Planet of Evil: Difference between revisions
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{{Doctorwhobox| |
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{{Use British English|date=August 2012}} |
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|serial_name=081 – Planet of Evil |
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{{needsattention|project=Doctor Who|type=multiple|date=June 2017|}} |
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|doctor=[[Tom Baker]] |
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{{Infobox Doctor Who episode |
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|writer=[[Louis Marks]] |
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| number = 081 |
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|director=[[David Maloney]] |
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| serial_name = Planet of Evil |
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|script_editor=[[Robert Holmes]] |
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| show = DW |
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|producer=[[Philip Hinchcliffe]] |
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| type = serial |
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|executive_producer=None |
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| image = |
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|production_code=4H |
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| caption = |
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|series=[[List of Doctor Who serials#Season 13 (1975-76)|Season 13]] |
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| doctor = [[Tom Baker]] – [[Fourth Doctor]] |
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|length=4 episodes, 25 mins each |
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| |
| companion = [[Elisabeth Sladen]] – [[Sarah Jane Smith]] |
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| guests = |
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|preceding=[[Terror of the Zygons]] |
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*[[Frederick Jaeger]] – Sorenson |
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|following=[[Pyramids of Mars]] |
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*[[Ewen Solon]] – Vishinsky |
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|}} |
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*[[Prentis Hancock]] – Salamar |
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'''Planet of Evil''' is a [[list of Doctor Who serials|serial]] in the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from [[September 27]] to [[October 18]], [[1975]]. |
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*[[Graham Weston]] – De Haan |
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*[[Louis Mahoney]] – Ponti |
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*[[Michael Wisher]] – Morelli |
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*[[Terence Brook]] – Braun |
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*[[Tony McEwan]] – Baldwin |
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*[[Haydn Wood (actor)|Haydn Wood]] – O'Hara |
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*[[Melvyn Bedford]] – Reig |
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| director = [[David Maloney]] |
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| writer = [[Louis Marks]] |
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| script_editor = [[Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)|Robert Holmes]] |
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| producer = [[Philip Hinchcliffe]] |
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| executive_producer = None |
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| composer = [[Dudley Simpson]] |
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| production_code = 4H |
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| series = [[Doctor Who (season 13)|Season 13]] |
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| length = 4 episodes, 25 minutes each |
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| started = {{Start date|1975|9|27|df=y}} |
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| ended = {{End date|1975|10|18|df=y}} |
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| preceding = ''[[Terror of the Zygons]]'' |
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| following = ''[[Pyramids of Mars]]'' |
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}} |
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'''''Planet of Evil''''' is the second serial of the [[Doctor Who (season 13)|13th season]] of the British [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It was first broadcast in four weekly parts on [[BBC1]] from 27 September to 18 October 1975. |
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==Synopsis== |
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{{spoiler}} |
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[[Image:planetofevil.jpg|thumb|300px|The Anti-Man manifests himself.]] |
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Far in the future, on Zeta Minor — the furthest planet out in the universe — [[Fourth Doctor|the Doctor]] comes across what is left of a Morestran mining expedition. |
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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, where the Morestran geologist Sorenson ([[Frederick Jaeger]]) seeks to exploit the [[antimatter]] minerals on the planet to use as a power source for his own planet. He and the military mission looking for him are attacked by a creature from a universe of anti-matter. The [[Fourth Doctor]] and [[Sarah Jane Smith]] arrive on the planet in response to a distress call. They find the geological expedition attacked by an unseen killer, leaving only Professor Sorenson alive. |
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==Notes== |
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#The spin off novel ''Zeta Major'' by [[Simon Messingham]] is a sequel to this story. |
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The plot was inspired by the film ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'' (1956) and the novella ''[[Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]]'' (1886), with a focus on antimatter. The jungle setting was realised at [[Ealing Studios]] and shot on film. |
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==Plot== |
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The [[TARDIS]] picks up a distress call and the [[Fourth Doctor]] and [[Sarah Jane Smith]] 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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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===Outside references=== |
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The Doctor quotes from ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' and ''[[Hamlet]]'', and says that he met [[William Shakespeare]] once.<ref name="discontinuity"/> |
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==Production== |
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The plot was deliberately conceived by [[Philip Hinchcliffe]], [[Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)|Robert Holmes]] and [[Louis Marks]] as a mixture of the film ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'' (1956) and the [[novella]] ''The [[Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]]'' (1886). In addition, Marks had been reading science magazine articles about [[antimatter]], 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, said by Sorenson in episode one to be conscious of his group's motives.<ref>"A Darker Side" documentary on the making of the serial (BBC DVD 1814)</ref> |
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Despite the jungle setting of this serial, the shoot was entirely studio bound, and designer [[Roger Murray-Leach]] built an intricately detailed jungle set at [[Ealing Studios]], which director [[David Maloney]] shot on film.<ref>David J. Howe, Mark Stammers, Stephen Walker. ''Doctor Who: The Seventies''. p. 91. {{ISBN|978-1852274443}}</ref> The [[BBC]] 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.<ref>"A Darker Side" documentary on the making of the serial (BBC DVD 1814)</ref> |
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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.<ref>"A Darker Side"</ref> Instead, a scene was added in which Sorenson is released from the pit and cured of his anti-matter contamination. |
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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, ego and super-ego|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 [[Chroma key|Colour Separation Overlay]]). |
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===Cast notes=== |
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This is the final appearance by [[Michael Wisher]] in ''Doctor Who''. Prentis Hancock made his third appearance, having previously appeared in ''[[Spearhead from Space]]'' (1970) and ''[[Planet of the Daleks]]'' (1973). He would later appear in ''[[The Ribos Operation]]'' (1978). Frederick Jaeger (Professor Sorenson) and Ewen Solon (Vishinsky) both previously appeared in ''[[The Savages (Doctor Who)|The Savages]]'' (1966), in which they played Jano and Chal, respectively. Jaeger would later appear in 1977's ''[[The Invisible Enemy (Doctor Who)|The Invisible Enemy]]'' as Professor Marius, creator of the robot dog [[K-9 (Doctor Who)|K-9]]. Louis Mahoney (Ponti) had previously appeared in ''[[Frontier in Space]]'' (1973) and would later appear in "[[Blink (Doctor Who)|Blink]]" (2007). Graham Weston (De Haan) had also previously appeared in [[Patrick Troughton]]'s final serial ''[[The War Games]]'' (1969). |
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==Broadcast and reception== |
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{{Episode table |
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|background = |
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|series = 6 |title = 20 | aux1=6 | airdate = 10 | viewers = 6 | country = UK |
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|seriesT = Episode |
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|aux1T = Run time |
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|viewersR = <ref name="AllRatings" /> |
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|episodes = |
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{{Episode list/sublist|Planet of Evil |
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|EpisodeNumber = 1 |
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|Title = Part One |
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|RTitle = |
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|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|9|27|df=y}} |
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|Viewers = 10.4 |
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|Aux1 = 24:02 |
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|LineColor = |
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}} |
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{{Episode list/sublist|Planet of Evil |
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|EpisodeNumber = 2 |
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|Title = Part Two |
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|RTitle = |
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|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|10|4|df=y}} |
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|Viewers = 9.9 |
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|Aux1 = 22:30 |
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|LineColor = |
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}} |
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{{Episode list/sublist|Planet of Evil |
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|EpisodeNumber = 3 |
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|Title = Part Three |
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|RTitle = |
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|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|10|11|df=y}} |
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|Viewers = 9.1 |
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|Aux1 = 23:50 |
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|LineColor = |
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}} |
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{{Episode list/sublist|Planet of Evil |
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|EpisodeNumber = 4 |
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|Title = Part Four |
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|RTitle = |
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|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|10|18|df=y}} |
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|Viewers = 10.1 |
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|Aux1 = 23:43 |
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|LineColor = |
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}} |
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}} |
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[[File:Forbiddenplanetposter.jpg|thumb|180px|''Planet of Evil'' is considered to have been partly inspired by ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'' (1956)]] |
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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 ''[[Spearhead from Space]]'' to be repeated in its entirety on BBC TV and the first ever to be stripped across consecutive evenings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=%22planet+of+evil%22#search|title=Search Results – BBC Genome|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> The viewing figures were 5.0, 5.0, 4.3 & 3.9 million viewers, respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/story.php?story=PlanetofEvil&detail=broadcast|title=Doctor Who Guide: broadcasting for Planet of Evil|last=doctorwhonews.net}}</ref> |
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[[Paul Cornell]], [[Martin Day (writer)|Martin Day]] and [[Keith Topping]] 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."<ref name="discontinuity">{{cite book |title=The Discontinuity Guide |last1=Cornell |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul Cornell |last2=Day |first2=Martin |author-link2=Martin Day (writer) |last3=Topping |first3=Keith |author-link3=Keith Topping |year=1995 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |location=London |isbn=0-426-20442-5 |pages=180–183 |chapter=Planet of Evil|chapter-url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/planetofevil/detail.shtml|title-link=The Discontinuity Guide}}</ref> In ''The Television Companion'' (1998), [[David J. Howe]] 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]]''." 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.<ref name="television companion">{{cite book | author = [[David J. Howe|Howe, David J]] & [[Stephen James Walker|Walker, Stephen James]] | year = 1998 | title = Doctor Who: The Television Companion | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/revengecybermen/detail.shtml| edition = 1st | location = London | publisher = [[BBC Books]] | isbn = 978-0-563-40588-7}}</ref> |
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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''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dexter|first1=Ray|title=Doctor Who Episode By Episode: Volume 4 – Tom Baker|date=2015|publisher=Lulu Press, Inc|isbn=9781326315566|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAI4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT63|language=en}}</ref> Reviewing the serial in 1999, literary critic [[John Kenneth Muir]] drew attention to similarities between ''Planet of Evil'' and [[Ridley Scott]]'s 1979 film ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'', 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 considered it significant that ''Doctor Who'' dealt with science fiction themes that became popular later in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Muir|first1=John Kenneth|title=A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television|date=1999|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786437160|page=236|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSySCgAAQBAJ&q=doctor%20who%20robot%20king%20kong&pg=PA236|chapter=Season 13}}</ref> |
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In 2010, Patrick Mulkern of ''[[Radio Times]]'' awarded the serial four stars out of five and wrote that it "feels original", particularly praising the jungle set and [[David Maloney]]'s direction, as well as Tom Baker's performance.<ref name="Radio Times">{{cite web|first=Patrick|last=Mulkern|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2010-07-07/planet-of-evil|title=Doctor Who: Planet of Evil|work=[[Radio Times]]|date=7 July 2010|access-date=29 March 2013}}</ref> |
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==Commercial releases== |
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===In print=== |
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{{Infobox book |
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|name = Doctor Who and The Planet of Evil |
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|image = Doctor Who The Planet of Evil.jpg |
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|caption = |
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|author = [[Terrance Dicks]] |
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|cover_artist = Mike Little |
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|series = ''[[Doctor Who]]'' book:<br />[[List of Doctor Who novelisations|Target novelisations]] |
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|release_number = 47 |
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|release_date = 18 August 1977 |
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|publisher = [[Target Books]] |
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|isbn= 0-426-11682-8 |
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}} |
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A novelisation of this serial, written by [[Terrance Dicks]], was published by [[Target Books]] in July 1977 as ''Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil''. |
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===VHS and DVD release=== |
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''Planet of Evil'' was released on [[VHS]] on 7 February 1994 (alongside the Sylvester McCoy story [[Dragonfire (Doctor Who)|Dragonfire]]), and on [[DVD-Video|DVD]] on 15 October 2007. This serial was also released as part of the [[List of Doctor Who DVD releases#Doctor Who DVD Files (2009–2014)|Doctor Who DVD Files]] in Issue 94 on 8 August 2012. |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist|refs= |
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<ref name="AllRatings">{{cite web|title=Ratings Guide |url=http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/info.php?detail=ratings&type=date |website=Doctor Who News |access-date=28 May 2017}}</ref> |
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}} |
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==Bibliography== |
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* {{cite book |title=The Discontinuity Guide |last1=Cornell |first1=Paul |author-link1=Paul Cornell |last2=Day |first2=Martin |author-link2=Martin Day (writer) |last3=Topping |first3=Keith |author-link3=Keith Topping |chapter-format=reprinted on BBC ''Doctor Who'' website |year=1995 |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |location=London |isbn=0-426-20442-5 |pages=180–182 |chapter=The Hand of Fear |chapter-url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/planetofevil/detail.shtml |access-date=20 April 2009 |title-link=The Discontinuity Guide}} |
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* [[Peter Haining (author)|Haining, Peter]] ''Doctor Who: 25 Glorious Years'' W H Allen (1988) {{ISBN|1-85227-021-7}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{wikiquote|Fourth Doctor}} |
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*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/planetofevil/castcrew.shtml Cast and Crew list, on the BBC website] |
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*{{BBCCDW | id=planetofevil | title=Planet of Evil}} |
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===Target novelisation=== |
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*{{Isfdb title|id=10623|title=Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil}} |
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{{Doctor Who episodes|C13}} |
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== References == |
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{{Fourth Doctor stories|selected=Television}} |
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* Cornell P., Day M., Topping K. ''The Discontinuity Guide'' Doctor Who Books (1995) |
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* Haining P. ''Doctor Who: 25 Glorious Years'' W H Allen (1988) |
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[[Category:Fourth Doctor serials]] |
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{{Doctorwho-stub}} |
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[[Category:Doctor Who serials |
[[Category:Doctor Who serials novelised by Terrance Dicks]] |
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[[Category:1975 British television episodes]] |
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[[Category:Fiction set in the 7th millennium or beyond]] |
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Latest revision as of 23:02, 20 November 2024
| 081 – Planet of Evil | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who serial | |||
| Cast | |||
Others
| |||
| Production | |||
| Directed by | David Maloney | ||
| Written by | Louis Marks | ||
| Script editor | Robert Holmes | ||
| Produced by | Philip Hinchcliffe | ||
| Executive producer(s) | None | ||
| Music by | Dudley Simpson | ||
| Production code | 4H | ||
| Series | Season 13 | ||
| Running time | 4 episodes, 25 minutes each | ||
| First broadcast | 27 September 1975 | ||
| Last broadcast | 18 October 1975 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| |||
Planet of Evil is the second serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 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, where the Morestran geologist Sorenson (Frederick Jaeger) seeks to exploit the antimatter minerals on the planet to use as a power source for his own planet. He and the military mission looking for him are attacked by a creature from a universe of anti-matter. The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith arrive on the planet in response to a distress call. They find the geological expedition attacked by an unseen killer, leaving only Professor Sorenson alive.
The plot was inspired by the film Forbidden Planet (1956) and the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), with a focus on antimatter. The jungle setting was realised at Ealing Studios and shot on film.
Plot
[edit]The TARDIS picks up a distress call and the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith 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
[edit]The Doctor quotes from Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, and says that he met William Shakespeare once.[1]
Production
[edit]The plot was deliberately conceived by Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Holmes and Louis Marks as a mixture of the film Forbidden Planet (1956) and the novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). In addition, Marks had been reading science magazine articles about antimatter, 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, said by Sorenson in episode one to be conscious of his group's motives.[2]
Despite the jungle setting of this serial, the shoot was entirely studio bound, and designer Roger Murray-Leach built an intricately detailed jungle set at Ealing Studios, which director David Maloney shot on film.[3] The BBC 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.[4]
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.[5] 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 Colour Separation Overlay).
Cast notes
[edit]This is the final appearance by Michael Wisher in Doctor Who. Prentis Hancock made his third appearance, having previously appeared in Spearhead from Space (1970) and Planet of the Daleks (1973). He would later appear in The Ribos Operation (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 (1973) and would later appear in "Blink" (2007). Graham Weston (De Haan) had also previously appeared in Patrick Troughton's final serial The War Games (1969).
Broadcast and reception
[edit]| Episode | Title | Run time | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) [6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Part One" | 24:02 | 27 September 1975 | 10.4 |
| 2 | "Part Two" | 22:30 | 4 October 1975 | 9.9 |
| 3 | "Part Three" | 23:50 | 11 October 1975 | 9.1 |
| 4 | "Part Four" | 23:43 | 18 October 1975 | 10.1 |
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 to be repeated in its entirety on BBC TV and the first ever to be stripped across consecutive evenings.[7] The viewing figures were 5.0, 5.0, 4.3 & 3.9 million viewers, respectively.[8]
Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping 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."[1] In The Television Companion (1998), David J. Howe 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." 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.[9]
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.[10] Reviewing the serial in 1999, literary critic John Kenneth Muir drew attention to similarities between Planet of Evil and Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien, 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 considered it significant that Doctor Who dealt with science fiction themes that became popular later in the 1970s.[11]
In 2010, Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times awarded the serial four stars out of five and wrote that it "feels original", particularly praising the jungle set and David Maloney's direction, as well as Tom Baker's performance.[12]
Commercial releases
[edit]In print
[edit] | |
| Author | Terrance Dicks |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Mike Little |
| Series | Doctor Who book: Target novelisations |
Release number | 47 |
| Publisher | Target Books |
Publication date | 18 August 1977 |
| ISBN | 0-426-11682-8 |
A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in July 1977 as Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil.
VHS and DVD release
[edit]Planet of Evil was released on VHS on 7 February 1994 (alongside the Sylvester McCoy story Dragonfire), and on DVD on 15 October 2007. This serial was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files in Issue 94 on 8 August 2012.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1995). "Planet of Evil". The Discontinuity Guide. London: Virgin Books. pp. 180–183. ISBN 0-426-20442-5.
- ^ "A Darker Side" documentary on the making of the serial (BBC DVD 1814)
- ^ David J. Howe, Mark Stammers, Stephen Walker. Doctor Who: The Seventies. p. 91. ISBN 978-1852274443
- ^ "A Darker Side" documentary on the making of the serial (BBC DVD 1814)
- ^ "A Darker Side"
- ^ "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
- ^ "Search Results – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ doctorwhonews.net. "Doctor Who Guide: broadcasting for Planet of Evil".
- ^ Howe, David J & Walker, Stephen James (1998). Doctor Who: The Television Companion (1st ed.). London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-0-563-40588-7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Dexter, Ray (2015). Doctor Who Episode By Episode: Volume 4 – Tom Baker. Lulu Press, Inc. ISBN 9781326315566.
- ^ Muir, John Kenneth (1999). "Season 13". A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television. McFarland. p. 236. ISBN 9780786437160.
- ^ Mulkern, Patrick (7 July 2010). "Doctor Who: Planet of Evil". Radio Times. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
Bibliography
[edit]- Cornell, Paul; Day, Martin; Topping, Keith (1995). "The Hand of Fear" (reprinted on BBC Doctor Who website). The Discontinuity Guide. London: Virgin Books. pp. 180–182. ISBN 0-426-20442-5. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
- Haining, Peter Doctor Who: 25 Glorious Years W H Allen (1988) ISBN 1-85227-021-7
External links
[edit]
Target novelisation
[edit]- Doctor Who and the Planet of Evil title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database