Pretty good Story, but not one I see myself revisiting too often. I think the best way to describe this one is with the word “Charm”. I really like the set design, it is impressive for its time and even today! It was also probably the right call to cut this story down a bit. Our Villain Forester is a bit nonsensical to some extent, but I would lie if I said I didn’t enjoy him.

“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.

📝6/10

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

"Planet of Giants: Small World, Big Ideas"

Planet of Giants kicks off with an intriguing hook: the TARDIS materialises with its doors slightly ajar, shrinking the Doctor and his companions to the size of an inch on contemporary Earth. The reveal of their miniaturisation doesn't come until midway through Part 1, keeping the audience guessing as the setting and time period unfold into an engaging mystery.

Once the initial mystery is solved, the plot shifts to the travellers' attempts to return to the TARDIS while navigating a series of oversized obstacles. Admittedly, there isn’t much story to go around, but a last-minute decision to trim the serial from four episodes to three prevents the narrative from dragging. This, however, leaves the original Part 4 as an unproduced, "missing" episode, with reconstructions attempting to capture its intended conclusion for those curious about the full vision.

Barbara’s subplot of accidental pesticide poisoning is intended to heighten tension but feels uncharacteristic for her. Her refusal to reveal her condition, despite the obvious danger, seems at odds with her typically rational and practical nature. Similarly, the Part 2 cliffhanger could have been far more effective with a bit more finesse in its execution.

That said, the story’s central premise of miniaturisation is a science-fiction classic and perfectly suited to Doctor Who’s early experimental phase. It’s also an early example of the show taking a stance on real-world issues, this time highlighting the environmental dangers of pesticides. Forrester, the human villain seeking to market a lethal chemical, grounds the story in a contemporary, Earth-bound setting without relying on aliens—a rarity for the series.

One of the story’s greatest strengths is its production design. Despite the show’s notoriously tight budget, the oversized props (like the sink, a worm, and an ant) are impressively convincing. However, not all effects are equally successful—the superimposed head of the dead Farrow and the comically unconvincing black cat significantly undermine the illusion, particularly in the infamous cliffhanger.

The sound and music also do a fantastic job of creating a sense of scale, complementing the visuals nicely. With only a minimal guest cast, the story relies heavily on the chemistry of the four leads. By this point, the main cast is firing on all cylinders: the Doctor is curious and engaging, Ian and Barbara’s camaraderie shines, and even Susan feels tolerable.

Unfortunately, the secondary plot involving Forrester and Farrow feels flat and formulaic. The guest characters are forgettable, and the focus on their interactions distracts from the far more compelling adventures of the miniaturised regulars. The telephonist and her husband, introduced in Part 3, add little to the story and feel like an unnecessary detour.

Ultimately, Planet of Giants is a creative concept with some standout moments, but uneven execution and a lacklustre B-plot hold it back from reaching its full potential.

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