“When in Rome, do as the Romans do… which apparently involves murder plots, mistaken identities, and setting the entire city on fire.”
Short Synopsis
The Doctor and his companions decide to take a vacation in ancient Rome. Naturally, the Doctor is mistaken for a famous musician, Ian and Barbara get kidnapped (again), and Nero himself turns up for some drunken slapstick. History takes a left turn as the Doctor accidentally inspires the Great Fire of Rome. Oops.
Extended Storyline
The TARDIS is dragged onto Vortis by mysterious forces (because “mysterious forces” is basically the Doctor’s default parking brake). The planet is home to a full menagerie of insectoid species, each more bewildering than the last.
First up are the Zarbi, giant ant costumes that look like school mascots who’ve had a rough night. They serve the sinister Animus, a disembodied spider-brain with the voice of an irritated drama teacher. Then there are the Menoptra, giant butterflies with ballet-like movements who sound like they’re reading Shakespeare backwards. Their sworn enemies, the Zarbi, have forced them off their homeworld, so naturally the Doctor gets caught right in the middle of a bug war.
Meanwhile, Barbara is abducted by Zarbi and made to push levers around in what is apparently “insect slave labor,” Ian is trapped in webs (because of course), and Vicki gets saddled with a giant caterpillar called the Optera, who communicate mainly through cryptic metaphors about light and darkness. (They are, in short, what happens when you let Tolkien’s Ents write slam poetry.)
The Animus wants control of the Doctor’s mind and TARDIS, which it sees as perfect tools for galactic domination. Unfortunately for the Animus, the Doctor is at peak sass. Armed only with sarcasm and his vague ability to talk down dictators, the Doctor navigates bug politics long enough to turn the tide.
After lots of crawling, buzzing, and running in circles through the same three sets disguised with dry ice, the Menoptra finally launch their grand counter-attack. It’s ballet versus ants in a clash for the ages, with choreography that looks suspiciously like a high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the finale, the Doctor manages to use a weapon called the Isoptope (no relation to actual science) to blast the Animus into oblivion. Vortis is freed, the bugs are liberated, and the crew leave before anyone asks them to stick around and mediate the insect United Nations.