Doctor Who: Carnival of Monsters (1973)
— Dr. Who Story No. 66 (DVD)
Science Fiction Video
Written by Robert Holmes
Starring Jon Pertwee
ISBN: 0-7907-7753-3
Publisher: Warner Home Video/BBC Video, $24.98
"Carnival of Monsters," a delightful four-part Dr. Who story, has the Doctor once again trying to get to Metebelis 3. However, the Tardis ends up landing in the cargo hold of the SS Bernice in 1926. Appearances are not all they seem, however, and the Doctor and Jo (Katy Manning) end up inside something that is more than what it appears to be.
board the SS Bernice, the Doctor and Jo encounter the ships crew and passengers, who are reliving the same few moments over and over again as a plesiosaur attacks the ship. Outside the area where the Doctor and Jo have landed, we have two traveling show people, Vorg (Leslie Dwyer) and Shirna (Cherly Hall), who have arrived on the rather boring planet of Inter Minor. Here, they hope to show off a Miniscope peepshow to entertain and bring some sunshine to the local Minorian officials and their functionaries. Of course, the Doctor and Jo have materialized inside the Miniscope’s compression field and must find their way out.
"Carnival of Monsters" is one of the better fan favorites of the Doctor Who series and has been restored in both video and sound quality for its appearance on DVD. The actors and sets are all top-notch, with the only issue being the rather silly face masks that the functionaries wear. Luckily, we don’t see too much of them. The story is greatly entertaining, with the plot being paced just right as the drama unfolds. The principal actors do a marvelous job, and the dialogue is sharp and witty. I personally liked the way they had the main Minorian officials talking, giving them more of a non-human style that most alien races don’t have. The pace of the story is a bit slow, so action-minded viewers may find this Dr. Who story a bit boring. The special effects from 1974 hold up fairly well, even though they can’t compare to today’s CGI effects. However, they are done well, and are not as cheesy as some Dr. Who effects can get.
On this DVD, you have your usual set of extras, some good, and some not so good. You have wonderful commentary by Katy Manning and director Barry Letts. Katy has a great time with the show and is quite humorous to listen to, while Barry is more serious about what was going on behind the scenes. There are a small amount of extended, deleted and alternate scenes, which were interesting but nothing really special. They even have an aborted "Deleware" theme opening scene. When you watch it you can see why it was abandoned. You can activate the pop-up production notes, which are almost always a treat, and this DVD doesn’t disappoint in this regard. There is some behind-the-scenes footage and model shots, with the former being rather interesting and the later being rather dry and boring. The usual Photo Gallery is okay but not really spectacular, which also goes for the grainy trailers that they dug up from old VHS tapes. Lastly, we have another Tardis-Cam sequence, which shows a CGI Tardis in an outer-space scene. Many Dr. Who DVDs have this sequence, which just shows off CGI effects, but really has nothing to do with the episode on the DVD at all, which I find just a bit silly.
Being a fan of Doctor Who, it was a delight to see this old show in reasonably crisp DVD style, along with some cool extras and a good commentary audio track. While not the best the show has to offer from its thirty plus years, Carnival of Monster is still good quality science fiction television from the mid-70’s! Just bare in mind that this isn’t a really action-filled show, and enjoy.
(review (c) Octoboer 2004 / David Flemming)