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| Entertainers Shirna (Cheryl Hall) and Vorg (Leslie Dwyer) use forbidden technology to host a monster show. |
4 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 98 minutes. Written by: Robert Holmes. Directed by: Barry Letts. Produced by: Barry Letts.
THE PLOT:
Aliens are strictly prohibited from coming to the planet Inter Minor - or at least, they have been. Under the more liberal rule of President Zarb, the planet has agreed to receive visitors. Too bad for them that their first aliens are Vorg (Leslie Dwyer) and Shirna (Cheryl Hall), a pair of entertainers/hucksters who hope to make their fortune with a miniscope, a device that holds various creatures in miniaturized environments.
The Doctor and Jo have materialized inside one such environment: the SS Bernice, a British ship from 1926. The passengers and crew are blissfully unaware of their captivity, believing that they are crossing the Indian Ocean and are soon to arrive in Bombay - an illusion that's maintained by them forgetting everything outside of a ten-minute cycle.
The Doctor is outraged that this forbidden piece of technology is in use and that intelligent beings are among its captives. The only way he can save the people on the Bernice is to escape the miniscope. Getting away from the Bernice is simple enough. But the next environment is the home of the Drashigs, omnivorous monsters who will devour anything - and who have a particular taste for living flesh!
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: He knows immediately that he and Jo aren't really on Earth, even though everything on the ship says otherwise. True, part of that is ego - He refuses to admit that they did not land on Metebelis III, smugly telling Jo that him being wrong (or at least admitting that he's wrong) is "impossible." But he also observes several inconsistencies, from a non-terrestrial component in the ship's flooring to the sun being out when it should be pitch black.
Jo Grant: She spends the first episode determined to prove that they are on Earth, in no small part because of the Doctor's particularly insufferable insistence that they can't be. When the Doctor explains what the miniscope is, she is appalled and assumes that only horrible people could use it for entertainment... right up until the Doctor asks if she's ever been to the zoo. When they discover a likely escape route that involves too deep a drop, she remembers all the rope on the Bernice.
Vorg/Shirna Leslie Dwyer and Cheryl Hall are extremely entertaining as the two showmen, and I think they might represent the first true example of writer Robert Holmes's "double acts" in Doctor Who. In a way, they reflect the Doctor and Jo. Like the Doctor, Vorg keeps insisting he has control over the situation, even when they come under investigation by a Minorian tribunal. Like Jo, Shirna seems to enjoy knocking him down a peg when the opportunity presents itself, though she's supportive of him when they actually get into trouble. This, combined with the comedy value of their scenes, makes them likable... even though Vorg, in particular, is little more than a con artist who never shows the slightest hint of concern for the people his machine has abducted!
THOUGHTS:
"Our purpose is to amuse, simply to amuse. Nothing serious, nothing political."
-Entertainer Vorg (Leslie Dwyer) shows off his "carnival" to a particularly humorless alien race.
Carnival of Monsters marks the first story after the Third Doctor's exile is lifted. In effect, the series has returned to the old rules: The Doctor can once again go anywhere in time or space... though the overall series setup wouldn't truly change until the next Doctor's arrival.
I think this is the story in which Robert Holmes really found his voice as a Doctor Who writer. As good as Spearhead from Space was, it was all but completely straight-faced, carrying little of the writer's signature style. Here, Holmes's voice fills every scene: the comedy double act of Vorg and Shirna, florid and somewhat over-the-top dialogue, a generous amount of humor laced through even the more serious moments. The charmingly unscrupulous Vorg is himself basically the template for such future Holmes creations as Henry Gordon Jago or Sabalom Glitz.
Above all, Carnival of Monsters is just a lot of fun. An "A" Plot/"B" Plot structure keeps things moving briskly, with the Doctor and Jo navigating their way through the miniscope as Vorg and Shirna try to deal with the Minorians.
Complications build in both threads. The Doctor and Jo are blocked from returning to the TARDIS; the crew of the Bernice see them as stowaways any time they find them (though they quickly forget their presence); the Drashigs pose a more mortal danger. Meanwhile, the Minorian tribunal is complicated by the conniving Kalik (Michael Wisher), who sees an opportunity to use the entertainers' technology to seize power. For three episodes, these threads are mostly separate, until they come together in the final part.
Both plotlines start immediately, with exposition laced into the Doctor's and Jo's initial exploration of the Bernice in the "A" plot and the interactions of Vorg, Shirna, and the Minorians in the "A" plot. The guest cast is both colorful and engaging, and the Doctor and Jo both get plenty to do. Oh, and Ian Marter - Harry Sullivan in the 4th Doctor era - has his first Who appearance as a member of the Bernice's crew.
OVERALL:
I might wish that the budget had stretched to the Doctor visiting a few more miniaturized environments in the course of his fantastic journey. Why tease us with a Cyberman only to never actually use him in the plot? Save for that quibble, however, this is one of the most purely entertaining stories in Pertwee's entire run.
Overall Rating: 9/10.
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Next Story: Frontier in Space
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