Uh yeah…once again, I lead you into the face of death…for fun!!!
The Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) intercept a distress call from the planet Zeta Minor on their way to London but find an exploration group slain. When the Doctor and Sarah Jane are found by the Morestrans with the sole survivor Sorenson (Frederick Jaeger), they are suspected of murdering the research crew. Taken aboard the Morestran spaceship, the Doctor and Sarah Jane learn that a creature called the Anti-Man might be behind the killings and prevent them from ever leaving Zeta Minor.
Doctor Who: Planet of Evil falls within the thirteenth series of Doctor Who. It was a four episode serial broadcast from September 27, 1975 to October 18, 1975. It follows Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons and is available as part of The Tom Backer Collection as Story #81.
My Cyclops audition is going well!
The Planet of Evil is one of the “scary” Doctor Who stories. These were always the type of episodes oft the series I like when I’d see it when I was young. Unlike some Doctor Who episodes where it feels like the Doctor and his companions are just breezing through the events, it feels like real danger and the cliffhangers always really seemed like life or death. The Anti-Man is a creepy creation that is kind of a combination of Mr. Hyde with some (rather generic) space parasite enemy.
The sets of Doctor Who: Planet of Evil are pretty typical generic Doctor Who sets, but some of the camera shots seem a bit better and more stylized than other Doctor Who shows. While the human Anti-Man was like a Hyde creature (and quite cool), the red outline special effects phantom like creatures that it spawned (and also first appeared before the Anti-Man) were rather goofy and not very effective. I wish that the show had had the Anti-Man in more of the episodes…and he kind of goes out like a chump when he finally does show up.
I’m totally trippin’!!!
Doctor Who: Planet of Evil is a fun Doctor Who story and definitely worth checking out. Don’t expect it to tie into the bigger Doctor Who mythos however. It has no major revelations, no major ties to other series, and is essentially a creature-of-the-week episode in the middle of a bigger adventure. Despite this, it is one of the better creature-of-the-week episodes and I would love to see a modernized Anti-Man. Doctor Who: Planet of Evil is followed by Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars.
Preceded By:
Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons (Story #80)
Followed By:
