 "Planet of Evil" is first of the ‘gothic horror’ stories that have become the hallmark of this era’s producer, Philip Hinchcliffe. Despite being producer since the previous season’s "The Ark in Space" this is the first Philip Hinchcliffe commissioned. Previous stories for the Fourth Doctor were commissioned by previous Producer, Barry Letts, and Script Editor, Terrance Dicks.
This story was inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's story Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the appearance of the anti-matter creature was inspired by the creature from the 1956 classic SCIFI film Forbidden Planet. The anti-matter monster, which is sometimes invisible and otherwise is seen as red outlines, bears a close resemblance to the film's ‘Creature from the ID’. The monster is invisible in the filmed sections of this story (where a wind machine was used to show its progress), and as outlines in the video sections (created with CSO). Forbidden Planet was itself inspired by William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, and The Doctor is heard quoting Shakespeare at one point in this story (see below for details). Also in the DVD commentary Elisabeth Sladen, in a discussion about Forbidden Planet's influence from The Tempest, compares Sorenson/Anti-man to Caliban.
The original script had Sorenson dying after falling into the pit, but Philip Hinchcliffe ordered that this be changed, as he felt it would too grim an ending for this character because he saw Sorenson as a victim of the planet's influence rather than an evil man in himself. Instead, a scene was added in which Sorenson is seen being released from the pit, cured of his anti-matter contamination.
This is the final appearance in Doctor Who for Michael Wisher who plays Morelli. Michael Wisher appeared in several previous Doctor Who stories in various roles, but is best known for his portrayal of Davros in "Genesis of the Daleks".
Frederick Jaeger and Ewen Solon, appearing in this story as Professor Sorenson and Vishinsky, had previously played Jano and Chal in the 1966 First Doctor story "The Savages".
Prentis Hancock, who plays Salamar, made his third appearance in the show. He previously appeared in the Third Doctor stories "Spearhead From Space" (in 1970) and "Planet of the Daleks" (in 1973). He would later appear in "The Ribos Operation" in 1978. He is though best known for playing Paul Morrow in Space:1999.
David Maloney, who directed this story, had recently completed work on the previous season’s "Genesis of the Daleks".
With no location filming allocated to the production, Designer Roger Murray-Leach was given the freedom to design a fabulously detailed, exotic and alien jungle set at Ealing. This set proved so successful that it was extensively photographed by the BBC Educational Service, which would use it as an example of design excellence for years afterward and producer Philip Hinchcliffe recommended that Roger Murray-Leach be nominated for an award for this work. However, it was found that this intricately detailed jungle set did cause some problems, in particular making it virtually impossible to position sound booms; this forced most of the dialogue to be dubbed in postproduction.
The TARDIS control room appears for the first time since the 1974 Third Doctor story "Death to the Daleks". This is also the first time we get to see the TARDIS interior in a Fourth Doctor story.
A refurbished TARDIS console also makes its television debut in this story although it was first used in "Pyramids of Mars" which was filmed before "Planet of Evil".
This story includes two quotations from Shakespeare: ‘Night's candles are burnt out...’ (from "Romeo and Juliet") and ‘That is the question’ from "Hamlet"), and an allusion to Laurence Oates (‘I'm going out now, and I may be some time’).
The Doctor is also heard to state that he met William Shakespeare prior to the bard taking up writing. If taken at face value, this would suggest that The Doctor met Shakespeare prior to the events of the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Shakespeare Code", set in 1599.
This story directly follows on from the previous story, "Terror of the Zygons", with Sarah saying that The Doctor has promised that he'd get her back to London five minutes before they left Loch Ness.
Despite the hugely inaccurate first landing, later in the story The Doctor is seen executing two perfect short range trips (from the Morestran ship to the pool and back to the ship again).
The attachment of two discs to the front of the TARDIS to teleport it on to a spaceship was seen again in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky".
Look out for another dramatic freeze-frame cliffhanger at the end of Part Two.
This story marked the last appearance of the Fourth Doctor's original red jacket.
This is one of the few stories in which the Fourth Doctor removes his scarf for an extended period of time. He does not wear it for most of the third and fourth episodes.
Tom Baker almost falls over after throwing Sorenson and the container of anti-matter down into the pool.
In a rare moment, The Doctor uses a blaster against an opponent. This contradicts his statement made during "Pyramids of Mars" that he never uses firearms. Further contradictions of this statement are made throughout the show.
Another contradiction is that anti-matter and matter can exist without causing an explosion. In the 1973 Third Doctor story "The Three Doctors" it was stated that they can’t exist together.
This story was repeated on BBC One in July 1976.
A sequel to this story was released by BBC Books in The Past Doctors Stories range in 1998. Titled "Zeta Major" this novel was written by Simon Messingham and dealt with the future of the Morestran Empire.
| |
|
The Firsts:
The first ‘gothic horror’ story that became the hallmark of this era’s producer, Philip Hinchcliffe.
The first appearance of the TARDIS interior in a Fourth Doctor story.
The final appearance in Doctor Who for Michael Wisher.
Janet Radenkovic's first involvement in the show as Production Unit Manager.
|
|
(Position = 71 out of 159)
(Position = 84 out of 200)
