081 Planet of Evil

 Started 28-Apr


Well made, well acted, great direction and effects. The lighting is very, very good indeed. Imaginative script but the science is somewhat confused.

The trope count is pretty high. The Tempest (the ship visiting a far off island to to investigate some lost expedition), Forbidden Planet (the spaceship, the monster from the id), Jekyll and Hyde (Sorenson's transformation), Space 1999 (the rubbish about anti-matter)

The jungle set in p1 is magnificent but it defaults to studio whenever the dialogue starts and is gone never to return by p3.

The last ep has some hard to explain plot twists.

• How does accelerated neutron radiation cause "anti-man" to duplicate many times?
• How does the antimatter create an elastic gravitational drag back to Zeta Minor?
• How do we explain the mineral sample behaviour? 
• What is the stuff in the bottle that dissolves it into star filtered photographic effects? 
• How is it safe to drink? 
• When the Doctor dissolves some on the bench does this convert the substance into non-anti matter? Is the leftover product (ash?) returned to the container? If not doesn't that violate the "return all the antimatter to the planet" rule? If so why doesn;t the reaction continue (albeit more slowly) in the canister?
• Ho does the Id monster communicate? How does the Doctor establish the anti matter return deal? Is this governed by Zeta Minor laws or customs? Is there more than a physics reason for the mineral sample behaviour?

Tom is great in this. He is revelling now as the Doctor. His character has grown into a confident, dark, seriously moody guy... the script helps with some good lines. Again the new Doctor uses a gun (with some justification I guess) and lets people die without
Dialogue triumph

DOCTOR: For a time, but it set up a cycle of chemical change. There's no way back, Sorenson. You've reached the point where your tissues are so monstrously hybridised that the next metabolic change could be the final one.
SORENSON: No.
DOCTOR: There isn't much time.
SORENSON: No!
DOCTOR: You and I are scientists, Professor. We buy our privilege to experiment at the cost of total responsibility.


Elizabeth has a dead set "man of the match" performance in this. Those bits with the 'icy suction' feeling are chillingly effective (she makes it so believable) and the funny, quirky bits show confidence and cool.


SARAH: Let's go, shall we?
DOCTOR: How?
SARAH: Through the window.
DOCTOR: They're magnetically locked.
SARAH: But the power is low.
(The Doctor goes to the window and starts to push the pane downwards.)

Frederick Jaegar's return to DW (he was in The Savages 1966) is very good. Frederick's Professor Sorenson performance is very strong and affecting, his distracted avoidance of reality is convincing.

VISHINSKY: You all right, Professor?
SORENSON: Oh, yes. It's nearly dawn. The days are quite safe.
VISHINSKY: But how are you? Galactic Mission Control received no word from you. They sent us to investigate.
SORENSON: I'm well. I'm more than well. My theory about Zeta Minor has proved to be true. Only last night I made the vital discovery in Sector five.
VISHINSKY: Where are the others?
SORENSON: Baldwin returned to the base last night. He was suffering from, from fatigue. He'll be fine now. Come, I'll show you the way.
VISHINSKY: There were eight in your expedition.
SORENSON: Yes, we've had difficulties. Conditions are hard. We've lost some, but the important thing is the mission has been a success. We found what we came to find.
VISHINSKY: How many have you lost?
SORENSON: He'll be fine now. It's just tiredness. He needs a good rest. It's not far.

Jaegar and Ewen Solon (a sort of 2nd division version of David Niven and not half bad either) make this and several other potentially dodgy scenes into acting gold.

As for the others...The acting's a bit variable.
Prentis Hancock as Salamar probably makes the biggest mistakes... just a little too strident.

How weird are the Morestran crew? Even Forbidden Planet had Anne Francis....Those shirts and the hairy chests on a long space voyage....Maybe that's what makes 'em so strange? (I'm kidding...)


Notably I think this may the FIRST time the Doctor uses the TARDIS in a 'short hop' to solve the plot. Specifically the TARDIS transfers from the spaceship to the minesite pool and back to return the Antiman.

Up to this point the TARDIS has been a method of transport to get into each story (any story not on Earth), occasionally its lack of proximity a reason why they can't escape (War Games)
There have been short trip uses of the TARDIS in The Green Death (ep1) and mid story transfers of location (Planet of the Spiders p3, Evil of the Daleks p6, Daleks Masterplan p5 etc.)
But the writers have not before this resorted to using the TARDIS to cheat. Maybe they should have? Imagine how much quicker Marco Polo might have been if the Doctor decided on short trips?

This plot device (literally so) gets way overused in the 80's and it bugged me everytime I saw it. That and not locking the TARDIS door on the way out..... Rant mode cancel.


To be real this is moody and effective and probably stands up quite ok.

It's main problem is comparison to its neighbours..

In Series 13, it's in 5th place because the 4 ahead of it are so damn good.


ABM Rating 3.21/4.00
LJM Rating 3.80/5.00
SPJ Rating 9.30/10   

No. 18 (out of 81)


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