"Doctor Who" The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: Part 2 (1988)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Alan Wareing

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

21 December 1988 (Season 25, Episode 12)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Second Part | Time Lord | Alien | Renegade | Companion

Cast

Sylvester McCoy	...	The Doctor
Sophie Aldred	...	Ace
T.P. McKenna	...	Captain Cook
Ricco Ross	...	The Ringmaster
Ian Reddington	...	Chief Clown
Deborah Manship	...	Morgana
Christopher Guard	...	Bellboy
Chris Jury	...	Deadbeat
Gian Sammarco	...	Whizzkid
Daniel Peacock	...	Nord
David Ashford	...	Dad
Janet Hargreaves	...	Mum
Kathryn Ludlow	...	Little Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jessica Martin	...	Mags

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Trivia:

This episode was watched by 5.3 million viewers on its original transmission.

"Shut up & eat your popcorn." OK Doctor Who story.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Doctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: Part 2 starts with the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) & his companion Ace (Sophie Aldred) finally getting the chance to see the Psychic Circus in action, unfortunately for them there's something evil going on & the Doctor is taken prisoner while Ace manages to escape & tries to evade capture. The Doctor is puzzled at what's happening, I mean you just don't expect to be taken prisoner while visiting the circus do you? He can't work out what's going on so becomes determined to find out the truth, no matter how sinister or how much danger he might find himself in...

This four part Doctor Who adventure was the final story from season 25, it was episode 12 from that particular season & aired here in the UK during late 1988, directed by Alan Wareing I thought this was OK but not amongst the best Doctor Who stories. The script by Stephen Wyatt reveals a little bit more & pushes the story forward a bit from Part 1 but is still keeping the big revelations back, this story introduces some robotic clowns which some may find scary I suppose but like Part 1 not much actually seemed to happen to me & the story still isn't particularly thrilling me & I'm not in any rush to see Parts 3 & 4. There's a fairly serious tone running through The Greatest Show in the Galaxy which I don't think works. I like Doctor Who because it's fun & entertaining but I don't really feel either of those things from this story, it's alright I suppose but nothing special.

There's a distinct lack of aliens or monsters in this story & apart from the clowns not much of a threat from anyone or anything. It's amazing who turns up in these things, Ricco Ross who played the marine Frost in Aliens (1986) is the main villain here. The production design again lets the show down somewhat, the scene when the Doctor is captured in a cage becomes utterly ridiculous when the bars of the cage wobble so easily & it looks like it's held together with sticky-back plastic.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is OK Doctor Who, it tries something different but it just doesn't quite work, at only 25 minutes per episode they move along at a fair pace & are still worth watching but there are definitely better Doctor Who adventures out there unless Parts 3 & 4 totally knock my socks off...