This episode was broadcast just before Christmas 1988, its
hardly the most christmassey episode that there has ever been but after not
enjoying the previous episode a great deal it was nice to know that things improve
greatly in this episode. I still maintain that the cliffhanger from the
previous episode is appalling bad. However its all forgotten when the Chief
Clown suddenly appears and convinces the Doctor and Ace to enter the Circus
tent.
I like how there is a bit more information about the Psychic
Circus when Morgana talks about how the Circus went from place to place but
have made home on Segonax and is then stopped from saying by who. This means
that they suddenly become good guys because they are being repressed by a mystical
force and also by the Chief Clown. There is something odd about the family that
are just sitting in the stands of the circus. Obviously I know their
involvement in the story but there is a nice mystery about them.
The Doctor gets handpicked by the Ringmaster and it’s clear
that it’s a trick. There are moment where the Doctor knows that something is
going on and is letting himself been manipulated so that he can get to the
centre of it. The manipulative Doctor starts to show more of itself in this
serial and in this episode. He wants to meet the people but doesn’t say so
although his face tells us this. McCoy really starts to own the role in this
season and its this aspect of the character that he seems to thrive in.
The geek that was annoying in the previous episode is still
annoying in this episode and it’s explained that he has come of his own choice
but it’s not clear whether this is a known thing on earth and who told him
about it. He gets to perform in the circus much to his shock. I am happy about
this because that this means his time on the show is going to be shorter.
Another character that bugged me in the previous episode Nord is also back in
this episode but I didn’t find him annoying, it seems that the reigning in
happened between episode although he doesn’t last long as he’s killed in the
centre of the circus.
The tent set is very good and I think that lends something
that wouldn’t have been achievable in a studio set. None of the interior sets
are spacious and all of them mean that the characters are all up close and
personal. I even like the exterior filming (although I didn’t mention in the
previous episodes review), it helps that they were filming during lovely
weather as this makes the quarry filming not seem like it was filmed in the
endless number of quarries that the show has visited over the previous
twenty-five years.
The cliffhanger is much better than the previous one and as
a whole the episode is much better than the opening one. The writing is stronger
and the performances are much better. It’s funny to think about the production
problems that the show was having during this time and if you didn’t know this
then you would be able to tell on screen because the whole thing works. The
rating for this episode is back in the sevens and the average rating for the
story is in the sevens although its still one of the lowest rated McCoy
stories. Half way through and the story itself is still something that is
puzzling me because again there are things that quite good but its still not a
great story. I worry that the next two episodes wont really change anything but
maybe I will be proved wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment