N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
The Five Faces of Doctor Who in 1981 was revelatory for me. Before it I’d had no idea that actors had played the Doctor prior to Tom Baker. When Carnival of Monsters and The Three Doctors were also shown as part of that repeat season I was further surprised to discover that Worzel Gummidge had been Doctor Who! (I also seem to remember at the time briefly developing something of a schoolboy crush on the Third Doctor’s female assistant, but that’s enough of that.)
“None of your modern rubbish.”
Vorg, Carnival of Monsters: Episode Two
For the second story in a row, nostalgia is the overriding emotion. With The Three Doctors (where such affection for the past is intrinsic to the story’s success), when I watched it again in the 90’s I had no real memories of that long-past autumnal Five Faces repeat. The Doctor and Jo’s arrival on the SS Bernice, however, stayed with me well after I’d stopped watching the show in the mid-80’s. As such it remains one of my earliest clear Doctor Who memories and, of course, was also my first experience of the Third Doctor.
I was unaware it was the Doctor’s first trip after the Time Lords had lifted his exile on Earth. Watching it in context 35 years later, though, it seems a natural consequence of the regular Time Lord missions and the increased control of the TARDIS the Doctor commanded in season nine.
“It’s like walking around inside a wristwatch.”
The Doctor, Carnival of Monsters: Episode Two
And it remains a cracking first trip. The internecine squabbles on Inter Minor showcase Robert Holmes’s gift for dialogue, whilst the Doctor and Jo’s failed attempt to arrive on Metebelis 3 involving a plesiosaurus, a missing ship mystery and its crew and passengers trapped in some sort of time loop all make for an attention-grabber of a first episode. And that’s before we even get to the Drashigs!
If there’s one thing I dislike, it’s that the Doctor appear to let Vorg off a bit lightly at the end. Given his earlier indignation at Vorg’s use of the Miniscope and description of its inhabitants, I’ve also always found the Doctor’s reciprocal use of the word ‘livestock’ to describe the beings trapped in the Miniscope somewhat jarring.
Perhaps that’s why for me, Barry Letts’ slightly trimmed ending (removing some of Vorg’s variant of the shell trick) actually works better, even if the blushes that were spared are for Pletrac’s skull cap slipping, rather than his deception at the hands of the Lurman showman!
"I like the idea that in the Miniscope they keep repeating themselves over and over …"
"… Jo, however, finds it very annoying."
"The Drashigs are terrifying!"
Son of UT Rating: 8/10
