Classic Doctor Who - Season 10 - Carnival Of Monsters (1973) - Review

Starring: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Leslie Dwyer & Cheryl Hall

Written By: Robert Holmes

Directed By: Barry Letts

 

As Doctor Who stories go, Carnival Of Monsters found itself in what could easily have been a difficult position. It came as the second story of the show's tenth season, and had to keep the ball rolling after the celebration that was The Three Doctors (an underrated story if you ask me). It also had to come before the linked epics Frontier In Space and Planet Of The Daleks. So Carnival Of Monsters had to bridge the gap between the tenth anniversary special, and what was essentially the start of another twelve-part Dalek tale. But with Robert Holmes writing and Barry Letts directing, it seemed Carnival Of Monsters was to become its own special gem of a story...

 

After missing Metebelis III, the Doctor and Jo arrive on a ship travelling in the Indian Ocean in the 1920s. But not all is as it seems aboard this ship. The ship's crew and passengers keep repeating the same actions again and again, locking the Doctor and Jo up as stowaways multiple times, each time with no memory of ever seeing them. With a giant plesiosaurs stalking the waters, the Doctor becomes convinced something is very wrong. Meanwhile, millions of miles away on the planet Inter Minor, the travelling showman Vorg arrives with an amazing machine – the miniscope, and it seems the two times and events are intrinsically linked.

 

Right from the offset, the thing that sets Carnival Of Monsters apart and gives it a unique flavour is its miniscope premise. (Spoiler Warning!) Going on adventures and setting a Doctor Who story inside what is essentially a glorified, miniaturized zoo was another of Robert Holmes' ingenious ideas, and one that allows for a lot of variety in location and visuals. There aren't many other Doctor Who stories that can fuse Inter Minor, a planet of politics, with a 1920s ship, and a marshland full of Drashigs. It's a story that appears to have influenced others, such as The Girl In The Fireplace or Mummy On The Orient Express, both of which attempt something similar. And the variety of locations we have on offer are in the safe hands of the brilliant director (and series producer), Barry Letts. He brings some real visual flair to the story, and as a result, Carnival Of Monsters is easily the most colourful story since Doctor Who first made the leap to colour three years previously. The bright pastel colours of Vorg and Shona's outfits, the blue in Jo's coat, the fiery explosions in the Drashigs' marshlands – there's some really nice production work on this one.

 

The plot moves at a brisk, enjoyable pace most of the time and over the course of four parts, and it's interesting to see how the story evolves and changes in that time. Part One kicks off a great mystery plot, before we know of the miniscope and its significance, introducing us to both the events on Inter Minor and with the Doctor and Jo on the ship. We're faced with a number of mysteries and plot threads and left to sort them all out, but it's a mystery that's endearing and fun to solve rather than trying to confuse the audience. Just look at the cliffhanger to Part One, as a giant hand appears and takes away the TARDIS – it's so unexpected and bizarre, but it's things like this that make Carnival Of Monsters such an enjoyable story. Most importantly, the answers that we're left waiting for DO provide a satisfying pay-off. The resolution to these mysteries are big, loud and feel like something fairly grand, at least for the time this story was first broadcast.

 

Balanced against this mystery and intrigue, we have the Drashigs. The Drashigs are another of the juxtapositions that Carnival Of Monsters loves so much as while there's a lot going on in terms of the story and mystery, they are much simpler creations. It's the Drashigs' simplicity that's precisely why they're so effective and memorable. It's not like they have plans to rule the universe or enslave a population, they just eat their way through nearly anything – even whole spaceships. As much as I enjoy a complex or multifaceted enemy for the Doctor to face, sometimes the simple beasts approach can work to just as much effect. The Drashigs are a fantastic technical accomplishment too, and one of the few “monster” designs from the classic series to almost completely hold up to this day. Their guttural screaming roar, as well as some really brilliant puppetry work creates a credible threat, and it's a shame that any work involving puppets in the rest of classic Doctor Who couldn't for whatever reason match these results again. Even the Plesiosaurs that's seen in this very same story leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Both our main and supporting cast members make the most out of Robert Holmes' wonderful script, especially series regulars Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning. Now in his fourth series as the Doctor, and with the anniversary celebrations out of the way, Jon Pertwee utterly owns the role by this point. His performance in stories like this, and the charm and authority he brings with it, are precisely why he's my favourite Doctor, and this is another great story for him. This story is also fairly significant for Jo, as it's probably the first time we get to see a more independent side from her. She's changed a great deal from the clumsy, soft-spoken young woman we were introduced to in Terror Of The Autons, and you can see Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks starting to build up to her departure in The Green Death at the end of this season. It's also interesting to note Jo's reaction to seeing the Drashigs, and how she fears them so much that she's even haunted by them in the following story, Frontier In Space. The supporting cast shows about as much variety as the locations, yet everyone does a great job with what they're given. Leslie Dwyer and Cheryl Hall make a very entertaining double act as Vorg and Shona, and you've even got the likes of Ian Marter and Michael Wisher putting in an appearance before they went on to play Harry and Davros respectively.

 

Honestly when it comes to any areas of Carnival Of Monsters that didn't quite work, there's not a great deal I can find fault with. It's safe to say that a lot more succeeds here than it does fail, although just one or two things could have perhaps been better polished. I've already mentioned the Plesiosaurus that leaves a bit to be desired, but easily the least interesting aspect of Carnival Of Monsters is the Inter Minor trio, Kalik, Orum and Pletrac. While I absolutely support Doctor Who exploring issues of a more political nature, in this particular case, the political jargon these three characters keep giving us add very little and don't really serve a purpose or benefit anyone. It just brings the story to a bit of a halt, and given how incredibly strong (and better developed) the political themes are in the following story, Frontier In Space, it just doesn't feel needed. The pacing can also get a little stunted in Parts Two and Three when the Doctor and Jo navigate the circuitry of the miniscope – by that point we the audience are already roughly up to speed with things and are waiting for the Doctor and Jo to catch up with us.

 

However these issues are nowhere near big enough to spoil Carnival Of Monsters, and it's easy to see why it's become such a well-received story. It's self-contained, tightly delivered and just really a whole lot of fun. I'd honestly recommend Carnival Of Monsters to anyone who may be looking to get into Classic Doctor Who for all the reasons I've already gone through. Colourful and charming throughout, this is one of Doctor Who's gems, and the fact it's so memorable proves it was able to overcome the challenging position where it started off.

Carnival Of Monsters
 

8/10