Yesterday, I posted WHICH WHO? where I mentioned my favourite version of the Doctor (from the British SF television series, Doctor Who). I casually remarked that Sylvester McCoy is liked by those who watched him in their formative years, even though in the eyes of many, this Doctor was in the poorest (albeit, last) seasons of Doctor Who.Commenter 'Neil' chimed in with a point about it not being a case, in his opinion, of McCoy being the problem but more the level of scripting and production inherent in those seasons. I agree with this and did think about mentioning this technicality while writing but decided in the interests of brevity -- not a notable quality of mine -- to keep the piece simple.
The episode that Neil refers to is "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy". I'm surprised the producers of Who stopped there and did not just claim "the Universe". This episode is what I would call a video taped train wreck. So much so that I have considered screening it again (as I have a DVD-R copy).
After a post viewing dissertation of "Galaxy" I conjectured that it was a 'bottle' show of some kind; or a make-work project. The Doctor Who production team was exhausted and they had to kill some weeks.
I agree with Neil that Colin Baker was the worst Doctor -- although this was probably due more to the 'character background' written up for him.
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I hate the SF conceit that aliens mimic (or, gasp! without human contact, somehow develop) human behaviours and social structures. Such is the case with the very-wrongly named “The Greatest Show In the Galaxy”. Circuses? Clowns? Kites? Motorbikes? All on some distant planet? Afraid so. What, that’s not stupid enough for you? Wait! Apparently the people who run this circus worship Norse (yep, Norse!) gods. Who don’t really resemble any Norse gods depicted in legend. Jesus F., what a mess of a serial! Even if humanity had gotten out into space and colonized this planet (presumably in the future sometime), what are the chances something as early 20th century as a circus would be transplanted?
This is a low, low, low point for Doctor Who fans. Not, arguably quite a low as the TV film, or most of Colin Baker’s episodes, but still… NORSE GODS?!
Remember when the writing raised DW above flimsy sets and obvious pilferage from the BBC Shakespeare costume department for the cast? Look somewhere else. This serial has nothing that charms, entertains, or adds to the DW cannon. Also incredibly grating synth music doesn’t help win anyone over. And watch for the laughable crowd scenes under the big top that producers thought they could convey without actually showing a crowd. Worst use of sound effects to cover up budget shortfall ever.
Did I mention I hated this?
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