Planet of evil (1975)

Review
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Review

This is a four-part serial, first broadcast between 27th September - 18th October 1975. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: the Doctor and Sarah Jane find themselves caught between the members of a scientific expedition who believe they have found an infinite source of energy and the military mission that has arrived to rescue them, on a planet where they aren't welcome...

Let's start with some bad news:

the story seems padded, especially in parts three and four, and the serial would probably have done better as a three-parter. There's also a hard to describe 'meta' quality to the story, like it's referencing a 'forbidden planet' story rather than being one
both in terms of writing and in terms of performance, this is not a good story for Sarah Jane. The script gives here little to do except nagging and emoting, and her performance does take on a certain Tegan-esque quality at times

The sort of 'blah' stuff:

the performances from the military rescue party are a mixed bag. Vishinsky is excellent, De Haan provides some much-needed comic relief, but Salamar is terribly wooden - which is unfortunate since we see quite a lot of him - and everyone else is pretty forgettable

But, then again, when this serial is good it is very good indeed:

the jungle on the eponymous planet of evil looks fantastic, especially in the scenes that were recorded on film rather than video
we get a great performance from the expedition's lead scientist, helped by the fact that the actor doesn't conform to the 'mad scientist' stereotype
the incidental score is excellent
the visual approach to the monster is interesting, and the visuals of the Doctor falling into a black hole are nicely done

And one other thing:

in the special features on the DVD, several people talk about how derivative the story is, and it's obvious that none of these commenters had seen the new-Who episode '42' at the time. Whoa, talk about derivative...

My verdict:

Quite good, actually.

Tough call. The last three serials that I've reviewed, 'The time warrior', 'Robot' and this one, are all borderline cases between 'quite good, actually' and 'nice!'. 'Robot' is little more than a vehicle for the high-jinx between the fourth Doctor and the regulars, while 'The time warrior' is Robert Holmes' revenge for having to write a story set in the Middle Ages which was something he didn't care for. In a way 'Planet of evil' is a more deserving story, since it obviously tries hard to be solid, well-made science-fiction. The script is the deal-breaker, really. Although 'Robot' and 'The time warrior' aren't great stories they're both very entertaining in their own way, while 'Planet of evil' is padded and overlong.

More about Doctor Who

An introduction:
Doctor Who reviews: introduction

More "quite good, actually" Doctor Who:
Doctor Who reviews: quite good, actually

More Doctor Who with Tom Baker:
Doctor Who reviews: 1974 - 1981

Similar stories:
Doctor Who reviews: space opera

Original version of this review:
08/07/21

More about this episode

Episode guides:
BBC Episode guide

Serial reviews:
Outpost Gallifrey

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