I should probably begin this particular entry in The A-Z of Classic Who by pointing out a particular personal bias towards this story. Carnival of Monsters is the first Classic Who story I ever watched, well over a decade ago now, and has held a special place in my heart since then. That means objectivity may be a little compromised. Disclaimers are of course one of The A-Z of Classic Who's specialities.
Having said that, this is a really great little story and one that I feel flies under the radar. It's notable for being the Third Doctor's first post-exile story, and starting with a low-key adventure was a genius stroke - getting the viewer back into the swing of things prior to the 12-part epic that was to come next.
For a start the ideas used in the story are great - the miniscope itself is a fascinating creation, and one that brings genuine moral ideas to the table, and writer Robert Holmes doesn't shy away from doing so. The planet of Inter Minor is a wonderful creation - the dark fact that it seems to be a totalitarian dictatorship with what seems to be a system of apartheid between the ruling classes and the 'functionaries' is never allowed to be forgotten even if it is carefully hidden under the fact that the only non-functionaries we see are a trio of paranoid bureaucrats intent on holding up the status quo. Indeed the planet seems so rigid that it takes the disruptive influence of Vorg, Shirna and the scope to change things around at all. The scenes of the cargo ship can get unsettling at times - repeating the same actions and words over and over again. Jo comments they're like 'goldfish in a bowl', an analogy Holmes clearly wanted in the viewer's head.
The guest characters are all great - the cargo ship passengers and crew are all fun, Vorg and Shirna are a delight and the Inter Minorians are all great - Pletrac the out-of-his-depth bumbling bureacrat, Kalik the scheming would-be-usurper and Orum the squealing lackey.
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| Kalik was dismayed to find that President Zarb had found his drugs stash. |
The Drashigs are great monsters as well - as they aren't a villain, they don't need anything as complex as motivations or morals - they just scream and eat stuff. For the time and the budget they look decent, but the sound design is really what gives them the menace they carry throughout the story. The tension is also allowed to build when it comes to their appearance, right up until they appear straight in front of the Doctor and Jo.
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| It was at this moment the Doctor knew... he fucked up. |
The set design is also great for its time - Inter Minor gives of the perfect impression of a dull yet repressive planet and the inside of the miniscope looks great, even down to the little details, like the sound design. It's also a particularly creepy but great moment when the Doctor and Jo realise they're being watched.
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| I say Jo, we appear to have wondered into a George Orwell novel! |
The moral centre of the story is also done really well - the Doctor is genuinely appalled by what is happening and doesn't shy away from that. Notice how he berates Vorg as soon as he gets out of the scope, and it takes a combination of Vorg's showman charm and the necessity to rescue Jo that gets him to put it aside. It also gives us a rare insight into his pre-travelling days, that even then he held the same beliefs, enough to get the Time Lords to ban the miniscopes.
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| Vorg was wondering if he'd maybe had a little too much at the bar earlier that day. |
What really makes the story for me is the little moments - the sharp wit in the writing, the political manoeuvring and scheming by the Inter Minorians, the perfect pace of the build up to the Doctor's realisation of what is going on, and of course, the Doctor and a sailor played by Ian Marter (later to be Harry Sullivan) having a good old fist fight.
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| KSI vs Logan Paul? Never heard of it. |
Of course, the story isn't perfect - it's never explained why there's a plesiosaurus in the Indian Ocean in 1926 (although I guess you could infer Vorg put it there as part of the show, but a line of dialogue to establish that would have been nice), some of the special effects leave a little to be desired, and the climax is a little rushed. I'm aware budget was probably an issue when it came to the Drashigs, but they could have worked around that and given it a little more time to flesh out.
Overall, though, I love this story. It's a great little low-key story that Classic Who does so well. If you prefer stories on a larger scale then that's fine - I certainly wouldn't recommend someone to start watching Classic Who with this one like I did. But I love it because it's small scale and fairly inconsequential when it's all said and done. That, after all, could very well be what Doctor Who is all about.
Final Score: 9/10. Brilliant writing, a great cast, memorable monsters, some interesting morals and deeper meanings and some fun moments to boot, Carnival of Monsters, is, for me at least, a triumph.
Next Episode: Castrovalva
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