N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
The Pirate Planet is jam-packed with the kind of wild and wonderful ideas we came to expect from Douglas Adams: whether it’s the inertialess corridor, the robot parrot, or the notion of hollowed-out and shrunken planets, there’s rarely a dull moment.
“The concept is simply staggering. Pointless, but staggering.”
The Doctor, The Pirate Planet: Part Three
It’s an ambitious production and witty to boot. Yet, for all the breadth of imagination on display, it’s often the little moments that stand out, be it Romana’s being totally unfazed by her arrest, Mr Fibuli’s almost embarrassed adjustment of his sunglasses when the Doctor is about to walk the plank or the Doctor’s wonderful tale of how he inspired (or rather informed) Newton’s discovery of gravity.
As the Captain puts it ‘It is not scale that counts, but skill’.
“No, by the sky demon! I say no!”
Captain, The Pirate Planet: Part Two
Indeed, it’d almost be worth watching for Bruce Purchase as the Captain alone. Notwithstanding the maniacal evil laughter at the end of Part Three, once you’ve thrown in half a dozen or so ‘by the sky demon’s and a fiendishly inventive plan to shrink planets, you have the second consecutive story where the villainy is dialled all the way up to eleven. Alongside the cool sunglasses-wearing first mate Mr Fibuli and the line in posh entitlement that is Queen Xanxia, you have a set of villains who somewhat overshadow the story’s other inhabitants of Zanak.
It’s not perfect – there’s arguably too much going on – and Douglas Adams would go on to greater things – within and without Doctor Who – but The Pirate Planet still showcases a lot of the immense talent the man had.
'Another name for this story could have The Planet Crusher because the planet this story is set on mine planets. It could also be called The Planet Pirates.'
'The "pirates" actually sound like pirates because at the beginning someone says "aye, aye captain."'
'The captain is very easily angered. Because he has lots of robotic parts he looks very menacing.'
Son of UT Rating: 8/10
