Planet of Evil Part One

The one where the Doctor and Sarah are accused of murder... again!

The opening five minutes of Planet of Evil are highly reminiscent of Planet of the Daleks, what with its dense alien jungle and a spaceship with MFI door handles. We discover straight away that the year is the mind-boggling 37,166, and that several people have died, as Braun places a grave marker for the latest in a line of deceased, called Egard Lumb (what a wonderfully weird name!).

We join interplanetary geologists Baldwin and Professor Sorenson as they apparently refine crystals found on the ground into another, presumably more useful, substance. Sorenson is pleased with his discovery of some kind of seam, but Baldwin is anxious that there's not long left 'til nightfall, and is keen to get back to base. In true horror film style, bad things must happen at night here. But Sorenson seems unconcerned, more focused on the fact he's found a rich seam which may not be there tomorrow because, he thinks, the planet is sentient. It moves, it knows, it watches. Spooky!

The jungle set is magnificent. It looks pretty impressive on video, but when shot on film it takes on the epic realism of a Hollywood movie. Well done to designer Roger Murray-Leach (the man who designed the wonderful Nerva sets in Season 12) as well as lighting designer Brian Clemett, who lights the set dimly but astutely, giving the impression of depth and distance. On film in particular, it's so moodily lit that you often can't see the actors' eyes, but this makes it all the truer, all the more convincing, and all the spookier. The presence of real water pools, swirling smoke and dangling vines and branches make this one of the best jungles Doctor Who ever did.

That said, when Tony McEwan (playing Baldwin) runs out of film jungle and into video jungle, it does jar a little, and your heart sinks a bit when you realise the jungle isn't always going to look that magnificent. Baldwin's death is spoiled somewhat by the clear shot of a felt tip pen line on the floor indicating where he must collapse and die!

Six minutes into the episode, the Doctor and Sarah finally appear, and by golly, they're inside the TARDIS! This is something of a milestone, as we haven't seen inside the TARDIS since Death to the Daleks in Season 11. It's only the second time ever that we have seen Elisabeth Sladen inside the TARDIS, and the very first time we've seen Tom Baker. Sadly, the set seems disappointingly sparse and flat. The roundels have lost their three-dimensional depth and are now just inlaid shapes rather than deep cut outs, and there's no sign of any other furniture, whether it's an Ormolu clock, a hatstand or a sliding bed and overhead cupboard. I do like the controls in the ceiling recesses around the edges though.

The chemistry between Sladen and Baker just leaps off the screen, and Sladen looks stunning in her figure-hugging denims and checks. Did Sarah Jane Smith ever look more comely? I love how the Doctor seems excited by the prospect of a distress call, and leaps at the chance to respond to it. "Prepare for emergency materialisation!" he grins. And so the adventure can begin...

The story introduces various space travellers on a mission to Zeta Minor, the last planet in the known universe. They're looking for Sorenson's "lost" expedition, which hasn't reported back to the "home planet". These travellers wear pretty impractical outfits designed by Andrew Rose which look more like playsuits or pyjamas, exposing more chest than you'd think would be advisable. Mind you, this is the mid-1970s, a time when sci-fi clothes were uniformly awful (take a look at Space 1999's beige beauties, or the outfits of Moonbase 3, Logan's Run or UFO). These space clothes are not built for protection or warmth, and when they run around in white welly boots wielding big laser guns, they don't look at all convincing.

And talking about unconvincing, Prentis Hancock as controller Salamar is really quite poor, and not at all well cast as the expedition leader. He delivers his lines in a stilted manner and looks far too young and fresh to be leading a spaceship to the outer reaches of the galaxy. It's telling that when we first meet Vishinsky (the 58-year-old Ewen Solon) we assume he's the boss, and not the jumped up Hancock (then just 33). It's clear why Hancock might have been cast, because in the very same month Planet of Evil was shown, he was making his debut as Paul Morrow in Space 1999, but his acting skills just don't seem up to the job. He's much better off in smaller roles, as he had in Spearhead from Space and The Ribos Operation.

What is welcome is the casting of Louis Mahoney as Ponti, the first black actor with a principal speaking role since The Mutants in Season 9. It's about time too! I also notice that Michael Wisher has a part (as Morelli), which is his eighth credited role in five years! He certainly made some money out of Doctor Who during this time, but oddly not ever again after this (he was asked to reprise the role of Davros in 1979, but was unable).

Murray-Leach also excels himself with the Morestran spaceship set, which seems cavernously big and is shot looking up from down below, and looking down from up high. It's a very big set (perhaps too big) and again makes great use of our imagined vision of the far future with its clinical clean whites and sparse furnishings. The future - at least the future as imagined by Roger Murray-Leach - is minimalist! Pity about the shonky clear plastic control desk though.

Having found the abandoned research ship and a number of graves and corpses, the Doctor is more than happy to let Sarah go back to the TARDIS alone to fetch his spectromixer while he stays put, despite all of the evidence of death and distress. I'm more than impressed that Sarah knows what a spectromixer is without asking, but less impressed that the TARDIS is unable to work out its location itself by the position of the stars.

The traditional situation of the Doctor being accused of killing the people he's found dead slowly develops, although the Doctor looks magnificently unconcerned by the danger he might be in at the hands of the sadistic Salamar. Tom Baker is perhaps at his stariest ever, gawping wide-eyed off-set as his fellow cast members deliver their lines, and stealing every shot in the process! Tom is obviously doing this very much on purpose so that the Doctor appears removed and disconnected, an alien among us, but you can also tell he's thinking in character, with the only time the Doctor stops staring into space when Sorenson mentions that "the nights are the worst" on Zeta Minor. You can visibly see the Doctor register that fact.

The Doctor and Sarah manage to escape thanks to Sarah's ingenious realisation that the magnetically locked windows will be easier to force open due to the weak power feed. It's classic Baker/ Sladen chemistry in this scene where they are sitting side by side on the bed, and she leans gently in to him to offer her ideas. "Let's go, shall we?"

The cliffhanger is yet another of those WTF moments where the Doctor and Sarah are cornered by a huge, glowing creature, the outline of which glides menacingly towards them out of the jungle. It's an arresting way to end the episode, and a very effective visual. It's tricky to work out what you're seeing, but it's obvious it's a monster, and as the theme tune crashes in, that's all we really need to know.

First broadcast: September 27th, 1975

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Roger Murray-Leach's jungle and spaceship sets are magnificent.
The Bad: Andrew Rose's costumes are flannelette monstrosities.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 05

NEXT TIME: Part Two...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part Two; Part Three; Part Four

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/06/planet-of-evil.html

Planet of Evil is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Planet-Evil-DVD/dp/B000VA3IZ8