Review for both parts:
This two-parter is another weak story during one of the poorest seasons of the show's history. There are a few positives but a lot of negatives.
The positives include the music which is nice and appropriate for the story and also the period setting is a nice idea whilst not entirely correctly represented. The new villain The Rani is a good addition to the show with Kate O'Mara very charismatic in the role. It is interesting to get a new Time Lord/Lady and another TARDIS. The character is interesting too because she is not 1 dimensional, she is intelligent and pursues science without much conscience but without being a pure evil villain. Her disdainful interaction with the Master adds another dynamic as well as her clash with the Doctor. Unfortunately this promising scenario is largely wasted due to the silliness of the story and the largely lame dialogue. Anthony Ainley hams it up as the Master and with the Rani similarly turned into a panto villain by various unimpressive scenes and nonsensical plot points it all falls apart.
Colin Baker continues to be a very disappointing characterisation of the Doctor. He at least shows moments of compassion here but mostly is still egotistical, rude and conceited. Having a hero who is neither heroic nor in any way endearing is a real minus. Peri is an extremely weak companion with poor acting and an annoying personality which alongside the grating brashness of the 6th Doctor means there is little to hook me into the underwhelming story.
On top of all that the production overall has an embarrassingly pantomime feel with some dodgy acting, cringeworthy, shoddy effects such as the tree person and the dinosaur and some bad fight scenes and set pieces. The supposed exciting action scenes include the Docot hanging down an old mineshaft while being whacked with polystyrene logs and whizzing down a hill while strapped to a trolley. It is pretty pathetic sadly.
A couple of charming guest performances such as Terence Alexander and Gawn Grainger as well as the 3 timelord dynamic, the industrial revolution period setting and the nice music are highlights amongst the mostly unimpressive adventure.
Episode 1 - 5/10, Episode 2 - 3.5/10, Overall - 4.25/10