Planet of Evil

Directed by

UK Viewers

10.4 million

Synopsis

The Doctor and Sarah answer a distress call and find themselves on Zeta Minor, the last planet of the known universe, where a Morestran expedition has gone missing.

Part Two

First aired

Saturday, October 4, 1975

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

9.9 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor realises that Zeta Minor lies on the boundary between the universes of matter and anti-matter and something on the planet won't let the Morestrans leave.

Part Three

First aired

Saturday, October 11, 1975

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

9.1 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor makes a deal with the Anti-Matter Beast to return all the anti-matter to the planet but Sorenson is determined to continue his research.

Part Four

First aired

Saturday, October 18, 1975

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

10.1 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor tries to convince Sorenson to sacrifice himself for the rest of the crew but Salamar's attempt to deal with the situation causes their problems to multiply.

Characters

Fourth Doctor

Sarah Jane Smith

How to watch Planet of Evil:

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DVD

Planet of Evil

VHS

Planet of Evil (VHS)

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4 reviews

Such a bore Jesus Christ

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Review last edited on 26-11-24

This review contains spoilers!

I think it would be fair to say that based on Planet of Giants and Day of the Daleks that Louis Marks is not the show's finest writing talent, however I feel that under this mid-seventies production team he produced his best work with Planet of Evil. The story in the most part is reframes the core concepts behind the characters of Jekyll and Hyde, this can be seen in both the planet The Doctor and Sarah Jane land on and the scientist character Sorenson. The planet has something Sorenson wants, he takes it and then the planet wants it back.

This simple, effective story (thank God it's not stretched over six episodes!) is elevated considerably by the outstanding design work seen throughout the production, most production teams would have produced the same script to inferior effect. The planet looks as real as could be conceived with the budget they had and outstrips anything seen on Doctor Who up until this point. The sets and props are detailed and fully thought through, they build a believable world. By this I'm not just referring to the outstanding alien jungles, but also the machinery, weapons and living areas which have the most incredible attention to detail.

Tom and Elizabeth look ridiculously comfortable in the role as do the wider guest cast. David Maloney delivered some very talented direction making best use of the impressive sets and talented actors. The lighting in this era of the show continues to be brooding and moody - delightful!

This is all I have to say. Average script, amazing production, direction and cast.

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Review last edited on 14-11-24

This is probably one of the lesser remembered Hinchcliffe stories but I quite enjoyed this. I'll put the studio set for Zeta Minor up against any in the classic series. Anti-matter playing such a key part in the plot and it being taken to a spaceship definitely reminded me of the sort of thing Star Trek would do, and I also liked the Jekyll and Hyde similarities.

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Review last edited on 23-09-24

the only interesting part of this episode was the phrase "antiman" tbh

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Review last edited on 10-06-24