I don’t think I’ve ever quite appreciated what Robert Holmes is doing with Carnival of Monsters.  This is a serial that’s set its sights squarely on taking down the medium of television and the BBC, the two things that allow Doctor Who to exist.  Taking essentially the American A-plot/B-plot structure which shouldn’t work nearly as well for a serial, Holmes puts the Doctor and Jo in a machine that makes them eventually gain the awareness of being watched and in the position of being in a television show.  Inter Minor as a planet is one ruled by bureaucracy and stagnancy, with a ruling class that approves decisions and a working class completely under their thumb.  It’s the setup for what at this point is a standard Doctor Who space story complete with Doctor Who and companion stand in played with beautiful James Acheson costumes and hilarious performances from Leslie Dwyer and Cheryl Hall.  They’re both the showmen and steal every scene they’re in.  Michael Wisher as essentially the main villain is this great slimy performance that just screams television executive, playing off Peter Halliday and Terence Lodge, all actors who have been in Doctor Who before.

Inside the miniscope we start with a historical setting with Tenniel Evans, Jenny McKracken, and Ian Marter rounding out the cast.  Despite the audience knowing there is an alien planet involved, that first episode is great at building the tension, breaking the trope of the end of episode monster reveal by showing us a dinosaur in the middle, instead having the TARDIS picked up and taken out of the machine.  Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning are at the top of their game, Holmes giving Jo some of the best material by having her save the day in the first half while the Doctor gets to be obstinate about not being on Earth (he’s sadly right).  Barry Letts got greedy and put himself in the director’s chair, so the serial also looks great.  The location work is really good at giving the impression of being on the open seas and integrating both the plesiosaur and the Drashigs into the footage (the Drashigs are also a great little meta commentary on Doctor Who monsters).  The only thing this serial falls flat is a little bit of the resolution being a touch too easy.  One of Holmes’ best.

Robert Holmes has done it again! The Third Doctor's era looks shiny through his unique lense and season ten seems to be going from strength to strength. Carnival of Monsters has the a lot of the same scale and ambition as Frontier in Space due to the beautiful clash of multiple settings and cultures. Unlike Frontier however, this is backed up by an ingenious plot and rich characters which kept me intrigued and hooked throughout.

Wonderfully, Holmes had the confidence to put The Doctor and Jo into a sub-plot for most of the story. The pacing is perfect in virtue of the characters from both worlds being explored in great detail. The events on the SS Bernice are being manipulated, despite this every character is given a fully rounded personality, heart and believable relationships. These individuals contrast wildly with those on Inter Minor, giving this story a unique mixture of flavours. Seeing these credible characters 'forget and repeat' on an hourly basis is ingenious. It is easy to forget by the end of the story that this is the central mystery of episode one!

Its magical when you see the showman Vorg from outside the miniscope controlling the level of hostility among his subjects. The beauty is in seeing these two intricately built storylines interacting in a slight and novel way. A worse writer than Holmes would have had the two worlds collide more obviously - instead Vorg only affects their lives on a purely macro level.

The three bureaucratic and humourless pen pushers from Inter Minor are a perfect counterbalance to the bright and bubbly Vorg and Shina. We get to witness the historic moment where Inter Minor get their first alien visitors and see how poorly equipped they are to deal with this. This element of the story is wonderful political allegory for which a whole four parter could have been dedicated to - instead it is indulgently sewn into this beautiful adventure.

Jon Pertwee gets so much to do, including a proper fist fight! I loved his righteous indignation when he finds out that a banned miniscope is still functioning, though he thankfully softens when it is revealed that the sympathetic Vorg barely knows how to use it and won it without knowing of its illegality. I also loved The Doctor's battle of words with the Inter Minor elite, letting them know that he was not going to let them consider him an "insignificant form of life", even for a second. Pertwee absolutely laps up this script - perhaps he is relieved after a much poorer season nine.

By the time The Doctor and Jo begin to interact with the main plot-line we already know the characters they have yet to meet very well. The Doctor never even learns of the insubordination which has occurred between the three main Inter Minor characters, but does get to catch Vord save the day from the menacing Drashigs.

I love this kind of world building - we will never step on this planet again, or meet any of these characters again, but I was left wanting more. This was a truly fabulous piece of television. The Drashigs could have been realised better on screen, but if this is the strongest criticism that can be leveled at the story then I simply just don't care. Any disappointment there is more than made up for by brief glimpses of Cybermen and Ogrons.

Oh how I wish I could have watched this story as a child in 1973 - it must have been so exciting.

I can see why Carnival of Monsters has its fans, but I found it more tolerable than anything astounding. The effects are a little dated compared to other episodes of this era, and Vorg's costume is just ridiculous to me. I enjoyed the story and mystery around the SS Bernice, and it is always fun to just have the Third Doctor and Jo in any old adventure. Yet, the other side of this story with the Minorians and Vorg far less fun and endearing. Still the idea and dynamics around the Doctor and Jo being shrunken down in this machine were interesting, there are solid moments of callbacks to other monsters that I think shows good resourcefulness from the producers, and it is an easy enough story to get through. It's not bad, it was hardly a chore to watch, and I definitely think it manages to use its unique plot and setting effectively in a way that makes it very memorable and stick out a bit among Third Doctor stories in a positive way.

It also is a nice follow-up to the Three Doctors, paying off this idea that Jo and the Doctor no longer have to be Earthbound pretty well, and setting up a new series of stories a lot more free in their potential going forward. It wouldn't always pay off and there is a bit of a delay on the TARDIS being used effectively again, at least not fully in my opinion, but Carnival of Monsters felt like a good start and had me excited for the rest of the Third Doctor era.

I cannot for the life of me figure out what kind of semi-derelict cargo ship they are using for this serial but it's the wrong style of vessel. for some bizarre reason the ship has both a machine gun and dynamite on board. however this serial does feature the only appearance of a Cyberman in pertwee's era so I can't complain too much. the costumes are brilliant in this serial especially for the showman and his assistant, the garish colour is a stunning contrast to the greys they are surrounded with

So the Doctor has been given back his ability to time travel in the TARDIS again due to his success against Omega. And they end up in miniaturised machine with other species, forever repeating the same events. As with all of Pertwee's episodes, it's good, but far from one of my favourites. Apart from the Doctor and Jo I find most of the cast silly.