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| Barbara is startled by a gigantic insect. |
3 episodes: Planet of Giants, Dangerous Journey, Crisis. Approx. 74 minutes. Written by: Louis Marks. Directed by: Mervyn Pinfield, Douglas Camfield. Produced by: Verity Lambert.
THE PLOT
While the TARDIS is materializing, the doors suddenly open of their own accord. The Doctor is convinced that this means some disaster - Yet save for the scanner breaking, everything appears perfectly normal. Not without some foreboding, the Doctor and his companions venture outside to explore their newest landing site.
They find themselves in a wonderland of giant insects and earthworms, all of which are dead. At each corpse, they smell a peculiar chemical substance. The Doctor and Susan deduce that the opening of the TARDIS doors must somehow have resulted in them shrinking to practically microscopic size. As for the dead insects and the chemical smell? Clearly a pesticide - Though an overly effective one, if it's killing worms as well as insects.
They have arrived at the home and laboratory of Smithers (Reginald Barratt), a scientist developing an experimental pesticide so far known only as DN6. He is away, but Forester (Alan Tilvern), the businessman financing him, is present - along with government scientist Farrow (Frank Crawshaw), who informs Forester that he cannot authorize the overly-lethal DN6's approval. Facing financial ruin, Forester coldly murders Farrow, intending to forge the government reports and send them in before staging a boating accident for the unfortunate government man.
When the Doctor finds the formula, he realizes that the chemical is even more dangerous than it appears. In sufficient quantities, exposure could prove deadly to humans and animals as well as insects - And Barbara, having accidentally touched some of it, is already becoming ill!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: This story is something of an unheralded landmark, as it is the first time the Doctor decides to try to stop a threat for completely unselfish reasons. He observes in Episode Two how concerned he is that the pesticide kills earthworms, which he explains are vital to the planet's ecology. When Barbara insists they stay and try to do something to stop DN6, the Doctor says that she's "quite right," and argues against Ian's urging to return to the ship and simply trust the government to refuse to sell the chemical. A scene cut from the script, available in the DVD special features, makes this even more explicit, with the Doctor delivering a speech actively encouraging intervention to stop something a threat to all life on Earth.
Ian: Resists the idea that they could have been miniaturized, even after encountering the giant insects and the enormous matchbox. As with his initial entry into the TARDIS, his first impulse is to grasp for more familiar explanations, such as an exhibition as for a World's Fair. When Barbara becomes ill, he focuses on getting back to the ship. He only becomes invested in "making trouble" to stop the pesticide after Barbara insists that they must intervene.
Susan: After the all-time-low of her portrayal in The Reign of Terror, she actually gets a decent showing here. The first episode pairs her with Ian while Barbara is with the Doctor. Uniquely, the script allows Susan to be the dominant figure, piecing together that these insects and objects are not larger than usual but that they are the ones who are smaller. Some clever intercutting sees Susan and the Doctor finishing each other's sentences as the Doctor explains to Barbara exactly what Susan is explaining to Ian.
Barbara: Apparently took Susan's stupid pills for this story. Even after knowing that some dangerous substance is killing everything they've come across, she decides to touch a pile of seeds in the laboratory. Once she realizes that the seeds were coated with poison, she tells the Doctor and Ian right away... Oh wait, no. She conceals that she's been exposed, even when it becomes apparent that she is ill. Is this the same highly competent character we've been watching for a full season? At least the final episode sees her refusing to return to the ship until they've done something to stop the insecticide from being used, showing her willingness to put the greater good above her own welfare - But overall, this is one of the character's very weakest showings.
THOUGHTS
The concept for Planet of Giants was originally proposed for the series' first story - That the TARDIS' first dematerialization would end with the regulars in the same place, just miniaturized. That did not come to pass, which I think is for the best. The production demands would almost certainly have been too great for that very first outing; and the straightforward capture/escape scenario of the bulk of An Unearthly Child was better-suited to setting the cast dynamics for the series to come.
Besides, based on the end result, there may not have been all that much mileage in the concept to start with. Planet of Giants is a rare story for '60's Who. The production consistently impresses. Giant versions of everyday objects are recreated with imagination and to a startlingly high standard considering. But all the imagination went into the production, stuck in service to a disappointingly pedestrian script.
As the plot summary reveals, the miniaturization of the regulars is window dressing on an entirely standard crime drama. The murder story moves very slowly (DVD special features reveal that it would have moved even more slowly and repetitively had the decision not been taken to edit it), and the plot involving Forester and Smithers seems mostly disconnected from the plight of the regulars. Indeed - The way the story unfolds, the time travelers might as well have run back to the ship, as they have nothing to do with Forester's apprehension.
The serial is most-remembered for having been cut down from four episodes to three. The dvd reconstructs the cut footage in an extra feature, utilizing soundalikes that vary from a dead-on double for the FIrst Doctor to a couple of dead-awful doubles for a telephone operator and a policeman. Sadly, the reconstruction largely validates the production decision. Most of the cut footage is filler, including multiple scenes of Forester attempting to forge the dead man's signature on a report and multiple scenes of Forester calling the nosy operator on the telephone. Though a few transitions would have been smoothed out had the edit not occurred, the plot feels slow and talky even in its broadcast version - as originally scripted and shot, it would have become downright boring.
The story is somewhat redeemed by the usual strong performances of the regulars, and the miniaturization visuals hold up strikingly well 50 years later. Still, non-completists might just want to give this one a pass. It's not uninteresting... But the storytelling is noticeably below the Hartnell era's normally very high standards.
Overall Rating: 4/10.
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