The Pirate Planet - Episode 4

The cliffhanger was quite good because it appeared to show the Doctor falling to his death. The way that it was resolved was quite clever because it was a projection of the Doctor. This was demonstrated in quite a good way with a nice bit of split screen. The nurse’s truth is quite good as well because we know about the connection between her and the old woman we saw in the previous episode. She is behind the planet swallowing just to save her own life but like most hair brained schemes it’s doomed to failure.

The Captain becomes a puppet in this episode once the Nurse’s truth is revealed. Though he does get better towards the end of the episode when its revealed that he has had a cunning plan to try and get rid of the Nurse/Queen. I haven’t been a big fan of the Captain during these four episodes but I think that Bruce Purchase gave 100% for the role. I thought that the way the Nurse/Queen Xanxia was defeated was quite good and I thought that in the end the character of Nurse was well written and played by Rosalind Lloyd. Mr Fibuli’s death was quite sad but that was because the Captain managed to make it seem much more emotional. The Captain’s death also had some emotion to it because he died trying to kill the Nurse.

Tom Baker and Mary Tamm have been perhaps the only consistent thing in the entire serial. Tom Baker has had a noticeable bite mark on his top lip and sometimes that has been a bit distracting but on the whole it wasn’t too bad. It’s nice that Mary Tamm got to be quite active. Romana has grown on me over the course of the four episodes and think that a bit of the snobbishness has gone since the previous story and the relationship between the Doctor and Romana is better now than it was when Leela was on the show.

The idea that a planet is actually the second segment of the Key to Time is quite a bold one and one that clearly came from Douglas Adams. The fact they don’t pick up the shrunken planet until after the episode ended does feel like a bit a bit of a shame because we are deprived of that moment where the segment changes into that crystal like segment. I don’t know what happened but I suddenly started liking this story. It seems that everything fell into place and made sense. It’s a shame that it took until now to get to this stage. I think that out of the two so far, The Ribos Operation has been the better of the two. That’s not saying a great deal but I think that this stories saving grace has been the final episode. Things made sense and it was a better written and better performed piece as a result.

The Pirate Planet - Episode 3

I think that its safe to say that I am not a fan of this story. Nothing has really made me change my opinion of this adventure. With the faults that it had, ‘The Ribos Operation’ was a better written story because there were characters that I was interested in and a story that was interesting. As much as it pains me to be mean about Douglas Adams, the story so far hasn’t been anywhere near as good as it should have been. People would be quick to point out that he was writing ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’ at the same time which would explain why this story misses the mark. I would say that he should have picked one or the other.

There are positives about this episode. The captain doesn’t seem quite so annoying in this episode and his reaction to the death of his parrot is quite sad. The nurse that suddenly appeared in the previous episode seems to be more involved in things and we suddenly seem to have a trio with the Captain, Mr Fibuli and now the nurse. They just need K9 and Romana and they have their very own Scooby Gang.  

This episode features one of the best scenes in the entire serial. It comes when the Captain shows the Doctor all the planets that he has captured. The rocks that he sees are in fact the planets and this sets the Doctor off. This sees Tom Baker give one of his more serious performances. For a brief moment I was enjoying this story, then its over and my reservations about this story continue.

The fight between the Captains parrot and K9 was a little bit of fun but only because Pennant Roberts managed to make it come together quite well.

The cliffhanger is way better than the previous two because at least it had some tension with it and was well performed. The Doctor falls off the plank and there doesn’t seem to be any way that the Doctor could survive so if I were watching this for the first time then I would say that this is a fantastic cliffhanger but having seen it several times over the years, the best that I can say is that it’s the best cliffhanger so far.

The Pirate Planet - Episode 2

After being less than impressed with the opening episode, I was preparing myself to find something that would make me change my mind. A woman suddenly appears in this episode and she looks like a nurse but is clearly more than that. Obviously I know who she is and what her involvement in the story is but as first appearances go, its slightly underwhelming and its one of the few things that Douglas Adams does right.

Romana is captured and spends most of her time with the Captain. I think that the Captain has lost a bit of fun in this episode. The shouting that he does for 98% of the episode does seem to be a tad bit boring now. I really done know what they actually bring to the story. Sorry I know what they bring to the story and that is nothing. I actually hope the other guys win, that’s how little I actually care about the Mentiads.

What does get mentioned in this episode is just where the second segment of the key to time and why the tracer is picking up everything. The explanation that the planet is actually a pirate planet and gobbles up planets is quite a clever idea and this seems very much like a Doctor Who. The scene where the Doctor and Romana discover this in the caves comes just the Mentiads bore us with their presence.

The corridor sequence that features in this episode does seem very Douglas Adams as there is comedy feel to it. The problem that I do have with this episode and perhaps this story is that it cant quite make up its mind whether it wants to be a comedy or a drama. I think that it becomes a little bit distracting and as a result its left me feeling confused. This is definelty a stronger episode than the previous one because there’s a bit more meat to the story. Sadly whilst Douglas Adams has worked on the context of the episode, he still has trouble to deal with the cliffhanger. This is the second weak cliffhanger in a row and its weird that one of the best sci-fi writers ever has written appears to be a dud.

The Pirate Planet - Episode 1

This is quite an interesting story because it’s the first to be written by Douglas Adams. Adams is perhaps the second most famous writer in Doctor Who history. He is perhaps most famous for writing the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. First thing I have to say is that its not one of my favourite Doctor Who stories but maybe things will change over the course of the next four days. The opening scene is quite good. The models are quite impressive if not a little bit crude. We have to wait a while before we see the Captain’s face. He quite an impatient person as he shouts at Mr Fibbiley for being 30 seconds late which is enough to get him a scalding.

The first scene between the Doctor and Romana is intriguing because it does feel like their relationship has mellowed (just a little bit). There is a little bit of action put into to hide the fact that Tom Baker had a dog bit on his lip. It’s quite a clever little addition. There’s a nice bit of mystery when there is difficulty with the Doctor trying to land the TARDIS on Calufrax. Romana tries to land the TARDIS after the Doctor’s failed attempt and the Doctor concludes that Romana has landed on the wrong planet.

The planet that the Doctor and Romana have arrived on is filled with diamonds and jewels which is something that is quite unusual. The scenes in the ‘square’ are quite fun because the Doctor is being ignored by people and Romana is the one that gets the answers. K9 even comes up with a funny line by suggesting that Romana is prettier. If Douglas Adams can get K9 to be funny then there is hope for the rest of the story.

There are mentiads who come across as a sort of hippie group who are suppose to be quite powerful but all they seem to do in this episode is deflect some shots and also overpower the Doctor. The thing about that Mentiads as well is that they look rather silly and its hard to take them seriously and the pale make up used also doesn’t help. This isn’t a terrible opening episode. There is certainly a nice amount of mystery in it and there is something about it that makes me look forward to the rest of the story but I would be lying if I said that my opinion had changed due to watching this episode. I don’t know if things will pick up but I think that the Douglas Adams humour could have started a bit earlier than it seems to have done.