September 23, 2011

Planet of Evil (1975)

Planet of Evil is a story that continues on from Terror of the Zygons where the Doctor and Sarah are travelling back to London and of course being the Doctor, things don’t go smoothly. Louis Marks wrote his third script for Doctor Who after Planet of Giants (1964) and Day of the Daleks (1972). The story is set on the planet Zeta Minor where the Doctor and Sarah pick up a distress call. They soon come across a military ship that is trying to leave after picking up Professor Sorenson but because they have taken some of the anti-matter with them and it’s a wonderful idea that the planet wont let them leave with it. Then the story moves to them trying to get the anti-matter off the ship and stop Sorenson from being taken over. It’s quite a good story and its handled particularly well.

The jungle that is used is very impressive and its very rare to have a Doctor Who story which is properly lit. It also has to be the best jungle in Doctor Who history because it doesn’t look like a studio with a few potted plants in it like it would in Planet of the Daleks. Some of it was filmed at Ealing Studios but some of it was recorded in the BBC studios and it does show and it’s a shame. I also think that the Anit-Matter monster that we see on Zeta Minor is rubbish. It seems a shame that when everything else works well that it’s such an important thing that lets them down. I think that some money should have been earmarked for a better effect.

Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen are on fine form in this story. Its clear from the beginning that Tom Baker is having the time of his life when he says the “prepare for dematerlisation” line and his eyes open up wildly. Sladen quite rightly takes the spotlight as the companion and I think that she has pretty much thrown off the old original Sarah Jane and embraced the new more traditional female companion role. As the only female in the entire story she manages to hold her own and puts in a great performance.

Like Terror of the Zygons. This is s a story that I have never been fond off in the past having thought of it to be slightly dull and whilst I don’t think it’s a classic by any means there is something quite chilling about it and it moves along at a snappier pace than I previously remember. It has Prentis Hancock who was just superb and was the leader who would refuse to listen to anyone because he thought knew better. Then there was Michael Wisher who had previous played Davros in Genesis of the Daleks the year before. I cant remember how his character ended because I was too caught up by the fact that this was his third Doctor Who story in the space of 18 months. Frederick Jaeger steals the show as the story centres around him pretty much. He finds this stuff that will make humans life easier which we are suppose to find commendable and he is taken over by this Anti-Matter creature. His characters end was changed by producer Philip Hinchcliffe who thought effectively that he shouldn’t suffer for something that wasn’t his fault. I think its good because when he is free and is himself then he becomes likeable and Jaeger should be praised for it. We are well into the Hinchcliffe era and the dark and edgier tone of Doctor Who was starting to show itself and the golden age of Doctor Who has begun.

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