Drawing influence from some classic science-fiction across its four episodes, Planet Of Evil is a strong Doctor Who adventure, that finds Tom Baker in the title role, and Sarah-Jane (played by Elisabeth Sladen) as his side.
The adventure begins when they respond to a distress call from the most distant planet in the Universe. The planet’s name is Zeta Minor, and when they arrive, the Doctor and Sarah discover that a geological expedition has gone wrong, with just one survivor left. So what’s happened? And what’s with the one who managed to stay alive? Planet Of Evil has the answers…
This is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure, originally broadcast in the midst of a confident period in the show’s history. Well directed, and only occasionally hurt by its limited budget, there are also some strong supporting performances among the cast that do the story no harm at all.
The DVD itself is suitably packed with the kind of fascinating material that classic Doctor Who stories are renowned for, with a commentary track, documentaries, a photo gallery and publicity material.
But the star remains the story itself. Planet Of Evil is really good science fiction, reverential in some of its story elements yet tight enough to work as an adventure of real merit in its own right. A worthy addition to the Who DVD library. —Simon Brew
Great story,great cast,brilliant atmosphere. This is a real gem,the iconic partnership of Tom Baker’s fourth Doctor and Elisabeth Sladen’s Sarah-Jane Smith is in full flow as they get invloved in the sinister going ons on in Zeta Minor.The late David Maloney was one of the best Who directors,he has been responsible for “The War Games”,”Genesis of the Daleks” and “The Deadly Assassin”,to name a few as well as “Planet Of Evil”.Roger Murray’s-Leach’s jungle set is great and contributes much to the menacing atmosphere of the story,the decision to shot the jungle scenes,on film,a great idea.Frederick Jaeger is superb as the tortured,obssessed Professor Sorenson,the scenes as he transforms to the Anti-Matter Creature a hoomage to “Dr Jekyll and My Hyde”,indeed other parts of the story very similar to “The Forbidden Planet” movie.Ewen Solon is a friendly reassuring face as Vishinsky,Space 1999 actor,Prentis Hancock’s Salamander is very similar to Vaber,the part he played in “Planet of the Daleks”,its a relief when he gets killed.A great classic from the gothic period of Phillip Hinchliffe’s tenure as the producer of Dr Who.
Another Tom Baker classic Planet of Evil borrows quite freely from the 1950’s classic sci-fi movie “The Forbidden Planet”, even down to the crew members of the spaceship having virtually identical uniforms, but is a damn fine Doctor Who story anyway. Some of the opening shots of a water-logged jungle world, all on film, would not look out of place on the new better funded modern series.The story is relatively simple – a geological expedition from the faltering Morestran empire has travelled to the remote planet of Zeta Minor to try and find new sources of energy to restore their empire to it’s former glories. One of the members of the expedition is attacked by an invisible entity and just manages to send a distress signal before succumbing. The TARDIS intercepts the distress call and arrives on Zeta Minor at about the same time as a military probe ship from Morestra. The Doctor and Sarah immediately become prime suspects, but the Doctor is sure something else is afoot…A creature from another universe, a universe of anti-matter, preciously guards the planet of Zeta Minor and will not allow any part of it’s removal, even down to the minerals the Morestrans desire.The scripts for the story are uniformly tight and quick moving, and David Maloney’s direction is slick and creative. The vast majority of the cast put in stirling performances, particularly Frederick Jaeger as the deluded Professor Sorenson, and the redoubtable Ewen Solon as grizzled veteran officer Vishinsky. Tom Baker and Lis Sladen are also on top form. As the previous reviewer noted, the idea of portraying the anti-matter creature as just a menacing red outline rather than a man in a suit is inspired and helps maintain the underlying feeling of alien menace. This is Doctor Who from it’s classic era at it’s very best.As ever with a Classic Doctor Who release from the BBC, it is packed with excellent extras. Tom Baker’s commentaries are always worth listening to as are the featurettes.This will be another fine addition to any Doctor Who collection.
A typical plot but one of the best episodes ! I ‘ve ever liked Dr Who episodes with a fine plot and very menacing aliens, such as we find in Planet Of Evil. Usually the background and also the secondary characters get an important atmosphere.In this episode, there is also a good rythm in the action so it doesn’t take place a decrease of attention. Things are happening every moment, without pause, and then, each of the parts has an exciting ending.ONE OF THE BEST !