Reviewers in 1993 were satisfied, if somewhat bemused, by the first episode of the then 25-year-old series. In a preview of the episode's first BBC showing, James Rampton of The Independent wrote: "The best thing about the programme is that it's just as ludicrous as you remembered: the lips bizarrely out of sync with the words, the strange uniformity of features [...] and the totally preposterous dialogue ('Despite his fatal injuries, he's returning to life'). Highly recommended." In a review for the same newspaper, Allison Pearson was comically critical of certain design aspects, such as the surface of Mars, the exterior of the Mysteron city and the model of the Car-Vu (which she likened to a "Philippe Starck cake-stand"). However, she also described the episode as being part of a "classic Sixties puppet show."
