The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (1988)

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is the final story of the 25^th season of Doctor Who when it was being put against the juggernaut that was CORONATION STREET. It was intended that this story was to be the second in transmission but moved. I must say that I have never been a big fan of this story because when you look at other stories from that series it significantly poorer yet on reflection it seems to suit the style of programme that John Nathan Turner and Andrew Cartmel were aiming for. We get a rare TARDIS scene which as writer Stephen Wyatt comments on in the DVD commentary is rather lacking compared the rest of the story and I must admit that I agree. As much as I loved TARDIS scenes I think that this story would have been better served if they had cut it.

The various characters that crop up over the course of this story do vary in terms of what I think of them. I thought that Peggy Mount was great as the Stall lady who pops up throughout the story and just chews the scenery every time. She’s a nice bit of comedy relief in a story that does have its fair share of darkness. Daniel Peacock as Nord was someone who was annoying when I first saw him all those years ago but on reflection I have to say that I though he was quite funny and was well played. Captain Cook is a character that was supposed to be killed off in episode one but the writer kept him in and it was a wise decision because he went from being an interesting eccentric man to being a very horrible person who is willing to push people in front of a bus if it meant he would survive. His final scene was brilliant and was well played by the recently deceased T P McKenna.  Mags was a character who’s impression of mine hasn’t changed. I don’t think that it was terrible but in the early stages she did come across as a bit ordinary. It was only when it was revealed that she was a werewolf that she came into her own and became a good character. Ian Reddington was superb as the Chief Clown. I didn’t know that in 1988, he was voted best villain in Doctor Who Magazine which at first glance was something that I found surprising but when you stop to think it’s rightly deserved.

Cliffhangers in this story vary from very poor to very good. The cliffhanger for Episode 1 was very poor indeed. Asking whether they should go into a tent wasn’t the best way to end an episode. The whole point of a cliffhanger is to give the viewer a reason for coming back in a week and on the basis of the cliffhanger I would be flicking over to see the goings on at the Rovers Return. The second episode cliffhanger was much better as it was literally by a cliff. The third and final cliffhanger was the best one as it’s the point where Mags transforms into a werewolf and there is the possibility of the Doctor being attacked. One aspect that bugs me is that I have heard some people who think that the character of the Whizzkid was trying to send up the Doctor Who fan. I could never see this myself, I just found the character to be fairly standard and served his purpose in a very short time.

The story moves along at quite a good pace, the only episode that I get a bit impatient with it is episode two. I just think that there is a lot of nothing which is frustrating after the first episode was so good. Thankfully it picked up in the final two episodes with the final being the one where we are introduced to the Gods of Ragnorak. The look of them is quite distinctive though the idea that they want to be entertained and kills anyone who don’t do so is quite unusual for a Doctor Who story. Sylvester McCoy managed seemed to be channelling back to his days before he was the Doctor when he was on the Ken Campbell Roadshow. I was half expecting that McCoy was going to stuff ferrets down his trousers.

The thing that is known about this story is that it was filmed in a car park at Elstree Studios where they were filming EASTENDERS and the comedy ALLO ALLO. Due to John Nathan Turner’s determination in making sure that this story didn’t become Shada 2 worked hard to get it filmed. The tent scenes were well filmed and it’s not obvious that they haven’t been filmed in a studio though its clear in the documentaries on the DVD that it wasn’t the easiest of environments to work in. There is a nice claustrophobic feel to the tent scenes which is probably something that wouldn’t have been achieved in a BBC studio. The story continues the lovely trend of massive explosions. The explosions from REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS were huge but the one that comes at the end of Episode 4 was just as impressive. The shot of McCoy walking towards the camera whilst a huge explosion goes off and not even flinching is something that very few people could pull of like Sylvester does and was a great way to end the story.

My opinion of TGSITG hasn’t always been a good one. I have often found it dull and lacking in something however upon rewatching it on DVD I must admit that there certainly are things to like. It suffers largely from being in the same season as REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS AND SILVER NEMESIS but it does show up the direction that the show was heading in and it was showing up what Sylvester McCoy could do with the Doctor and that the horrors of Season 24 were a distant memory. Stephen Wyatt’s second script is his best one and a TGSITG is a nice way to end the season.