Planet of Giants (VHS)
Science Fiction Video
Written by Louis Marks
Starring William Hartnell
ISBN: 0-7907-7588-3
Publisher: Warner Home Video / BBC Video, $19.98
Released early in 2003, Planet of Giants is one of the final episodes to be released to VHS tape from the rather large Dr. Who series of shows. As we near the end of the VHS run, we move further into less popular territory with this three-episode show from the beginning of Dr. Who’s run, featuring the original main actor, William Hartnell.
In this particular adventure, the Doctor is attempting to return Ian and Barbara to the Twentieth Century. For some unknown reason, the doors on the Tardis open during mid-flight, causing alarms and other strange things to happen, along with the shrinking of the entire ship’s crew. This is discovered when they exit the Tardis after landing and find themselves in the strange world of a garden patio crack, which they at first take for a strange alien planet.
Along the trip, they meet up with many dead insects and eventually get caught up in a plot by the creator of a new pesticide, DN6, a chemical which kills everything! After some tough moving around, what with their diminished size and all, the Doctor and company end up stopping the plans of the folks involved with this new pesticide, who would and do kill to try to keep the substance on the market. In all, it’s kind of an environmentally aware show, proving that Doctor Who sometimes threw in the actual real-life social problems of the time, even from as far back as the late ‘60s.
The acting is this show is fairly good, but I wouldn’t call it the best I’ve seen in the Doctor series. It is definitely one of the better Hartnell era episodes, even though it does have a tendency to drag a bit. If you looking for nonstop action, don’t look for it on this tape.
One thing that was nice to see was that the Doctor Who Restoration Team was involved in putting this tape together for market. It’s cleaned up rather well, and doesn’t look like the usual washed out videos from the early Doctor serials released years ago. This is the same team that has been doing a marvelous job restoring and actually fixing some problems on recently released Doctor Who DVDs. Nice to see them helping out with the remaining VHS tapes. There are only a dozen left to go before the entire show is on tape!
This is not one of the best Doctor Who serials, so if you’re not a big fan of the show, you may wish to rent this one instead. Otherwise, it’s a wonderful addition to any Doctor Who fan’s collection!
(review (c) November 2003 / David Flemming)