Continuing my full Doctor Who rewatch (previously: The Reign of Terror). Watched on Britbox.
The second season of Doctor Who gets off to a lopsided start, with the unusually brisk 3-part Planet of the Giants. Lest you think the production team was feeling peppy, it transpires that this serial was originally planned and shot as four episodes, but later edited down to three. The BBC couldn’t let another week pass until the highly anticipated serial to follow, set to feature the return of the unexpected pop cultural phenomenon the Daleks.
Planet of Giants seems especially childish, even by the standard set by the sci-fi stories so far, but is nevertheless undeniably fun. The props and sets are impressive, considering the time and resources. I don’t know for sure if this is true, but I recall reading once that Doctor Who was budgeted by the BBC the same as a typical non-sci-fi show, which changed my perspective. If any set, costume, or effect looks dodgy, I remind myself: they pulled this off with no time or money, so it’s a minor miracle.
The industrial espionage / murder mystery angle is a fun twist for the show, in which our heroes solve a murder without actually interacting with any of the victims, perpetrators, or bystanders.
Starting to sense a bit of shift in The Doctor’s character with this serial. He has what we might call today chaotic energy; he clearly gets his jollies from a bit of anarchy, evidenced by how he giggles to himself while rigging together a bomb.
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