📝8/10

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“The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: A Creepy Circus with a Dark Payoff”

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is a disturbingly atmospheric and dark tale that fully embraces the show's knack for surreal storytelling. Combining killer clowns, a cursed circus, and a cosmic menace, it brings a nightmarish quality that contrasts starkly with its bright, colourful exterior.

From the very first scene, where we see the Psychic Circus escapees hunted down, the story establishes a creepy and ominous atmosphere. There's a deliberate contrast between the circus's cheerful surface and the lurking menace underneath. This duality—seemingly harmless fun masking horror—is what makes the story so engaging.

The eerie mood is heightened by the slow build-up of dread, punctuated by the unsettling presence of the Chief Clown, played chillingly by Ian Reddington. His piercing stare, unsettling smile, and calm yet terrifying voice make him one of the creepiest villains of the classic series.

The story is tonally bold, veering into dark fantasy and horror while maintaining the quirky charm of Doctor Who. This is strengthened by the music, which is brooding, atmospheric, and supports the undercurrent of danger perfectly.

The script excels at building tension, especially in the first and final episodes. The setup in Part One is intriguing, as the circus seems innocent at first but is soon revealed as a death trap.

However, the middle episodes—particularly Part Two—suffer from slower pacing and feel like filler, with characters running back and forth with little narrative progression. Some twists feel a bit predictable, and the plot doesn’t always take full advantage of its creepy premise during these sections.

The story takes a bizarre yet rewarding turn in the final episode, where the Doctor faces off against the Gods of Ragnarok. This part delivers one of the most epic climaxes in the Seventh Doctor’s era, as the Doctor uses his wit and magician-like skills to defeat these cosmic beings. The explosion and the Doctor’s calm, confident walk away from the destruction is an iconic moment that cements his stature as a true hero.

The finale’s intensity and payoff make up for the slower moments in earlier parts, leaving the viewer satisfied by the end.

Sylvester McCoy delivers a strong performance, showcasing a different side of the Seventh Doctor. He’s less manipulative here than in Remembrance of the Daleks or Silver Nemesis, and at times, he misjudges situations or makes mistakes. This vulnerability adds another layer to his character. The Doctor’s magician-like qualities come to the forefront, particularly in the finale, where his showmanship and cleverness save the day.

Ace continues to prove herself as a fantastic companion. Her bravery shines through, especially when she faces her fear of clowns while being hunted. Sophie Aldred perfectly captures Ace’s mix of fear, determination, and loyalty. Her separation from the Doctor for much of the story allows her to stand on her own, strengthening her character.

The supporting characters are well-acted and add depth to the story.

Ian Reddington as the Chief Clown is a standout. He’s sinister and deeply unsettling, embodying the story’s creeping menace. He’s arguably one of the scariest villains in Doctor Who history, rivalling Sharaz Jek in The Caves of Androzani (1984).

Jessica Martin as Mags is a fascinating addition. Her character, with her mysterious werewolf-like nature, makes her a memorable companion of sorts to the Doctor. Mags proved popular enough to return later in Big Finish audios, a testament to her character’s appeal.

T. P. McKenna and Ricco Ross give strong performances as part of the Psychic Circus staff, particularly as they begin to argue and unravel under pressure.

On the other hand, Gian Sammarco as the annoying “fanboy kid” is one of the story’s weaker elements. His character feels irrelevant to the plot and detracts from the tension.

The production design is simple yet highly effective, making excellent use of the show’s budget. The quarry setting for the planet Segonax works surprisingly well, providing a barren, Mad Max-like desert landscape. The Psychic Circus tent, while colourful, exudes an ominous vibe, especially with the sinister audience and creepy clowns.

The costume design is a highlight, particularly for the clowns, whose exaggerated and unsettling designs add to the story’s nightmarish feel. The visual effects, especially during the final confrontation with the Gods of Ragnarok, are impressive for the time and help deliver a sense of scale.

Final Thoughts:

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy succeeds in returning the creepy factor to Doctor Who, combining a surreal, unsettling atmosphere with a rewarding finale. Despite its slower middle episodes, the story’s unique concept, haunting tone, and iconic villain make it a standout entry in the Seventh Doctor’s era.

The final confrontation with the Gods of Ragnarok, coupled with the Doctor’s magician-like flair, delivers one of the most epic and memorable climaxes in the classic series. The story is not as polished as Remembrance of the Daleks but remains a fascinating and entertaining serial that fans will enjoy revisiting.

While not the strongest story of Season 25, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy proves that Doctor Who had rediscovered its creative energy—unfortunately, just as the classic series was drawing to a close.

Random Observations:

• It took 25 years for Doctor Who to depict a story with creepy killer clowns. Creepy killer dolls show up in one of the creepier episodes in the new series, Night Terrors (2011).
• The Seventh Doctor makes for a pretty fascinating magician. I'd watch him perform live anytime.

This was a wild ride.  A fantastical experience I would consider a perfect episode were it not for an ending that kind of felt flat for me.  There's a lot I was dwelling on watching these episodes for the first time.  First I marvelled at the sheer strength of Ace and the Doctor as leads for this show.  Even in a story like this where Ace spends a lot of time isolated, she easily drives and can carry the story on her own.  I was also impressed when I learned that this serial was faced with a lot of production issues including a full-blown studio shutdown.  You really wouldn't be able to tell unless you knew ahead of time.  Sure, you can definitely spot the low budget and cheesy effects, but that stuff is pretty normal for Doctor Who.

It's the ending that doesn't stick well with me.  The Gods of Ragnarok are set up well throughout the whole story in a way I quite liked, with this family in the audience growing more and more sinister as the episodes wear on, but once we see their true forms, well, I just can't defend that.  They don't look great.  The Gods look like dudes in frumpy costumes.  My suspension of disbelief was broken.

Everything else is such mad fun it hardly even matters.  This might be one of the best seasons in all of Doctor Who, and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is a great example of why.  There's a werewolf, a robot bus driver, and Colonel Mustard all in this story and I have absolutely no idea why, but I am glad they are there.  It's fun, silly, sinister, a little unhinged, and full of fun little bits of dialogue that make Season 25, Ace, and the Doctor all something special.  It's not perfect.  But The Greatest Show in the Galaxy does kind of live up to its name.

I am loving the surreal nature and creativity of these McCoy stories, I must admit. The atmosphere, music and overall creep factor in this one is as good as you'll get in a Who story. Love the meta ideas in here too regarding the show itself too. It's not all wrapped up neatly in a bow at the end with the Gods of Ragnorak stuff not really being explained and over with quite quickly, that's probably my only criticism but this is really good.

The Greatest Show In The Galaxy is a serial often held within the Whovian community as a classic, at a time when the show was struggling during its original run. The fact that this story was even made is incredible. A discovery of abestos led to the temporary closure of various studios at the BBC - but rather than leaving the story unfinished as with Shada, the production team instead resorted to filming a large majority of the scenes inside a tent at the BBC car park. Without a doubt this production team were determined to make sure this story saw completion - the kind of determination that would be seen years later when Russell T Davies revived the show in 2005.

The Greatest Show In The Galaxy sees The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) decide to take part in the titular circus show's talent competition after receiving junk mail from a 'junk bot' in the TARDIS, despite his companion Ace's (Sophie Aldred) reluctance. This is a Doctor Who story however, so obviously something more sinister is under way. The Gods of Ragnarok are the judges, and failure to entertain results in death.

Having watched the story, I don't really understand the love the serial has within fandom. That's not to say it's terrible, it's just not as good as I expected. The main problem is one that plagues many of Sylvester McCoy's serials - the performances from the guest cast are too over the top and it makes it hard to take anything in the story seriously. The main culprits are T. P. McKenna as Captain Cook and Deborah Manship as Morgana. Their acting comes across as very two dimensional and they are little more than caricatures - another common issue with this period of the show.

The pacing of the story is also an issue. It takes way too long for the Doctor and Ace to reach the circus tent, and the first episode's big cliffhanger is 'Well Ace, are we going in [to the physic circus] or not?' rather than Mags screaming (which would have surely made more sense). Quite why the writer Stephen Wyatt decided to make the cliffhanger whether or not The Doctor and Ace enter the psychic circus I don't know, but it's a terrible decision as it doesn't make sense as a cliffhanger moment.

The fourth episode of The Greatest Show In The Galaxy is perhaps the best. The pacing improves considerably in episode four, with so much happening that there's barely time to breath. Sylvester McCoy displays a great talent for magic tricks and escapism routines; at one point he is even hanging upside down. If Sylvester McCoy hadn't become an actor, he could easily have been a magician.

The visuals of this story are very good - in fact, they are actually on the high end of the classic series' visual effects and aesthetics. This is a nice surprise given that the production crew resorted to filming in a car park, but it genuinely looks and feels like filming took place in another country such as Spain. The well of energy is amazing and wouldn't look out of place in the new series, and the Gods of Ragnarok with the bolts of energy they fire from their hands equally wouldn't look out of place in either the Russell T Davies or Steven Moffat era of the show.

One common criticism of the story is Whizzkid (played by Gian Sammarco). Whilst many don't like the character because he is a clear dig by John Nathan Turner at the show's fans, my issue is not so much that it's insulting towards Whovians but more that Whizzkid only exists in this story for that very reason. There's no clear narrative reason for why he dresses in 80's geek fashion, or rides a bike. He's literally just written as an excuse for John Nathan Turner to channel his fury at the time of the fanbase's negativity through Stephen Wyatt. The line about 'It's not as good as it used to be' is clear arrogance of the then-current production team's ignorance towards the criticism the show had been receiving. It's not so much that it's lashing out at Whovians but more that it shows a certain holier-than-thou ignorance that is pretty unforgivable.

Having said that, the story does have some good ideas. The bus conductor robot is cool, and the use of music works very well. I can't imagine raps will ever work as well in the show as they do here; the raps make sense for the ringmaster's (Ricco Ross) character and are extremely catchy unlike the awful drivel most rapping consists of. The good ideas just don't outweigh the bad.

Although there was clearly something not quite right about Captain Cook, I'm not sure I liked him as an antagonist - why was he so cruel towards Mags, for instance, when it is said in dialogue that he had previously saved her? I'm also not sure about the bizarre notion that Ace can hear Mags' scream in part one but not The Doctor. Unless I missed it, I don't believe it was ever explained why this was the case. Surely it would make more sense had the Doctor heard it and not Ace, given that The Doctor is of a different species?

Overall, The Greatest Show In The Galaxy isn't a terrible story but it isn't as great as its reputation suggests either. It's marred by problems, such as characters who are too over the top to be taken seriously and pacing issues. There are a few good ideas in the story though and the visuals are breathtaking despite the fact that it was filmed in a BBC car park. It's certainly an improvement on the writer's previous serial Paradise Towers, however that's not saying much. The Greatest Show In The Galaxy is not the Genesis of the Daleks of Sylvester McCoy's serials but it's passable for the state the show was in at the time.

Part 1 showed lots of promise. A deluge of different characters who all had purpose and demanded the viewers attention. Parts 2 and 3 floundered about not really knowing what they wanted to be - equal parts tedious and confusing. Then part 4 pleasingly introduced the big bad and we discovered the point of the story again. Out of all the stories in season 25, this is the one that would have most suited being a three parter as it didn’t have anywhere to go in the middle.

Shout out to the character who is a play on a stereotypical Doctor Who fan - that was genius. And well done McCoy for treating us to some genuinely surprising stage magic skills. It’s great to see the extremely rare sight (in classic Who) of one of the key supporting parts going to a black actor - who does a marvelous job. Though I did grow tired of that same, repeating rap flow by the final episode.

Whilst the campiness of season 24 is behind us, they haven’t quite nailed this more mature version of the show. Sylvester and Sophie are, as actors, far and away better than the scripts deserve.