Human nature is thus that there will never be an agreed criterion for what makes a good episode of Doctor Who - except maybe the words "written by Robert Holmes/Steve Moffat".
Here's mine: it has to retain my interest while the Doctor, and preferably the companions too, are off screen.
Simple, but terribly rare as well. Every week, we are introduced to a cast of extras, with whom we are expected to sympathise, purely because the regulars can't be killed off. The chump who screams before the title sequence. The arrogant, angry character who learns the error of his ways and dies heroically. Grunt after unnamed UNIT grunt.
The old series in particular, with a less Doctor-centric approach and also a longer running time to fill, always has side plots going - the romance in Inferno, the saboteurs in Warriors of the Deep, everything in Caves of Androzani. More often than not, they're a case of "yawn - can we get back to the heroes now?".
Stand up The Ribos Operation. Ribos is one of the most richly detailed planets in the series - nice production design helps, with a Mongolian-Byzantine thing going on and that atmospheric snow. Yet we hear about it's dotty ecosystem, have a subplot with Binro (read: Gallileo) the Heretic vs. the soothsayer with her bones, and get countless namedrops to worlds, economies, backstories. It feels like a real place, the little Level 2 world which still relies on soothsayers, and was an ex-haven of jethryk - the other most valuable mined substance in the galaxy...
I found myself wondering all sorts of things - Is Metebelis Minor anywhere near Metebelis 3? Garron pronounces it differently to both Planet of the Spiders and Green Death, so I've no doubt it must be the same place. What is the exchange rate between groznits (The Mysterious Planet) and opeks? And how valuable is jethryk, say, compared to spectrox? There are crosses in the decoration of some rooms, items and the soothsayer - is this a Christianised planet, or at least one with a local supersticious variation on Christianity which has spread from illicit travellers? It certainly seems to relate to the iconography of the Greek/Russian Orthodox church. And so on...
It helps that the supporting cast are all a cut above - about 20% more interesting than they should be. Garron is Falstaff in Space, and his relationship with Unstoffe initially appears to be Glitz'n'Dibber mutual abuse. But it's deeper than that - you do get the odd hint of how fond they are of each other. Graff is more inbteresting than he should be. Our show is populated by eeevil tyrants, and he's the nearest the episode has to a "villain" in typical terms" - yet it's Garron who tells us he was despised by his own people, so who really knows? His relationship with Sholak gives him a great deal of humanity - from their double act dialogue, to the reminicences of the labyrinth. I even managed to get choked up at the end. Everyone forgets that even bad guys love their friends. Hitler adored his dogs...
These people are why it fits my definition of "great episode" - because Binro never meets the Doctor, though I'm sure they both would have thought the other was terrific, nor contributes much at all to the plot except pure character for the sake of character. His scenes with Unstoffe are completely pointless, in story terms, yet also the highlights of the episode. The Doctor never really meets Graff either, defying the almost universal rule that the greatest part of any story will be the Doc facing off against the villain. The scene happens, but happens in silence. This is why Ribos feels real - because in a universe where Ancient Evil From the Dawn of Time seeks a Relic of Ultimate Evil, there are little people as well. Yet I really cared for all the extras - and that's probably not a phrase you'll ever hear me use again. Nor are you likely to get a blubber out of me for extras ever again (Sharaz Jek was an exceptional circumstance; here I have no excuse...)
Hell, this is probably the only review on my entire blog which has left the Doc and companions to the end as being less interesting. Not that they're bad, of course. This is one of my favourite Fourth Doctor episodes for his Doc too.
I love the high level of wacky in the first two episodes, and then does a drastic u-turn half way through into seriousness. I like this. It does sum up his Doctor very well, who could be Mr "I walk in eternity..." at one moment, and Mr "would you like a Jelly Baby?" the next. His schoolboy reaction to the White Guardian is adorable, and it's obvious he finds Garron absolutely great. But he can handle the serious stuff too, particularly a very quiet blink-and-you-miss-it admission of terror.
Romana - what can I say? People always bring her up as a romantic candidate, but normally mk.II on the grounds of real-life romance going on behind the scenes. Actually, I was shocked by the large amount of flirting which goes on here. Even very understated things, like the way their hands touch as she reveals the piece of Key. I'm also fond of the Doctor pointing out that if she thinks this is dangerous, she has no idea...
Any criticisms? Not really. I rolled my eyes at the Shrievenzales - people criticise the new series for a "monster of the week" approach, but it's just more obvious nowadays because they are instantly turned into merchandise and flogged to the kids. Actually, Doctor Who has always lazily stuck unecessary beasties into otherwise fine episodes (did somebody say Magma monster? What about that pillowcase that shows up at the end of Frontier in Space? etc), so I don't object to it here more than anywhere else.
A damn fine episode, in pretty much every way. To cap it off, I've a nasty feeling it's going to be very rewatchable...
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