Doctor Who - Carnival Of Monsters (DVD)

INTRODUCTION Well, this is the first Doctor Who review I have done, since the BBC announcement of the new TV series being made next year. Hopefully, my endless hopping round the room and silly grin will not detract from this opinion too much ;-) STORY Carnival of Monsters was a four-part story featuring the third Doctor – Jon Pertwee – and one of the most popular companions of the ‘70s, Jo Grant (Katy Manning). It was televised in 1973, reaching audiences of around ten million. This one is a rather inventive and creative story. Imagine a machine, which is a similar idea to a museum or a zoo. But this machine has ...  Read the complete review

Conventional wisdom will have you believe that the classic series of Doctor Who was entirely dished out on a shoestring budget and consequently, always looks a bit naff. It's not often the show manages to go against conventional wisdom but if there is one story I'd put forward as the exception, it's Carnival of Monsters. Taking place in the second half of Pertwee's run, Carnival of Monsters sees the Doctor return to travels in the TARDIS after a couple of years stranded on Earth. Partnered with my personal favorite companion, Jo Grant, the Doctor has accidentally materialised inside an amusement attraction. This futuristic peepshow collects and shrinks ...  Read the complete review

Carnival of Monsters is the latest Doctor Who DVD release from the BBC. If you don't want to know the plot outline and get straight onto the DVD review, skip the next 2 paragraphs. The third doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo Grant (Katy Manning) materialise aboard the SS. Bernice during a test flight in the TARDIS. They believe the year is 1926 and that the location is the Indian Ocean (they were actually aiming for Metebolis Three, but that's another story...blame the TARDIS's sense of direction)...how wrong could they be? The two time travellers begin to discover that they are trapped in The Scope - a sophisticated "peep show" ...  Read the complete review

"Carnival of Monsters" sees a change away from the more common Unit focused stories of the Third Doctor's era and instead sees the TARDIS materialising upon what will turn out to be a rather unusual ship. Initially everything about the craft seems perfectly fine and when the Doctor insists that things aren't right Jo is inclined to laugh at him. Yet it does not take long before the Doctor's assistant is forced to recognise the horrifying fact of the matter, that the ship they are on is caught in a time loop and that the other passengers are compelled to go through the same things over and over again. An investigation by the Doctor and Jo reveal that the ship ...  Read the complete review