of Part 2, the continuing rapport between Sarah and The Doctor, especially in Part 4. The whole party thing in that episode and best of all,

Also adding to the story is the friendship between Giulliano and Marco. I love how there is the good pairing and an evil pairing with Federico having the leader of the guard's as his companion.

It's also good for being the first story to feature the 'Time Lord gift' which would feature so heavily in the new series.

There is only one thing and one thing only I don't like about this story-the new wooden TARDIS Console Room. I absolutely hate this version and glad it only lasted one Season. Should never have got rid of the original version, it'd been there for all those years in many forms but it's basic shape was mainly the same. It didn't need that much alteration. I accept it in the New Series as it is a New Series but this version was horrible imvho.

Aside from that though, can't find much else to fault this story. Just love it.

Agreed. Another brilliant story with, yet again, an excellent use of location.

A clever, well-written story with a great supporting cast - there's very little to dislike about this tale.

I actually liked the wooden console room - it suited Tom Baker's Doctor. Thought the story was ok but was a bit boring in parts. Liked the ending though.

I'm of the opposite opinion the wooden consol room is about the only thing i do like about this story.

I don't think this is quite as strong as most of the stories from Series 13 and 14, but as the overall standard is so high in this era, that doesn't make it at all bad. In fact, it's really good. You do get a strong sense of us being at the end of a dark time (as represented by the tyrant Count Federico and the evil Hieronymus, both very well acted) and the beginning of an age of enlightenment.

I know the wooden console room is popular for some but it really just isn't right. It's so radically different and can never work out how they actually get out the TARDIS through the same doors without ever seeing the old console room. Is a bit of a mystery!

It's spacey wacey! After all you could ask exactly the same thing about where the other rooms on the RTD TARDIS are, after all the only visible doors are the police box doors that let you out and in. My idea's that if you wanted to go to another room you'd walk out those doors and the TARDIS would sort of move with you and youd e.d up in cooridors and other rooms etc. Similarly with this TARIDS set, when you went through the TARDIS doors you'd go out the same doors as you went through with the other rooom.It would warp, or shift, or move, or something along those lines

Spacey Wacey

Yeah, that's feasible but you're looking at it from New series standards!

If you take that out the equation and look at the time it was shown, not sure people would have thought the same thing!