Planet of the Giants

Dr. Who's second season launch began with a premise that was originally slated for the series premier: the crew of the TARDIS materializes in the right time and place, but miniaturized. Not only that, but they materialize right into the middle of a murder mystery.

Is it a giant ant or tiny people?

At only one inch high, the Doctor and his companions must navigate the everyday world in the extreme, from avoiding cats to escaping out of sinks to jacking up a telephone receiver, while trying to stop the release of a deadly insecticide. As an aside, this episode did have environmental undertones, as explained in the notes, about the dangers of insecticides and the importance of the approval and regulatory process.

I thought the concept was good, but the special effects left much to be desired, as you can imagine for such a low budget show. Still, the production team made good and I thought it made for a good story.

What I didn't like, however, was the fact that they reduced the serial from four parts to three, with the third televised episode being a mish-mash of the original third and four episodes. I was, I admit, a bit baffled when I was reading the special features list and saw something about reconstructing episodes three and four, when there were only three episodes, and the third looked to be intact. Also, most Dr Who serials are either 2, 4 or 6 parts--never saw a three parter, as this one was listed. The way it was explained in the notes was that the execs didn't really care for the serial too much and wanted to move along to the Daleks, features in the next serial.

Right before Ian gets trapped inside a box of matches

What they did was to reconstruct the full third and fourth episodes with original video and some special effects. Carol Ann Ford and William Russell reprised the roles of Susan and Ian (splendidly I might add) and voice talents were hired for the other cast members. The actor they hired to do William Hartnell was incredible. I could not tell the difference, and it's nice to see Russell kicking 50 years later.

The "reconstructed" episodes revealed quite a bit about the plot and storyline and I wish they hadn't cut those scenes out. It's a rough cut (the dialog doesn't really match the mouth movements and the special effects are cheesy), but worth watching. I almost wish they had used animation to fill in the missing scenes. The cuts remind me a lot of Prometheus--where the scenes that were cut would have gone a long way in filling in the plotlines.

One thing I didn't like was the return of Screamin' Susan. I really thought we had said goodbye to that aspect of her personality, especially with the next serial being her "coming of age" story. Ah well, I guess they had their reasons and like Verity Lambert said in the special features interview, her ability to scream was an important part of the casting.

Overall, not a bad episode, although I don't think it was a good way to kick off a second season (but as they explain in the notes they were locked into that since Susan was leaving in the next serial) and I wish they had maintained it as a four-parter.

Since I've already seen The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Rescue, The Romans, and The Web Planet, my next review will be on the audio edition of The Crusades. Looking forward to that and I hope it's as good as Marco Polo was.