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| The Doctor and Sarah Jane are being watched. |
4 episodes. Approx. 98 minutes. Written by: Louis Marks. Directed by: David Maloney. Produced by: Philip Hinchcliffe.
THE PLOT
Zeta Minor is a planet at the edge of the known universe. It is also the site of a Morestran science expedition led by Professor Sorenson (Frederick Jaeger), which has been picked off one by one by a bizarre energy creature. The Doctor and Sarah Jane arrive in response to a distress call, but they are far too late to save any of the scientists. Only Sorenson remains, a half-mad shell of a man who clings to his samples like a lifeline, insisting that they represent a discovery that will save his civilization.
When a Morestran military ship reaches the planet to check up on the expedition, the young captain (Prentis Hancock) instantly blames the deaths on the Doctor and Sarah Jane. But the Doctor realizes that they are at a point of collision between two universes: the universe of matter and that of anti-matter. Sorenson's samples are pure anti-matter. If they leave the planet, then it could spell the end of everything!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Tom Baker's performance is easily this serial's strongest asset. I love his disgust at the Morestrans, with him regarding them basically as a nuisance. He admits to Sarah that it's tempting to simply leave them to their fates, and there's a sense that he might actually do so if the consequences wouldn't be so dire. He's downright ruthless when confronting Sorenson in the final part, telling him that "we purchase the right to experiment at the cost of total responsibility," with a stern expression and unforgiving body language. It's great character stuff overall, with a darker tilt than the early Doctors traditionally have been allowed to show.
Sarah Jane Smith: Her sensitivity to the anti-matter creature provides a few creepy moments early on. But it never gets any sort of payoff, seeming mainly like a residue of an earlier draft. Sarah is refreshingly assertive in the story's second half, particularly when she pushes Vishinsky to take charge. By and large, though, this is not a strong story for her. "Generic companion" stuff, though Sladen does it well.
THOUGHTS
Planet of Evil is a story of two halves and, unfortunately, of two settings. The first two episodes are quite promising. David Maloney's tightly controlled direction makes the most of designer Roger Murray-Leach's studio jungle, creating an effectively eerie atmosphere.
Too bad, then, that the last two episodes switch settings, with most of the back half of the tale confined to a bland spaceship set. A shift in focus accompanies the change of setting, and the tension of the first two parts gradually fades away.
I've read that this script went through several rewrites. Unfortunately, it shows. Watching this story, I often feel as if the first two episodes of one serial somehow got attached to the last two of an entirely different (weaker) serial. Save for the characters and people repeating "anti-matter" every few minutes, the two halves play out like completely separate pieces.
Sorenson's Jekyll/Hyde transformations were apparently the reason for commissioning this in the first place. But the whole Jekyll/Hyde bit doesn't even start until Episode Three, with no clues in the first half that the scientist is affected by anything other than his own ambition (and possibly a bit of PTSD). The character of the Morestran Captain (a wooden Prentis Hancock) switches midway through from being ruthless to merely being an imbecile. Vishinsky goes from being stern to sympathetic at about the same point.
Oh, and the Doctor's statement that the whole universe is in danger? It's somewhat contradicted by the Morestrans' dilemma. The planet will not allow them to leave with antimatter aboard, something that we are shown repeatedly throughout. That means there really is no danger to anyone other than the Morestrans. If the Doctor truly is inclined to leave his unpleasant hosts to their fates, then there's really nothing stopping him.
OVERALL:
Tom Baker is extremely good in this story, enough so that it just about skates by on his performance. The jungle planet is one of the Classic series' better attempts at an alien world, and David Maloney's direction is as strong as I've come to expect.
Planet of Evil is entirely watchable. But after the gripping first two parts, the second half sinks under the weight of fairly leaden performances of two-dimensional characters, alongside a shift in focus that jettisons the story's strongest elements in favor of bland sci-fi/horror trappings.
Rating: 5/10.
Previous Story: Terror of the Zygons
Next Story: Pyramids of Mars
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