The Doctor Juggling

Inside the TARDIS, The Doctor is juggling when an advertising beacon materialises in the Console Room, promoting the Psychic Circus on the planet Segonax. This prompts The Doctor to enter the circus’s talent contest.

On Segonax, two young people, Bellboy and Flowerchild, are running across an open area of ground. They are being tracked by kites controlled by the Chief Clown from a hearse. Bellboy draws the kites’ attention away as Flowerchild finds an abandoned bus and, on entering it, she locates a hidden box. However, before she can open it she is attacked and killed by a robot bus conductor. Bellboy, meanwhile, is captured by the Chief Clown and is returned to the circus.

Shortly afterwards The Doctor and his travelling companion, Ace, arrive on Segonax and obtain directions to the circus from a local stallslady. The Doctor tries to hitch a lift on a bike owned by Nord the Vandal, but Nord refuses and heads off to the circus on his own. The two travellers have no choice but to follow on foot. On the way they meet up with the intergalactic explorer Captain Cook and his companion, a young woman called Mags. Captain Cook is taking tea while Mags investigates a giant robot mostly buried in the sand when suddenly the robot comes to life and grabs Mags. Ace though is able to deactivate the robot by hitting it over the head with a shovel.

The Doctor and Ace

The Doctor and Ace then accompany Captain Cook and Mags and they soon come to the bus. On entering it they too are attacked by the robot bus conductor, but The Doctor manages to get it to destroy itself. When looking around Ace finds one of Flowerchild’s earrings in the sand outside and pins it to her jacket. The Doctor and Ace then find themselves having to make their own way to the circus when Captain Cook and Mags take off in their jeep. When The Doctor and Ace eventually arrive at the circus Ace hesitates outside as she thought that she heard screaming. The Chief Clown then appears at the entrance and waves them in. Inside the Ringmaster invites the two travellers to take their seats. They also meet Morgana, a gypsy mystic who tries to warn them of something but the Chief Clown appears and ushers them through.

The Doctor and Ace find themselves sitting next to a strange family consisting of a mother, a father and a little girl. The show then starts with some juggling and tumbling clowns. Then suddenly the Ringmaster announces that The Doctor will be the next act. When The Doctor leaves to prepare Ace runs off when the Chief Clown notices Flowerchild’s earring on her jacket. The Doctor is put in a cage with Captain Cook, Mags and Nord. Captain Cook insists that Nord be the next to enter the ring, and so is taken away by the clowns.

The Bus Conductor

While hiding at the entrance to the circus, Ace overhears Morgana and the Ringmaster talking. Morgana it seems is very unhappy. The Chief Clown then arrives and Ace’s presence is revealed. While being chased by the clowns Ace discovers Bellboy. She is forced to hide when the Chief Clown arrives and she overhears him instructing Bellboy to repair the bus conductor robot.

Back in the ring Nord has to entertain the family. At first all seems to go well but when he is asked to tell a joke the family do not find him funny which results in him being reduced to ashes by a bolt of lightning. A big fan both of the circus, and of Captain Cook, then arrives at the circus. At the same time The Doctor and Mags manage to escape from their cell while Ace is captured by the Chief Clown and put in a darkened workshop full of partially constructed robots, which start to move. She is rescued by Bellboy, who switches off the robots. The Doctor and Mags meanwhile find their way to a stone tunnel leading to what appears to be a bottomless well. However, when The Doctor drops a juggling club down the well an eye symbol, of a design previously seen displayed on the kites, appears at the bottom. Suddenly Captain Cook appears, flanked by clowns. He has come to collect them all as they are due to appear in the ring. As they leave they pass under an image of a moon, which induces a strange reaction in Mags. The Doctor takes this opportunity to escape again. He returns to the circus entrance where he sees, in Morgana’s crystal ball, an image of the same eye symbol.

The Doctor then meets Deadbeat, a mentally damaged man, who takes them to Ace and Bellboy. Bellboy remembers that Deadbeat used to be called Kingpin and both men haltingly recall events that brought the Psychic Circus to its present situation. This allows The Doctor to start to piece the mystery together. The Doctor, Ace and Deadbeat head off to the well. There Deadbeat shows The Doctor and Ace how he summoned the powers that now control the circus by lifting an amulet above the well. They realise that the centre of the amulet – the eye – is now missing and must be hidden at the bus. While Ace goes to the bus to fetch it, The Doctor returns to the cage and proposes to Cook and Mags that they all enter the ring together. But Captain Cook arranges for the young fan to go before him into the ring, who is then killed. The Ringmaster then introduces The Doctor, Captain Cook and Mags to the ring. Captain Cook asks to have a moon spotlight directed at Mags. This causes her to turn into a werewolf and she chases The Doctor around the ring. The Doctor confronts the family, all of whose eyes glow green. He then falls back into the ring but instead of being attacked by Mags she turns on Captain Cook and kills him.

Mags and Captain Cook

Back at the bus Ace locates the box and takes it outside to Deadbeat, but they are unable to open it. Distracted by trying to open the box they are unaware of the bus conductor robot, which has been repaired and has been returned to the bus. The bus conductor attacks them and in the struggle the box is inadvertently stamped on which causes it to open. While Ace continues to struggle, with the bus conductor, Deadbeat retrieves the centre of his amulet from within the box and inserts it in place. His full mental faculties return and he tells Ace to hit a button on the top of the bus conductor’s head. She does so and the robot explodes. Deadbeat - now Kingpin once more - realises he must get the amulet to The Doctor.

In the circus ring when the moon light is no longer shining on Mags she reverts back to her human state allowing her and The Doctor to run from the ring. The family demand another act and, as there is no-one left they kill the Ringmaster and Morgana instead. Outside The Doctor tells Mags to meet up with Ace and Kingpin. As she leaves, however, she is followed by the Chief Clown in the hearse. The hearse’s progress though is obstructed by the stallslady, whose stall is blocking the road. The Chief Clown and the robot clowns continue their pursuit on foot. Mags meets up with Ace and Kingpin. Ace leads them to the buried robot and, using a control unit, given to her earlier by Bellboy, she destroys the robot clowns. The Chief Clown is also killed.

The Doctor meanwhile has asked the eye in the crystal ball to open a pathway for him and has emerged into a different circus ring before three stone gods. He is in the space-time of the Gods of Ragnarok - beings he has fought through all of time. There The Doctor is forced to perform a succession of conjuring tricks to keep the Gods amused. While back at the circus, when they arrive there in the hearse, Ace, Mags and Kingpin find that the circus ring is deserted. Kingpin suddenly realises where The Doctor is and, along with Ace and Mages, they arrive at the top of the well. But behind them Captain Cook comes back to life and he follows them and takes the amulet from Kingpin. The Doctor finishes his act just as Ace makes Captain Cook drop the amulet down the well. The amulet appears before The Doctor and he uses it to deflect blasts of power from the Gods. This causes the dark circus to tremble and fall apart. The Doctor then throws the amulet at the Gods and walks from the circus tent as it is completely destroyed behind him.

With the Gods of Ragnarok defeated The Doctor suggests that Mags help Kingpin to rebuild the circus. Kingpin invites The Doctor and Ace to join them as well, but The Doctor declines - commenting that he finds circuses a little sinister.