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The story was repeated across four consecutive evenings on BBC1 from 5–8 July 1976, with a start time varying between 6:20 pm and 6:35 pm. It was the first story since ''
''Planet of Evil'' is the second serial of the 13th season of the British
was so impressed with it that they kept photographs of it for several years as an example of excellent set design and producer Philip Hinchcliffe recommended that he be nominated for an award for this work.
The original script had Sorenson dying after falling into the pit, but Hinchcliffe ordered that this be changed, as he felt it would too grim an ending for "the little ones" (i.e. children), and because he saw Sorenson as a victim of the planet's influence rather than an evil man in himself. Instead, a scene was added in which Sorenson is released from the pit and cured of his anti-matter contamination.
The most visible reference to ''Forbidden Planet'' is the anti-matter monster (Mike Lee Lane), which is sometimes invisible and otherwise is seen as red outlines. It bears a close resemblance to the film's "Creature from the Id". The monster is invisible in the filmed sections of the serial (where a wind machine was used to show its progress), and as outlines in the video sections (created with science fiction television
Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...
series ''Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''. It was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
from 27 September to 18 October 1975.
The serial is set on and above the planet Zeta Minor, the last undiscovered planet in the known universe, more than 30,000 years in the future. In the serial, the Morestran geologist Sorenson (Frederick Jaeger
Manfred Frederick Jaeger (9 May 1928 – 18 June 2004) was a German-born British film, television, theatre and radio character actor.
Biography
Jaeger was born in Berlin, Germany, but moved to England following Adolf Hitler's rise to power. He ...
) seeks to exploit the antimatter
In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioac ...
minerals on the planet to use as a power source for his own planet when he and the military mission looking for him are attacked by a creature from a universe of anti-matter.
Plot
TheTARDIS
The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior ap ...
picks up a distress call and the Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Tom Baker.
Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the ...
and Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and two of its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged investigative journalist who first encounters alien t ...
arrive on the planet Zeta Minor. There they discover that a Morestran geological expedition has fallen prey to an unseen killer and only the leader, Professor Sorenson, remains alive.
A military mission from Morestra has also arrived to investigate. At first they suspect the Doctor and Sarah Jane of responsibility for the deaths of the expedition members, but the culprit is eventually revealed to be a creature from a universe of antimatter, retaliating for the removal by Sorenson of some antimatter samples from around the pit that acts as an interface between the two universes.
The Morestrans take off in their ship, but it is slowly dragged back towards the planet due to the antimatter on board. Sorenson himself becomes infected by antimatter and gradually transforms into an 'antiman', a monster capable of draining the life from others.
The Morestran commander, the increasingly unhinged Salamar, attacks Sorenson with a radiation source, but this only causes him to produce multiple anti-matter versions of Sorenson which soon overrun the ship. The Doctor finds the original Sorenson, takes him back to the planet in the TARDIS and throws both him and his samples into the pit, fulfilling a bargain he earlier made with the anti-matter creature. Sorenson reappears unharmed, and the Doctor returns him to the Morestran ship, which is now freed of the planet's influence.
Outside references
The Doctor quotes from ''Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' and ''Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'', and says that he met William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
once.
Production
The plot was deliberately conceived byPhilip Hinchcliffe
Philip Michael Hinchcliffe (born October 1944) is a retired English television producer, screenwriter and script editor. After graduating from Cambridge University, he began his career as a writer and script editor at Associated Television befo ...
, Robert Holmes and Louis Marks Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis (d ...
as a mixture of the film ''Forbidden Planet
''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story ...
'' and the novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
''The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...
.'' In addition, Marks had been reading science magazine articles about antimatter
In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter. Antimatter occurs in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioac ...
, and decided to write a story incorporating the subject. Hinchcliffe, in the first season in which he could commission new material, planned to move away from the "rubber-suited alien" theme, which he felt was clichéd. For this story he proposed having three separate monstrous elements: Sorenson's transformation, the anti-matter monster and finally the planet itself, claimed by Sorenson in episode 1 to be conscious of his group's motives.
Despite the jungle setting of this serial, the shoot was entirely studio bound, and designer Roger Murray-Leach
Roger Murray-Leach (born 25 June 1943) is a British Production Designer possibly best known for his work on British television series' '' Doctor Who'' and Blake's 7 in the 1970s, although he then went on to work on major feature films.
Initiall ...
built an intricately detailed jungle set. The BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Colour Separation Overlay
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to ...
).
The ship main cabin set was re-used in the Fourth Doctor story ''The Robots of Death
''The Robots of Death'' is the fifth serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 29 January to 19 February 1977.
In the serial, the Four ...
'' (1977).
Cast notes
This is the final appearance byMichael Wisher
Michael Wisher (19 May 1935 – 21 July 1995) was an English actor. He made many appearances in ''Doctor Who'', becoming best known for his performance in ''Genesis of the Daleks'' (1975) as the first actor to play Davros, the wheelchair-using ...
in ''Doctor Who''. Prentis Hancock made his third appearance, having previously appeared in ''Spearhead from Space
''Spearhead from Space'' is the first serial of the seventh season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 January 1970. It was the first ''Doctor Who'' ...
'' (1970) and ''Planet of the Daleks
''Planet of the Daleks'' is the fourth serial of the tenth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 7 April to 12 May 1973.
Continuing from the events of t ...
'' (1973). He would later appear in ''The Ribos Operation
''The Ribos Operation'' is the first serial of the 16th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1978. This serial introduces Mary Tamm ...
'' (1978). Frederick Jaeger (Professor Sorenson) and Ewen Solon (Vishinsky) both previously appeared in '' The Savages'' (1966), in which they played Jano and Chal, respectively. Jaeger would later appear in 1977's '' The Invisible Enemy'' as Professor Marius, creator of the robot dog K-9. Louis Mahoney (Ponti) had previously appeared in ''Frontier in Space
''Frontier in Space'' is the third serial of the tenth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The serial was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 24 February to 31 March 1973. It was the last serial to ...
'' (1973) and would later appear in "Blink
Blinking is a bodily function; it is a semi-autonomic rapid closing of the eyelid. A single blink is determined by the forceful closing of the eyelid or inactivation of the levator palpebrae superioris and the activation of the palpebral portio ...
" (2007). Graham Western (De Haan) had also previously appeared in Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...
's final serial ''The War Games
''The War Games'' is the seventh and final serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969.
In the serial, an unnamed alien r ...
'' (1969).
Broadcast and reception
The story was repeated across four consecutive evenings on BBC1 from 5–8 July 1976, with a start time varying between 6:20 pm and 6:35 pm. It was the first story since ''Spearhead from Space
''Spearhead from Space'' is the first serial of the seventh season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 January 1970. It was the first ''Doctor Who'' ...
'' to be repeated in its entirety on BBC TV and the first ever to be stripped across consecutive evenings. The viewing figures were 5.0, 5.0, 4.3 & 3.9 million viewers, respectively.
Paul Cornell
Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield.
As well as ''Docto ...
, Martin Day and Keith Topping
Keith Andrew Topping (born 26 October 1963 in Walker, Tyneside) is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He is most well known for his work relating to the BBC Television series ''Doctor Who'' and for writing numerous official and unofficial g ...
wrote of the serial in ''The Discontinuity Guide'' (1995), "For an eight-year old, this was the most terrifying slice of ''Who''. Now it seems a little ordinary, a simple reworking of classic themes. It is unfortunate that the detailed jungle set is in such sharp contrast to the (cheap) minimalism of the Morestran spaceship." In ''The Television Companion'' (1998), David J. Howe
David J. Howe is a British writer, journalist, publisher, and media historian.
Biography
David Howe was born 24 August 1961 and established himself (in the early 1980s) as an authoritative media historian through writing articles for fanzin ...
and Stephen James Walker described ''Planet of Evil'' as "a wonderfully creepy story" with the borrowing of material from ''Jekyll and Hyde'' "done with such style and panache that the viewer, far from complaining about a lack of originality, delights in spotting all the familiar sources to which the writer and the production team are paying homage." They also noted that the antimatter monster, depicted only as a shimmering red outline, was "in all but name, the Id monster from the 1956 MGM feature film ''Forbidden Planet
''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story ...
''." Howe and Walker also praised the jungle set and the performances of Frederick Jaeger and Ewen Solon, but criticised Prentis Hancock's "poor" portrayal of Salamar.
Ray Dexter's assessment of ''Planet of Evil'' also acknowledged the influence of the 1956 film ''Forbidden Planet'', which inspired the writers to include an invisible, murderous monster, as well as elements of ''Jekyll and Hyde''. Reviewing the serial in 1999, literary critic John Kenneth Muir
John Kenneth Muir (born December 3, 1969) is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres.
Biography
Born ...
drew attention to similarities between ''Planet of Evil'' and Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...
's 1979 film, ''Alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
'', in particular the scenario of a spaceship answering a distress call, the crew being gradually killed by a malevolent alien life form, and corpses being ejected into space in metal coffins. Muir hesitated to suggest that ''Alien'' was directly influenced by this story, but, nevertheless, considered it significant that ''Doctor Who'' dealt with science fiction themes that became popular later in the 1970s.
In 2010, Patrick Mulkern of ''Radio Times
''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'' wrote that the serial "feels original", particularly praising the jungle set and David Maloney
David John Lee Maloney (14 December 1933 – 18 July 2006) was a British television director and producer, best known for his work on the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', ''Blake's 7'' and ''The Day of the Triffids''. ''The Guardi ...
's direction, as well as Tom Baker's performance.
Commercial releases
In print
A novelisation of this serial, written byTerrance Dicks
Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English people, English author and television screenwriter, script editor and Television producer, producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fictio ...
, was published by Target Books
Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became well ...
in July 1977 as ''Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil''.
VHS and DVD release
''Planet of Evil'' was released on VHS on 7th February 1994 (alongside the Sylvester McCoy story Dragonfire), and onDVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
on 15 October 2007. This serial was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files
This is a list of ''Doctor Who'' serials and episodes that have been released on DVD and Blu-ray.
DVD Release
Most ''Doctor Who'' DVDs have been released first in the United Kingdom with Region 2, and released later in Australia and New ...
in Issue 94 on 8 August 2012.
References
Bibliography
* * Haining, Peter ''Doctor Who: 25 Glorious Years'' W H Allen (1988)External links
*Target novelisation
* {{Fourth Doctor stories, selected=Television Fourth Doctor serials Doctor Who serials novelised by Terrance Dicks 1975 British television episodes Fiction set in the 7th millennium or beyond