The Doctor takes on bargain-bin Minotaurs, a villain who really loves capes, and a labyrinth that looks like it was built by IKEA.
Short Synopsis
On their way to Gallifrey, the Doctor and Romana get sidetracked into a story where the planet Skonnos has been making deals with the Nimon, horned aliens who live in a labyrinth and demand regular tributes of youths and power crystals. It’s all very “Minotaur myth in space,” only with cheaper costumes and more shouting.
Extended Storyline
The Doctor is tinkering with the TARDIS — as usual, this involves him hitting things with a hammer while pretending he knows what he’s doing — when Romana politely suggests maybe they focus on getting to Gallifrey. Before long, they bump into a Skonnan spaceship struggling to deliver its “tribute” to the Nimon.
This tribute? Power crystals and a gaggle of terrified teenagers, because apparently the Nimon diet is equal parts fuel rods and angst-ridden youths. The Skonnons themselves are a once-great race now reduced to whining about their lost empire. Their leader, Soldeed (played with scenery-chewing gusto by Graham Crowden), is basically Space Gandalf if Gandalf had joined an evil Am-Dram society. He shouts, he gestures wildly, and he wears a cape that could double as a tent.
On Skonnos, Soldeed has been making deals with the Nimon, who live in a labyrinthine power complex. The Nimon promise to restore Skonnos to galactic dominance — just as soon as they finish absorbing endless tributes of energy and teenagers. (Hint: never trust aliens who claim they’ll make your empire great again.)
The Doctor and Romana investigate, which mostly involves wandering around wobbly corridors and occasionally stopping to mock the décor. K-9 tries to help but spends most of the serial as a prop malfunction; the poor dog was clearly on strike.
Inside the labyrinth, the Nimon strut about in costumes that look like something a college mascot might wear if the team was called “The Fighting Bovines.” They’re meant to be terrifying bull-headed aliens, but the effect is more “bad disco minotaur.” The horns wobble. The hooves clop. Any sense of menace evaporates faster than the BBC’s 1979 costume budget.
Still, the Nimon have a plan: they’re parasitic wanderers who move from world to world, draining planets of resources before moving on. Skonnos is just their latest victim. (So much for “we’ll make you great again.”)
Romana, of course, gets to do all the actual clever work, while the Doctor spends most of his time winding up Soldeed by mocking his booming voice. Eventually, they reverse the Nimon’s scheme, free the captives, and collapse the labyrinth. Soldeed dies in possibly the most gloriously over-the-top fashion in Doctor Who history, screaming “Lord Niiiiiimooooooon!” at a pitch that suggests his cape was cutting off circulation.
The Doctor, Romana, and K-9 leave the wreckage behind, presumably praying they never have to face space farm animals again.