The Doctor escapes from the Scope and joins forces with Vorg to try and save its inhabitants but Kalik is still determined to use the Drashigs to start a rebellion.The Doctor escapes from the Scope and joins forces with Vorg to try and save its inhabitants but Kalik is still determined to use the Drashigs to start a rebellion.The Doctor escapes from the Scope and joins forces with Vorg to try and save its inhabitants but Kalik is still determined to use the Drashigs to start a rebellion.
- Director
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- Robert Holmes
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- Donald Wilson(uncredited)
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the lovely moment where Vorg speaks to the Doctor in 'Carni' (to test if he is of carnival origin) the actor speaks Polari, which is a real world form of slang. It is a mixture of pidgin Italian, rhyming slang, and Romany. Roughly translated, what he says is: "Do you speak Carni?" "Look at this beautiful girl." "There is no money round here, you understand."
- GoofsIn the close-up, Vorg's three-shell gambling game is clearly being played on a round piece of roughly cut corrugated cardboard, which has been sprayed silver to give it a much more futuristic appearance.
- Quotes
Pletrac: The function of this tribunal is to keep this planet clean. This Tellurian creature comes from outside our solar system and is a possible carrier of contagion. Furthermore the creature may be hostile.
The Doctor: Would you kindly stop referring to me as "the creature", sir. Or I may well become exceedingly hostile!
The delivery of the idea of course involves monsters, races against the odds, and the usual dangers that make up the serial, but at only 4 episodes long it keeps it tight and trim, making the delivery of the narrative mostly good. I say mostly because the framing of these ideas occurs on a planet where two gaudily dressed circus masters try to sell their wares to a bunch of aliens in grey make-up (mostly). Their plot involves one of their number plotting a power move while the rest seem tied up with administrative matters. This is the aspect of the serial that is not so good, and unfortunately it is the aspect that starts to be the main one as we move on. It is an odd mix of comedy, flamboyance, and yet also driving a dramatic plot. I'm not sure it works.
I'm also not sure about the cast involved in it either. The main cast are good in terms of Pertwee and Grant (who I am starting to warm to now – which usually means she be dropped soon). The rest are a mixed bag, some playing well for laughs but not able to balance it with anything else, while conversely some play it very serious thinking they are in a different story perhaps. Either way, mostly they work as performances as required. As a serial I did enjoy Carnival of Monsters; it had a base of good ideas and imagination, it is just a shame that some of the framing elements were not as sharp as they needed to be, because it did rather weaken the whole.
- bob the moo
- Feb 17, 2015
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