Planet of Giants

“Yes, that’s it. We’ll cause trouble. Start a fire, my boy.”

C’est un joyeux “Chérie, j’ai rétréci le Tardis” qui ouvre une parenthèse merveilleuse et enfantine entre deux saisons, et qui, bien qu’un peu basique (mais adorable) fait carrément du Docteur une sorte de zadiste. 

Avec sa cape, il devient en effet une sorte de magicien écolo qui affronte des gangsters et des chats géants, et survit en même temps dans un univers bizarre et pourtant tellement ordinaire. L’épisode dégage donc un rare sentiment d’émerveillement, et même si sa prémisse n’est pas tout à fait la plus originale, toute l’équipe l’embrasse avec énormément de joie et chaque visuel est plus iconique que le précédent!

I love oversized props I love silly back projections

I think this stories location as basically a season one story sitting at the beginning of season one means that it's often overlooked. After all, it comes before what might possibly one of the most iconic stories in the show's lengthy history. I think this story also gets a bad rep as silly, which it is. The kitty cat cliffhanger, the sink. Closing an episode with a man washing his hands is really not very dramatically compelling, I suppose. However, the story itself is fantastic. It has aged very, very well. This is Doctor Who being #woke in its earliest days, tackling cutting-edge scientific issues at the time like forever chemicals and even climate change. Humans impact on the world around us is front and center in this story and the two men who lead the life-size portion of this story both give gripping performances in a drama that is just as relevant now, if not more so, as it was in 1964.

🙏🏼64% = Fine! = Skippable!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

NOTES & COMMENTS ON “PLANET OF GIANTS”

Planet of Giants gets off to an intriguing start. The TARDIS materialises with its doors opened, which causes the four travellers to move sideways and appear on contemporary Earth miniaturised to thumb size. This revelation doesn't appear until halfway through Part 1, with the exploration of time and setting forming an intriguing mystery until then.

After solving the initial mystery, the characters spend the rest of the story attempting to return to the TARDIS while navigating various obstacles. There is very little story here, but the last-minute decision to condense the story from four to three episodes helps the adventure avoid running too stale. Of course, this means that the original Part 4 is technically another missing episode of Doctor Who. Some attempts have been made to recreate the original vision based on the script and edit notes for Part 4 for those who want to experience the full story.

The story includes the entire episode of Barbara accidentally becoming poisoned to add tension and a sense of urgency, but I find it incredibly stupid and uncharacteristic of her. Her refusal to say what is going on doesn’t feel right for her character at this point in their travels.

The Part 2 cliffhanger could have been more effective if it had played out slightly differently.

The idea of scientific miniaturisation causing troubles for the protagonists of a story is a classic one within science fiction and one that suits the early, experimental nature of Doctor Who very well.

This story is an early example of Doctor Who taking a stance on important political or social themes. This time, it is an environmental message against the use of pesticides; the villain here is Forrester, who is trying to sell an ever-lasting pesticide that would be harmful to insects as well as humans. It’s also a rare Doctor Who story in that it’s set on contemporary Earth but features no aliens or science fiction elements other than the TARDIS and the regulars.

One of Planet of Giants' major strengths is the production design, which is remarkably convincing for a show with such a small budget. The model's work on some of the objects (such as the worm, the ant, and the sink) is convincing.

However, the superimposed head of the deceased Farrow and the black cat (in the notoriously unconvincing cliffhanger) completely undermine the intended illusion.

The music and sound design are also excellent at displaying a sense of scale.

With almost no guest cast involved, this story relies heavily on the four main cast members, and their chemistry is magnetic by this point. The Doctor is likeable and curious, while Barbara and Ian bounce off each other effectively, and even Susan is bearable.

Sadly, I’ve never been very interested in the guest characters involved in the by-the-numbers B-plot surrounding Farrow and Forrester. They are such forgettable characters, and every time we cut to their interaction, the magic of the regulars being miniaturised is weakened. The telephonist and her husband, who appear in Part 3, add nothing to the narrative.

Planet of Giants: 8.7/10 - What a fun story! This was just a fun time and a really interesting watch. The thing that I loved the most was most definitely the set design as it really made you feel as though the characters were shrunk. The Doctor was a great character in this story and was really witty. I also loved seeing Ian care for Barbara and thought it gave good development to their relationship. 

Planet of Giants, unfortunately, is just not very good. I was really impressed by the effects in the first episode and the effort clearly put forth into making this "planet" feel like something special. It still feels like it has a bit of a unique aesthetic compared to the larger franchise, which is cool.

Unfortunately, the story very quickly flattens out into nothing. The whole shrinking thing and larger story with the villain really doesn't amount to much of anything, and it becomes a very easy story to forget and leave behind, while the pacing and structure within Planet of Giants is very, very inconsistent. I feel like the Space Museum is a better showcase of the show being a bit more experimental in its early days, and it works a bit better than this story.

I'm probably the only fan who prefers the 4 part version of this story.

It felt like I was watching The Twilight Zone with the oversized props throughout episode one. This added an extra element of fun, slightly different from the rest of the show around it, which is usually a good sign. I would say though that the 'giant world' novelty does wear off during the second part, somewhat saved by the more engaging storyline.

The Doctor feels more in charge at the start of this season which changes the group dynamic, he feels more like the character we see in later seasons. The sets are the best in the show so far, it feels like they had higher budget to play with (though another tardis.guide user suggests that these are re-used sets from another show - makes sense!)

I liked the idea of the Doctor and his companions were fighting an enemy that did not know they existed, in such a surreal episode a welcome element of realism in the baddies' ultimate plan - to sell unsafe products to the market!

We’re back on TV! With some of the best setwork the show has had up till now.

We start of with a faulty materialization of the Tardis to get us back in the traveling mood. I started out a bit worried, as the doctor sounds rather stern and yell-y. Have we gone back on the character development? Turns out that worry was misplaced, after his anger, he immediately apologizes and shows us that we’re still in good hands.

The faulty landing leads to the party being shrunk down in size. As said, the set design for this is wonderful! All kinds of objects are displayed in massive sizes. When we go exploring, the cast feels very confident. It’s clear their curiosity and wanderlust has grown, which feels completely natural after all the previous adventures. It gets you in the mood to join them.

The gist of the story is that, while exploring this gigantic world, the doctor and company try to catch a murderer and stop the production of an insecticide that could poison humans as well.  In general this plot is a good idea. Sadly, the way they interfere with the evil plan is pretty minimal and does not feel important to the actual resolution. It’s mostly dealing with small consequences of the poison, which is less interesting. I feel like it could get a bit more creative in the way it put the pressure on the party.

The cast is as strong as ever. Ian and Susan show some action. Barbara still has her pragmatic intelligence and the doctor has become a bit more involved and action-oriented than before. It’s good stuff. A highlight is the moment where the Doctor and Susan both realize that they’ve shrunk. It makes them look like equals and strengthens the familial theme a little.

This episode is an interesting novelty. There's not really any time- or spacetravel. Instead, we get a new twist on the everyday. Which is nice. That said, how successful this episode is overall, will depend entirely on how much you enjoy the novelty of the shrunken cast. The main story is on the weaker side, but if you like the party interacting with a massive world, you’ll still have a good time. Otherwise, it doesn’t stand out that much, but isn’t necessarily weak either.

Well, this certainly is an interesting one, in that it feels like an episode of a completely unrelated drama series with the Tardis team superimposed over it, with their main mission being to save themselves more so than the people around. It seems a story born out of convenience more than anything else, like it was made because they had some big props lying around in the drama department, which has a certain scrappy charm to it, and if done correctly, can and has worked marvellously, here it just works decently well.
It really not bad at all, perhaps just unexceptional story-wise, it does have some problems like some messy writing, blocking (in the first part), acting and directing here and there, but largely it is good. If you are as Classic pilled as I am by now, there is definitely fun to be had, with a good Tardis team, good vibes and some good acting from Jacqueline Hill, especially in the second part.
While the story is a bit unexceptional, I will say, from a technical perspective it is quite interesting, using projectors, inserted pre-filmed clips, superimposed video, a shrinking effect and some quite inventive set designs like the giant sink set, this is all very impressive for being made in 1964 and on a shoestring budget.
7/10