Planet of Giants

The second season kicks off with the first three part story of the series. It starts off well with the Doctor and his companions exploring what seems to be a bizarre world with outlandish creatures. Then, of course, it turns out that they have been miniaturised in the course of materialisation, and the stage is set for a battle of wits against a familiar world made deadly, as in the 1957 science fiction film The Incredible Shrinking Man.

However, there is also a larger problem for the time travellers and, unfortunately, the insecticide plot is unambitious and dull in the extreme. The nature of the story means that the ‘giant’ side of the plot must take place in a geographically limited setting- two rooms and a garden door in this case. A limited environment such as this means that character interaction must be paramount; however, with Farrow being shot in his first scene, we are left with the characters of Forester and Smithers, who are allies, which makes for far poorer drama. This is exacerbated by the fact that Alan Tilvern puts no effort into his performance as Forester, seeming to rely on his naturally villainous looking face.

This is a real shame, as the ‘miniature’ half of the story works excellently. The giant sets are fantastic, as are the giant insects encountered. The fly is brilliantly done, pivoting its head and bobbing its abdomen up and down. The use of photographic blow-ups for some backgrounds actually works, probably because of the 405 line black and white image. Also, the idea that the voices of the ‘giants’ are too low frequency to be understood is something which has never popped up in similar stories told elsewhere. For the first time, this is a story where the special effects succeed across the board. There is some excellent visual direction and ‘cinematography’- light is used very effectively, and there are good uses of high shots, although no low shots (which would have been impossible with studio cameras, and would have to have been done on film). However, direction of the actors is very slack- Alan Tilvern was not a bad actor (at least judging from the only other thing I’ve seen him in, an episode of Dad’s Army) and the directors should have pushed him a little harder! The regulars are excellent as usual, with Jacqueline Hill putting in a great performance as Barbara (something I seem to be typing in every review) with her great stoicism and unselfishness as she is being poisoned by the pesticide.

The plot is simple, but there are still a few things that bother me. What the hell is ‘space pressure’? And why, exactly, does the seed not just become bigger with the TARDIS? Also, I’m surprised that a children’s show was allowed to show a scene with a gas tap being ignited and used to explode a pressurised container! In addition (although there is no way the production team could have known this) we have a ruthless magnate who produces a hazardous substance with a subordinate called Smithers!

This story is one of the reasons I don’t give stories marks. The adventures of the inch-high regulars are simply too well done to allow the tepid ‘giant’ side of the story to ruin it. All I can say is that it is watchable and enjoyable, but it probably won’t move you in the way that the best Doctor Who stories do.

NEXT: The Dalek Invasion of Earth