Carnival Of Monsters: Doctor Who: Season 10

Goldby

Grob

Long

Carnival Of Monsters REVIEWS



Goldby

Carnival of Monsters, never been a big fan of this one.

Sure it's Robert Holmes churning out another original idea but something about the whole execution of this one that leaves me cold. Perhaps it's over presence of some seriously dodgy CSO which actually blanks out parts of people's body's in this one, on Inter Minor anyway. They're the bit's I disliked the most. From the moment one of the slave inter minorans (?) runs up to give a speech by making burbling sounds to the hammy acting of the three Inter Minor councilors, okay Micheal Wisher at least gives his role some credibility. Martin Gibbs as Vorg is a hoot and there's his hot blonde assistant for serious eye candy who show the others how much more entertaining hammy acting can be.

There's good bits in the marshes with all the tension and the Drashigs look scary bursting through the mud and screaming but as you say Long, soon as they move around they look cheap. The cheap look is evident all over this one, the only convincing sets being the interior of the cruise ship. Too ambitious for the series especially as this was filmed right after season 9 so no money was left…..oh the regulars are good and Jo really has evolved beyond the screaming companion of season 8, oh yes Ian Marter is in it too doing his Dr Who companion audition. Keep thinking maybe it would have been better had more monsters appeared to live up to the Carnival idea, eg. Cybermen, shown in cameo & even Orgrons. Imagine if they had been roaming everywhere as well? A missed opportunity… 4.5/10



Grob

This is unbeliveable. I go away for ONE day and come back to find only TWO short reviews from Long & Goldby??? I guess this means I have to be the controversial one and get everything fired up. I like a lot of Carnival Of Monsters cos its just so...well, Dr Who. Sure its a Granny Letts and Uncle Tewwance produced story but it has so much more going for it than that. It has your standard Dr Who alien planet happily made out of an over lit cramped BBC studio. It has the ropey bits of location filming. It has scary monsters. It has a huge amount of "what the hell is going on???" with said alien planet and little tug boat scenes. It was written by Robert Holmes who brings his trademark brilliance in characters and multi-layed plot. Carnival of Monsters is to a dig at free enterprise as Frontier in Space is a propaganda fest for communism.

And speaking of characters; Vorg (Martin Gibbs) and Shirna (Anna Murphy) are a great duo with Shirna being the brains and Vorg being the shonky showman - both warranting a return performance that sadly never happened. Kalik, Pletrac and Orum are also well written to the point that they could be future incarnations of the trio from "Yes Minister". And back on board Scuffy the Tugboat (heh, heh; "tug!" we have the lovable Major Daly, his niece Claire and Harry Sullivan putting in some nice performances too. The Drashigs scared the piss out of me when I was a kid and I reckon they look pretty good, particularly during the marsh scenes. Haven't really got much to say about the Doctorr and Jo cos they are just going through the motions and saying the words. Its a pretty effortless job for both of them which sadly means neither of them are being stretched in any way.

Sadly, I do have to agree with Tim here and award the story an 8/10. I'm agreeing with Tim. What is the world coming to?



Long

Carnival Of Monsters is the first episode since Day of the Daleks to not start with "The"… and it's another good one - but not quite as good as Day of the Daleks.

I looked up what was talked about the other night, and sure enough, this one was recorded straight after The Time Monster. They then had a break, followed by Frontier in Space and then The Three Doctors.

Anyway, Carnival Of Monsters is good fun. Sure, the realisation of the Drashigs is probably a little hokey these days, as is the shrinking and growing of the exhibits, but as a kid they looked great.

Story wise, this one is really tight - just like most of the 4 parters - fast paced and good fun. We get a lot of "what the hell is going on" moments (I love the hand picking up the TARDIS at the end of part 1) - and the whole continual re-enactment of the same dialogue from the ship patrons (including Ian Marter - who just missed out on the role of Yates!)… the tease of the Cyberman and the Ogron are quite good too.

8/10

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