in 2009, "radio times" reviewer patrick mulkern described the story as "richly detailed, fast-moving drama that rolls out eventfully over a six-week period", which made it "indigestible" to watch all at once. he praised the structure, which allowed it to not tire in the middle, as well as the supporting cast and the conversation between the doctor and the master in the last episode. dave golder of "sfx", reviewing the dvd release, gave the story three out of five stars. he noted that it had ambition, but was "slow" and "visually uninspired". dvd talk's john sinnott rated "colony in space" three out of five stars, describing it as "a decent adventure" with minuses that outweighed the pluses. he noted that the six-episode structure allowed for padding and repeated scenes, but it had "a lot of interesting aspects", such as the time lords sending the doctor, the way the story was constructed, and pertwee and delgado's chemistry. in 2010, charlie jane anders of io9 named the cliffhanger to the fourth episode – in which the master decides to shoot the doctor – as one of the greatest cliffhangers in "doctor who".