Managra Zeta Major |
BBC Planet of Evil |
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| Episodes | 4 |  |
| Story No# | 81 | |
| Production Code | 4H | |
| Season | 13 | |
| Dates | Sept. 27, 1975 - Oct. 18, 1975 |
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With Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen.
Written by Louis Marks. Script-edited by Robert Holmes. Directed by David Maloney. Produced by Philip Hinchclife. |
| Synopsis: The Doctor and Sarah land on a planet that seems to be alive, and are accused of murdering several scientists and soldiers. |
A Review by Kevin McCorry 26/4/97
Planet of Evil tends to be the most overlooked story of the Gothic-horror-styled, second Tom Baker season, and this is most unfair. Its solemn and horrific events accord with those of other episodes in that season, and Tom Baker is hauntingly riveting in his performance. The Doctor knows what is causing the horrible, rapid-aging deaths, makes his grim conclusions to the incredulous Morestrans (the most compelling of whom is Space: 1999's Prentis Hancock as the impetuous leader, Salamar), and dispassionately but determinedly acts to stop the mayhem on the Morestran ship and neutralize the threat of annihilation on other worlds due to cataclysmic contact with anti-matter.
The aesthetic appeal of the story extends even beyond the eerie musical score, the disturbing fluttering flora on the planet denoting movement of invisible forces, and the convincing and frightening ape-like make-up of Frederick Jaeger as Sorenson. The concept of anti-matter being a Hell-like, monstrous realm, entered into via a pit (!) on a planet, and its elements capable of transforming anyone infected by them into a Hyde-like devil, are all exquisitely proposed and enacted in this underrated Doctor Who story. The Doctor is able to use his influence, which extends even into the inferno of symbolic Hell, to redeem the Morestrans from the evil in their midst and to permit them to escape the planet and avoid total annihilation for their folly. And also as an echo of his advice to the Brigadier against reliance of fossil fuel in the preceding story, Terror of the Zygons, the Doctor suggests to Sorenson an alternative energy source (in this case kinetic energy of planetary movement) to discourage him from prospecting for anti-matter (which is aestetically likened by this corresponding references to fuel in these adjacent stories to fossil fuels, which themselves are extraced from beneath the Earth (Hell?)).
The notion of anti-matter as "nature's own demon, caged" was used in Space: 1999 in in a similarly suggestive vein. In Planet of Evil, the anti-matter influence on Sorenson is certainly demonic, as is its horrific, rapid-aging, decaying effect on all those it "touches".
These compelling aesthetic qualities of this story, in addition to the invariably effective character portrayals, especially that of Tom Baker as the Doctor, make Planet of Evil one of my personal favorites in the Doctor Who cannon of excellent science fiction.
Bends, But Doesn't Break by Dennis McDermott 13/6/97
After not seeing anything in the Tom Baker era in years, it was wonderful looking at him with fresh eyes. I don't like this story nearly as much as Kevin McCorry does; nevertheless, it epitomizes what I admire most in Doctor Who.
Is this a great story? No. The sets were cheesy (the jungle nice but the spaceship a little on the minimalist side), and while most of the acting was great, I thought Prentis Hancock's performance as Salamar wooden.
Who cares? There is much in this story to like. The notion of mining anti-matter is an intriguing idea, with the story set in a planet crossing the boundary of the two universes. The villian, Sorenson, is convincing and the threat real. (Though if the spaceship is unable to leave, how is it that the anti-matter would explode? As I said, this isn't a perfect story.)
What makes the story, however, is the acting of Tom Baker and the character of the Fourth Doctor. Tom Baker simply knows how to act. He knows that facial gestures and movements are just as important as what is said, and that soft tones will make the hard ones more effective. It is hard to resist this Doctor when he flashes that smile. The Fourth Doctor is also perhaps the most courageous of them all (witness his willingness to enter the pit). He also displays his compassion with his attitude towards Sorenson at the end of the story. Simply put, it is hard not to like the Fourth Doctor.
Which is what Planet of Evil exemplifies to me: with all its warts, it is hard not to like it. That's what makes Doctor Who wonderful.
A Review by Michael Hickerson 10/9/98
When it comes to picking out a Doctor Who story to re-watch, I usually select a story that I've got a particular hankering to see for some reason or another. And while this means that I will rewatch some stories such as Curse of Fenric fifty or sixty times while other stories like Horns of Nimon collect dust at the back of my collection, there are times when an overwhelming urge seizes me to watch one of the stories I've forgotten about. It usually helps me appreciate my favorite stories that much more.
My motivation for rewatching Planet of Evil was partially motivated out of that hankering to see a Tom Baker story I usually don't rewatch on a regular basis. But, it was also motivated by the fact that I recently picked up a copy of Zeta Major, which is a sequel to this story. So, before reading, I wanted to review where we'd been until now and see how well the book worked as a sequel.
But, that's a different review.
What I am here to discuss is Planet of Evil.
While certainly not as enjoyable or as entertaining as Genesis of the Daleks or the Pyramids of Mars, Planet of Evil is a solid fourth Doctor adventures. It has his constant wit, his wide-eyed curiousity, and that certain arrogance that only Tom Baker can carry off. Louis Marks gives Tom Baker and the rest of the crew a pretty good script to work with. As with a lot of Who, the major theme is the shortsighted nature of humanity and how the Doctor must step in to not only save humankind from the ugly monsters (tm) but also from ourselves. Professor Sorenson's refusual to accept that he must consider another alternative fuel source is nicely realized as is his tranformation into the anti-matter creature late in the story. Of course, the threat extends far beyond one starship and planet and the Doctor is forced to once again save civilization as we know it. It's a nice touch, but it's brought up once and then promptly forgotten, which is aggravating.
But the story is full of minor things that aggrivate me. For one, Sarah's being able to tell when the two universes are slamming together is nothing more than a plot device to tell the Doctor when the monsters are coming and to set up a couple of cliffhangers. The other is the standard cliche of the Doctor and the companion show up and are suspected of murder until events sprial out of control and the Doctor is forced to take control the situation.
But, as with all Who, there are some things that set the story out there as being above average. The commander's speech about how far out Zeta Minor based on reference points Sarah has never heard of is nice. Also, the anti-matter monsters are one of the better realized visual effects the show has seen. And director David Mahoney does make the best of a studio bound story, trying diligently to make you believe you're on an alien planet. In most cases, it works.
Overall, Planet of Evil isn't bad Who. It's just not great Who. And in a season with Planet of Evil and The Brain of Morbius, it can easily get lost in the shuffle and gather dust at the back of your collection.
Black Pool Rock by Andrew Wixon 18/1/02
Until I sat down to write the review I always thought of this as an average story from a remarkable period of the show's history. But the more I think about it the less I like it. The title is generic and inaccurate, for one thing - how would we like it if aliens arrived and started carting off bits of our planet with nary a by-your-leave or any attempt at communication? The anti-matter monster may be a bit peevish but describing it and its whole world as Evil because of this strikes me as somewhat mean-spirited.
The rot runs deeper, though. Certainly the jungle looks good in the film sequences, but the rest of the production values - sets, costumes, model work - are distinctly unimpressive. This could be a late-period Pertwee story in terms of sophistication and characterisation (apparently the crew were made as deliberately anonymous as possible, always a mistake in a performance-driven series like DW), and of the guest cast only Frederick Jaeger and Ewen Solon are memorable (and Jaeger is only memorably hammy).
The only thing to really mark this out as a Hinchcliffe-Holmes story is the element of movie pastiche, but for once this is mishandled. The first half of the story obviously wants to be Forbidden Planet and succeeds moderately well (though not as well as Face of Evil would). But then in episode three it decides to be Jekyll and Hyde instead; and it's an unforgivably shoddy slip in the writing that no clue is given to Sorenson's condition prior to this point. It's messily written and - odd moments aside - pedestrianly directed. The scene where the Doctor calmly tells Sorenson to commit suicide should be chilling, classic - but you barely notice it. The end is unsatisfying, too: it doesn't feel right for Sorenson to return home a hero given the deaths his hubris is responsible for.
Not an enormously bad story, just very uninvolving, and proof that even the greats fumble the ball occasionally. Thank heavens Pyramids of Mars is one change of videotape away...
Very Forgettable... by Mike Jenkins 24/7/02
Once you have digested this garbage, it feels like a somewhat less then entertaining story from the darker days of John Pertwee (aka lousy CSO and camparific arrogant pseudo-moral diatribes from Tom Baker who is imprisoned inside of a script written for the third Doctor.) And Sarah Jane? Oh, poor, poor Sarah Jane. You know, if she was truly meant to be a joke it might be one thing but signs are pointing to no. I, being a fan of the Hinchcliffe era, would probably refer to every story from this season as a masterpiece, barring this one. The touch of grey in the silver lining you might say.
The character of the villain is poorly defined and his intentions unclear. The setting makes a couple of ill-fated attempts to evoke terror (a term I use in the loosest of senses), but it gives off a feeling of redundant Arabesqueness. It [the setting] could've been a unifying link in the chain (more like a saving grace within the garbage slab). There's a chance worthwhile stories will triumph above lousy acting. Sometimes. We're given faceless security guards and an unconvincingly allusive source of danger in the main villain. It's one thing to leave a little something to the imagination. It's a proportionally different matter when Louis Marks expects real Doctor Who fans to overlook this ballon juice. Then again, perhaps it's best to overlook it.
Homage to Forbidden Planet by Tim Roll-Pickering 23/8/02
This story's roots are clearly embedded in the story of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the film Forbidden Planet but there's never been anything wrong with making a blatant homage. Planet of Evil is an interesting foray into the depths of the universe, bringing the Doctor into a situation that would not appear out of place in an episode of Star Trek but that should not be held against the story.
The basic concepts underlying the story are those of greed and arrogance jeopardising everything around them and these are admirably shown in the performances of Frederick Jaeger as Sorenson and Prentis Hancock as Salamar. Together with Ewen Solon's role as Vishinsky these actors bring a strong presence to the story that makes it stand out well. As is often the case Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen give strong performances showing how well the two complement one another and the result is a cast that is not detracted in anyway by the minor roles of the Morestran crew.
Script wise this is probably Louis Marks' strongest contribution to the series so far. The tale is straightforward but brought to life by some extremely strong characterisation There's a genuine sense of terror throughout the story, though the threat to the entire universe is never properly shown in terms to make such a danger seem imaginable. David Maloney's direction is as strong as ever and makes imaginative use of film to bring depth to the artificial jungle scenes. The anti-matter creatures are extremely well realised through video effects that are highly reminiscent of the exposure of an invisible creature in the film Forbidden Planet. Less effective is the model work of the Morestran ship or the interiors, both of which look cheap, but the direction and lighting manages to cover up such limitations.
Planet of Evil comes from a period often considered by many fans to be the series' 'Golden Age'. Whilst the wider implications of this classification are highly debatable, it's hard to find much in this story that could be held up against the series or which detracts from presenting it as an example of strong Doctor Who. This is a story that shows how important it is to have all elements of production working together to complement one another and the result is tale that can embarrass few Doctor Who fans. 9/10
A Review by Will Berridge 23/6/03
So, it’s called Planet of Evil. Hmph. Do you know what I think? Somewhere in the BBC records, probably under a file titled ‘imagination, lack of’, there probably lies the following random title generator table, which DW writers with a twelve-sided dice and a lot of other things on their time would pick up when they’d found thinking about original titles for more than five minutes was a bit of an over-exertion for them:
‘A of B’ titles
A:
It wouldn’t be surprising, as this appears to be the story’s primary raison d’etre, and it manages its best towards this end, within the limitations that the BBC visual effects department’s somewhat unsuccessful attempts to realise the ‘anti-matter’ creature put on it. The object seems to have been to make the planet an entity in itself which we are to be afraid of, an impression well created by some superbly haunting dialogue on the part of Sorenson and the Doctor. For instance: 'the vein vanished... the planet took it back... it's alive, you know... it watches every move we make.' In fact the rather tortured and dazed expression Sorenson wears on his face throughout the story has an unnerving effect.
The impressively detailed jungle effects also give the planet an eerily hostile and otherworldly character, and it's a pity the action is largely centred on the dull old spaceship set in the final couple of episodes. The horrific dehydration of the corpses (well it freaked me out when I was little) and final cliffhanger featuring the Doctor and Sarah about to be ejected from the ship, buried alive in space (the ultimate claustrophobiac fear) on the rim of the known universe, also add to the story's fear-factor.
However, to my tastes at any rate, achieving these goals only merits the story an average rating. It's a far from unoriginal tale with a cast that, with the exception of Soreson and Salamar, are entirely bland. Note that the two exceptions aren't one note, the former being a 'blinkered scientist' stereoptype, and the latter a typically paranoid an impulsive 'military idiot', but at least they're played with some vigour, Salamar getting to become particularly vicious when he loses it in the final episode. They plot... yes, well there's not much too it. They Doctor and Sarah turned up, get blamed for all the deaths as per usual, take a particularly long time convincing everyone they didn't do it (this normally only takes a scene or two), and then defeat the real monsters, with a few scary things happening along the way. I can't say I'm that well positioned to judge the scientific content, but I expect any expert on the subject of anti-matter would find this story rather amusing. The notion of anti-matter substances converting people into inhuman monsters conforms more to the need of children to be frightened than it does to the laws of Physics. The Doctor gets a few good lines one the subject, though, telling the deformed Sorenson 'your tissues are now so monstrously hybridised the next metabolic change could be the final one', and condemns the Morestrans for their reckless interference in a world they don't comprehend in a way that only he can.
So... it's a very typical DW story, with a daft title, not much plot, lots of child-scaring things and a superb performance from the Doctor. Hence it gets: 7/10
A Review by Stuart Gutteridge 21/11/03
Planet Of Evil is frequently underrated and overlooked because of the stories on either side of it; but despite this it is a shockingly effective tale. The sets are small and sterile and add much to the atmosphere and the jungle is one of Doctor Who`s better attempts at an alien environment. The cast are largely great (tho Prentis Hancock`s Salamar is forgettable) with plaudits going to Frederick Jaeger as Sorenson. The regulars continue to be at their best, Sarah Jane doesn`t get to do a lot but Elisabeth Sladen does manage to portray her fear convincingly. Similairly Tom Baker`s Doctor is great, the horror aspects of the story suiting him well. In fact the only thing that isn`t too great is the ultimate realisation of the anti-matter creature itself, although given the standards of the production team at the time this in itself is a reasonable enough feat. In short, then a winner for season thirteen.
Planet of Evil is a prime example of the Hinchcliffe/Holmes formula of raiding the B-Movie world for Who tales. Dr. Jeckyll meets Forbidden Planet, with a dash of Mutiny on the Bounty thrown in for good measure.
The end result is a bit of a mixed bag.
It all starts off well with the scenes on Zeta Minor itself. The opening is good horror fun, with members of the expedition being killed off by an invisible nasty. The Doc and Sarah arrive after picking up a distress call and while investigating, get tangled up with a Morestran military investigation team, sent to rescue the expedition.
Dr. Jeckyll rears its ugly head through Professor Sorensen, the only survivor of the expedition, who's been affected by anti matter to the point where he becomes a mindless beast. The Forbidden Planet aspect shows up in the presentation of the anti-matter creature and the anti-man clones that run amok in the final episode. And Mutiny is represented through the battle for control bbetween Vishinsky and the Controller Salamar on how to deal with the anti-matter menace and our heroes.
Unfortunately, the last two episodes, although filled with tension, repeats the same aspects -- the ship being drawn back to Zeta Minor, anti-matter monster(s) running amok and killing the crew. And Sorensen's survival at the end is a bit of a cop out.
On the acting front, Tom and Lis are good fun, as always. My favorite bit is in part two when the Doc quotes Shakespeare and Sarah refers to woodland nymphs while being followed by the tracker. Prentiss Hancock turns in a strong performance as the increasingly deranged Salamar. Frederick Jaeger is all right as Sorensen, although he doesn't chew on the scenery as much as he should in the Jeckyll/Hyde part. Ewen Solon is okay as Vishinsky and the rest of the cast hold their own, including Michael "Davros" Wisher in a minor role as Morelli.
Planet of Evil is a decent runaround which falls apart in the last episode. I could think of worst ways to kill a couple of hours.