NNN4 - The Mutants 4

Lobot himself, John Hollis, makes his first appearance in this episode (well, his first appearance out of the silver suit he wore earlier), playing Professor Sondergaard. The professor's name and slight Afrikaans accent gives the game away a bit more towards the writers' original intentions of The Mutants being a pastiche on colonial South Africa.

I'm not entirely sure what the significance of the tablets concealed in the Time Lord's canister is. The Doctor's big revelation when examining them is that they represent the four seasons on Solos, an idea that Sondergaard initially shoots down. However, Jaegar mentions in Episode Two that Solos is, after 500 years, entering a new season. And just how The Doctor determines that the little swirls on one of the tablets represents thaesium radiation is a mystery. Also, why does the box even intended for Ky? He has no idea what to do with the tablets, nor what they mean. If anything, the Time Lords should have directed it to open for Sondergaard, as he is the only person on Solos versed enough in understanding their properties.

The weak cliffhangers continue with the end of this episode. First off, what kind of shoddy workmanship results in the outer hull of the Skybase being ripped apart by a blast from the Marshall's handgun? Why does Varan not explode in the depths of space? Why doesn't everyone in the room explode? It's not as if the room is shielded more from open space than Varan is, but perhaps given the fact that the amount of air being sucked out of the room is akin to that being blown by a table fan set on medium. The only thing that looks more ridiculous, no doubt, is the resolution to this scene in Episode Five...