The Greatest Show in the Galaxy Part Two

The one where the Doctor is chosen as an act in the Psychic Circus talent contest...

Part 1 concentrated on establishing the characters, and part 2 cracks on with the story proper as the Doctor and Ace enter the Psychic Circus to the sound of rapturous applause from within. The weird thing is, there's no audience in the amphitheatre, which means the impression of there being paying customers is a fabrication. Where's the audience gone?

The reprise from part 1 adds on the fact Ace spots the Chief Clown in the circus entrance waving her in, which we see her visibly shudder at in part 1, but we don't see the cause until part 2. A niftier bit of editing would have made the part 1 cliffhanger slightly stronger if they'd left in the grinning clown.

In the circus entrance our heroes are greeted by gypsy fortune teller Morgana (played by Deborah Manship with a dodgy Romany accent), and I love the way Ace just turns round and tries to walk out again as soon as she sees Morgana! She's stopped by the Doctor, but remains moodily defiant throughout, and is visibly glared at by the Doctor over her manners! Morgana then offers to read the Doctor's future, and draws the Hanged Man tarot card, but he declines. However, the Hanged Man card isn't so straightforward as meaning the Doctor's going to get killed. More accurately, it reflects that he is in a position to self-reflect and wait out the predicament he finds himself in, using intellect, ingenuity and intelligence. He cannot help himself; he is awaiting judgement.

This story was almost cancelled because of an asbestos scare at Television Centre, and led the ever-resourceful producer John Nathan-Turner to finish filming in a BBC car park for the scenes set in the circus itself. They would originally have been shot in a studio, but benefit so much more from being outside, as a real circus Big Top would feel. Designer David Laskey does a grand job of populating the circus sets with evidence of its past travels, with beautifully designed posters from the planets Marpesia, Othrys, Eudamus, Cinethon and the Boriatic Wastes (I'd love to have these reprinted, framed, and hung on my study wall!).

But it's the "needs must" attitude which really adds atmosphere to the story. I'm sure, had the circus interiors been filmed in a BBC studio, Morgana's reception would have been a boring old booth or desk, not a full-size caravan, and the corridors in and around the ring would have been more static, and certainly not as gorgeously diaphanous as the billowing drapes and silks used here. I love the fact there's a planked floor too, which I'm sure wouldn't have been the case in studio. The whole story gains so much from the misfortune of losing studio time, and all credit to JNT for not allowing The Greatest Show in the Galaxy to become another Shada.

Herded into the ring, the Doctor and Ace find it is plunged into darkness and deathly quiet. They find seats, but they're pretty much the only spectators present, apart from a very boring family of three who refuse to communicate with the Doctor, and prefer to eat bags of plain crisps while waiting for the show to start ("Shut up and eat your popcorn"). Once the show does burst forth in an explosion of music, colour and lights (and robotic tumbling clowns), the ringmaster puts the Doctor in the spotlight as the next act due on in the ring. The Doctor's unconcealed glee at having been chosen is endearing (he had come to take part, after all) and despite Ace's warnings, he willingly enters the ring.

Alan Wareing directs with such style, showing the creepy clowns menacing poor Ace in a weird twirl before the grinning Chief Clown enquires as to where she found the earring on her jacket. Ian Reddington is superb, his studied performance a wealth of unsettling expressions and gestures, such as the splayed fingers, the maniacal laugh, the impresario stance, the false smile that falls away too easily, and the way his voice starts in a high, whispery register then becomes a low, raspy growl. Being slightly unkind, I might add that the actor's yellowed teeth, contrasting with the white face make-up, only increase the creep factor!

Backstage, the Doctor finds he's fallen into a trap as he's lured into a cage which also houses Captain Cook, Mags and Nord (Vandal of the Roads). The Doctor's pretty annoyed that he's let himself fall for it, but he should also be annoyed with Mags for not speaking up. The Captain, however, doesn't seem too bothered by his incarceration, preferring instead to drink tea and reminisce about his adventures on Leophantos and Grolon. But he's not as diffident as he seems, having already hatched a plan to save his own skin when it's time for a new act in the ring. Why are acts being presented in the ring when there's no audience to speak of (apart from the boring family of three)? Why did the Psychic Circus stop travelling and settle down on Segonax? Why does Morgana miss their lazy, carefree past, and resent the current feeling of being "part of a machine"?

And why do the initials on the decorative bunting in the ring read "PS" for the Psychic Circus, when surely it should read "PC"?

Quickies:

• Sylvester McCoy really suits the boho, nomadic nature of an intergalactic circus (his background was in physical theatre, including stuffing ferrets down his trousers and hammering nails up his nose!). His slightly hippie-ish Doctor blends in, and McCoy's performance rises to the material. I like how, when he asks Nord why he didn't speak up, and Nord just grunts back, the Doctor snaps: "Never mind grrrrnnnhh, what kind of an answer is that?" The Doctor makes a good pairing with his new punky pal Mags, but is warned by Cook to be wary of the "rare specimen". We later see that Mags seems afraid of the inscription of a crescent moon. Intriguing...
• Love the choreographed way the robot clowns move; that slightly unsettling "mock jog" they do as they move along corridors.
• Stephen Wyatt's such a great writer, his characterisation of the infuriatingly self-centred Captain Cook his best work. "Number one rule of the intergalactic explorer, Doctor," he says. "If you hear somebody talking about good vibes and letting it all hang out, run a mile!" To which Mags retorts: "We didn't!"
• Kudos to lighting director Ian Dow for casting the billowing circus corridors in ethereal pastel greens and pinks, adding a comic book feel to the already graphic novel nightmarish nature of the story. I also like Wareing's use of a handheld camera in some scenes, such as the Doctor and Mags' exploration of the stone chamber.

Another visitor to the circus is Gian Sammarco's geeky Whizzkid (I love Morgana's appalled expression when he walks in!). He's a spoof of Doctor Who fans if ever there was one. Many fans at the time recognised what they took as a dig and took umbrage, but let's be honest here: Whizzkid is a pretty accurate representation of what geeky Doctor Who fans were like back then, at least the type the production team came into contact with! He's a memorabilia collector, and has travelled a long way (on a BMX bike?) to visit the circus. Maybe he'll live to regret it?

Not living to regret anything is poor Nord, who loses a fixed bet with Cook to go on as the next act. He excels in the strong man routine, but comes a cropper when asked to recite his favourite joke. The scoring audience doesn't give him much chance at all, awarding him a damning 0 out of 30, before the Vandal of the Roads is agonisingly atomised, leaving just his charred loincloth!

Elsewhere, Ace is on the loose and happens across a mentally distressed Bellboy, who's tied up in a workshop with his shapely bare chest exposed. It's quite a low-key erotic discovery for the oestrogen-flooded teenage Ace, who looks at her new friend with little-girl-lost wonderment. Later, the Chief Clown captures Ace ("Let me entertain you!") and locks her in a darkened workshop with half-finished robot clowns and severed metal limbs which move on their own. It's Ace's idea of the ultimate nightmare, bless her! Wareing directs the scene superbly, with the camera showing the supposedly deactivated robot mannequins beginning to move in the background behind her!

The story's racing along at a rattling good pace, with mysteries emerging about the decline of the Psychic Circus, what the memorial stones and stone chamber represent, and who or what is benefitting from the acts put on in the ring. Is the Celestial Toymaker hereabouts? Or is the family of three a gang of bored Eternals looking to be entertained?

First broadcast: December 21st, 1988

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The combination of David Laskey and Ian Dow's talents make the Psychic Circus so convincing and surreal.
The Bad: Ace gets very little to do (or say), apart from hide and run.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Ace says "Professor": 50

NEXT TIME: Part Three...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; 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.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Greatest-Show-Galaxy/dp/B007Z10I5E