Planet of Giants [Doctor Who, Story 9]

Planet of Giants by Louis Marks

31 October - 14 November 1964

With my Season One ruminations safely tucked away for now, I turn my attention to the next milestone. Our first stop along the way is this really odd little story. I’ve actually watched and reviewed this once before, as part of the randomized Who marathon I attempted last summer. My general thoughts on the serial haven’t really changed much, but it has gone up in my relative estimation since I now have something of a better feel for the Hartnell era in general. I’ll also happily flatter myself by saying that my writing capabilities have expanded somewhat since then, so another pass at reviewing it can hardly go amiss. Now, there’s quite a bit to say about Planet of Giants, including its status as something of a leftover from Season One. I’m given to understand that this was part of the same production block, and that it was one of the first episode concepts broached during the conceptualization of the first season. Fortunately, what comes off is a fairly serviceable story with some great moments.

If I really had to compare it, I’d call this the Edge of Destruction of Season Two. It’s peculiar in the fact that, like that serial, it’s somewhat truncated in length, features as its chief motivator of tension a technical fault with the TARDIS (give or take a definite article, per Susan), and features no science fiction concepts apart from the ship itself. What proceeds is sort of an odd duck of a story, and one which I feel doesn’t have that many close counterparts aside from The Edge of Destruction. Well, whatever its status, I found it fun to watch again. The sets of the magnified world range from alright to amazing, and the bugs from a bit silly (the worm) to downright creepy (the fly!), and in general the design and framing of the setting is some of the best work the program has managed thus far. Ray Cusick really was something else. The “otherness” and menace that a familiar, domestic setting can exude when viewed from the perspective shown here is quite genius and, like I noted early on last season, weds the familiar and the alien together to great effect as Doctor Who often seems to do.

The regulars appear to be having fun. Barbara gets the best and worst of it, with the obvious distress and pain she’s in close to the end really quite upsetting to watch, though not in an unwatchable sort of way. I did find myself pleading mentally with her to speak up and tell the others about her situation, but her desire not to distract from solving the DN6 issue speaks well of her character. The guest stars don’t make a very strong impression (aside from the adorable cat), but Smithers at least is played well. Forester sadly lacks the competent villainy to match his avarice and comes across as a bit of an idiot. The DN6 plot itself is interesting as the program’s first flirtation with environmentalism, an issue which was still quite young at the time but which Who will touch again, especially in the Pertwee era.

All in all, a nice little story, though one which could have been served better by a more interesting guest cast. I’d certainly recommend it.

No dialogue segment this time. The Dalek Invasion of Earth is next, and I’d much rather get cracking on that than spending my time trawling through transcripts!

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 25 January 2018.)