Planet of Giants

Land of the Giants

Planet of Giants* (3 X 25mins B&W)

Written by Louis Marks

Doctor Who Series two Serial one

Planet of Giants transmitted BBC1 31 October 1964

Dangerous Journey transmitted BBC1 7 November 1964

Crisis transmitted BBC1 14 November 1964

* Note: until 1966 Doctor Who serials had no overall title, instead each episode had its own title.

Synopsis

Upon materialising, the TARDIS doors open, which causes the scanner to explode. Upon leaving the TARDIS they discover themselves in a modern day English farmhouse garden, but that they've been shrunk in size to about an inch. They come across giant insects, but everything is dead, killed by a new experimental pesticide. We then meet a scientist who advises Forester, the pesticide company director, that the formula is deadly, and his report to the relevant Government department will urge its cancellation. Fearing financial crisis Forester murders the scientist. Our travellers discover this, whilst Barbara begins to feel ill after touching the pesticide. Can they reveal the murder to the police, prevent the insecticide from being released, and return to their normal size? And will Barbara die, or be saved?

Review

A story about the miniature crew finding themselves lost in a World of giants was mooted as the first ever serial after the introductory story. This was the reason Mervyn Pinfield was hired as associate producer, model shots & photographic effects were his specialty. Eventually the story was scrapped as too expensive and too technically demanding. After the successful first series, which showed that the Who production team could rise to any challenge (and on a tiny budget), the plot idea was raised again, and experienced BBC staffer Louis Marks was hired to write a four part story.

To the basic premise, Marks added a murder mystery, and environmental concerns about the widespread use of pesticides. The former shows his experience with writing such ITC adventure serials as The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Four Just Men. He also created a real human motivation for the evil of Forester, financial greed, and for his tame chemist (here scientific hubris) which makes the rather fantastical plot more credible.

The latter showed the influence of the 1962 book Silent Spring, by early environmentalist Rachel Carson. This was the first environmental warning that humanity was in danger of destroying the balance of nature, and thus eventually itself. It also tied in with current concerns about the pesticide DDT, and its effects on human health. Its to Marks's credit that he manages to dovetail all three plot points so naturally. Mervyn Pinfield as director brought his expertise to bear. The giant model props are superb, especially the fly that menaces Barbara. You can see it quivering, yet there's no evidence of strings or animatronics or prop hands moving it, it looks genuinely alive. This was the first Who serial shot at the new Television Centre in Shepherds Bush, and they made full use of the improved studio facilities. It's a shame that the giant blown up photos (the cat and the dead scientist) are so grainy that they look like giant photographs, but since the rest of the realisation is so vividly realised, one can overlook these slight imperfections. The picture quality is superb, a combination of the new studio's more modern cameras, and the fact that the source is from 16mm film prints rather than video recordings (which were wiped).

The acting is uniformly excellent. Hartnell is particularly good as the Doctor, aroused with scientific curiosity, but also paternally concerned for his travellers, especially Barbara. One gets a real sense of warmth between these two, and Jacqueline Hill gives a wonderful performance as she gets sicker, and becomes more tetchy and angry with the others. William Russell takes the action lead well, and Carole's Susan is less of a scream teen in this. Again, when she and the Doctor are alone together, one gets a real sense of their relationship.

Donald Wilson, who was then head of BBC serials, wanted to change the order of serials, and have the Daleks return first, but Carole's decision to leave the show stymied this. He was unhappy with the pacing of this serial, and it was at his insistence that Verity re-edited episodes 3 and 4 into one single episode (which is credited to director Douglas Camfield). This actually helped Who. Firstly, this three-parter has no padding, and is therefore the first genuine Who classic. Secondly, the fantastical nature of the story, pure Sci-Fi neither historical or futuristic space opera, demonstrates the elastic nature of Who's formula, which is its strength. It's a show kids will fall in love with, borrowing as it does from everything gigantic from Gulliver's Travels to The Borrowers to The Incredible Shrinking Man (later, Irwin Allen would use the concept for his cult show Land of the Giants). Meanwhile the adults could enjoy the environmental message and murder plot. This was proved by the good audience ratings of around 8.5million. Thirdly, it meant the Dalek serial coming second would run up to Christmas, causing huge audience figures and a merchandising bonanza for Dalek toys.

A number of Who firsts here. This is the first for Who regulars composer Dudley Simpson, and director Douggie Camfiled (affectionately referred to by Who crews as The Colonel). They make unremarkable but professional starts, they would later add their respective geniuses to the show. It's also the first to use pre-shot 35mm film inserts (the cat). And it's the first to credit a sound mixer, here Alan Fogg. This was for the interesting concept that to our travellers the noise giants made would be deep bass growls, whilst to the Giants, our crew would sound high trebly pitch. I'm not sure about the physics of this, but it's an interesting concept not overused which shows the collaborative effort made for this serial. Everyone knew it was going to be technically demanding, and everyone rises to the challenge. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A bona-fide Who classic. Series two was off to a flying start.

TARDIS rating: 5/5.

Credits

Dr. Who .................................................................................... WILLIAM HARTNELL

Ian Chesterton .........................................................................  WILLIAM RUSSELL

Barbara Wright ......................................................................... JACQUELINE HILL

Susan Foreman .......................................................................  CAROLE ANN FORD

Forester .................................................................................... ALAN TILVERN

Arnold Farrow ........................................................................... FRANK CRAWSHAW

Smithers ................................................................................... REGINALD BARRATT

Hilda Rowse ............................................................................. ROSEMARY JOHNSON

Bert Rowse ............................................................................... FRED FERRIS

Title Music ........................... by RON GRAINER with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Incidental Music Composed and Conducted by ................. DUDLEY SIMPSON

Story Editor ......................................................................... DAVID WHITAKER

Designer ............................................................................. RAYMOND P. CUSICK

Costumes Supervised ........................................................ by DAPHNE DARE

Make-up Supervised .......................................................... by SONIA MARKHAM

Lighting ............................................................................... by HOWARD KING

Sound Mixing ...................................................................... by ALAN FOGG

Producer ............................................................................. VERITY LAMBERT

Directed (episodes 1&2) ..................................................... by MERVYN PINFIELD

Directed (episode 3) ........................................................... by DOUGLAS CAMFIELD

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