Doctor Who: Carnival Of Monsters

I write this with pure affection and nostalgia. This is possibly the most perfect example of Doctor Who at the height of 70's kitsch. Everything is OTT- the costumes, the setting, the script -brilliantly funny and clever too. Without giving too much away once again Robert Holmes comes up with a script and such sparkling dialogue between characters. His two handers are a joy to watch - Vorg and Shirna wonderfully funny, beautiful dialogue. The officials of Inter Minor are wonderful bureaucrats using 'one' rather than you or me- brilliant.
OK yes -the effects are a bit 1970's with a dodgy dinosaur and the drashigs - when they appear outside the scope are a bit cumbersome. However -once again Jon Pertwee is just fab as the doctor -passionate and caring with a twinkle in his eye.
The scenes on the SS Bernice add a nice earthy feel to it and also get the audience thinking -'What is going on?' Until part way through episode two and then things start to make sense.
Overall, a… more »

I write this with pure affection and nostalgia. This is possibly the most perfect example of Doctor Who at the height of 70's kitsch. Everything is OTT- the costumes, the setting, the script -brilliantly funny and clever too. Without giving too much away once again Robert Holmes comes up with a script and such sparkling dialogue between characters. His two handers are a joy to watch - Vorg and Shirna wonderfully funny, beautiful dialogue. The officials of Inter Minor are wonderful bureaucrats using 'one' rather than you or me- brilliant.
OK yes -the effects are a bit 1970's with a dodgy dinosaur and the drashigs - when they appear outside the scope are a bit cumbersome. However -once again Jon Pertwee is just fab as the doctor -passionate and caring with a twinkle in his eye.
The scenes on the SS Bernice add a nice earthy feel to it and also get the audience thinking -'What is going on?' Until part way through episode two and then things start to make sense.
Overall, a wonderfully colourful story, colourfully presented with an overriding moral.
Do we have the right to lock things up?
Forget the effects and enjoy this dvd as a piece of wonderful television nostalgia

Another classic from the pen of acclaimed 'classic series' writer Robert Holmes there is much to enjoy in this tale which initially finds the third Doctor and Jo Grant on board the SS Bernice sailing the Indian Ocean in 1926. The story really takes off when we dramatically see the TARDIS being removed from the hold of the ship by a giant hand at the conclusion of the first episode and leads to our discovering that our duo are infact trapped in an intergalactic peepshow called the Scope. The travelling showman (Vorg) and his assistant (Shirna) are a delightful character pairing and add much to the distinct enjoyment of this Pertwee tenth season offering. If you throw in the first series appearance of future 'Harry Sullivan' companion actor Ian Marter (here playing Andrews) and the dreaded wormlike veracious Drashig's together with a touch of Inter Minor politics no doubt further stimulated by the malfunctioning Scope and the lasting appeal of this story becomes clear. The best thing… more »

Another classic from the pen of acclaimed 'classic series' writer Robert Holmes there is much to enjoy in this tale which initially finds the third Doctor and Jo Grant on board the SS Bernice sailing the Indian Ocean in 1926. The story really takes off when we dramatically see the TARDIS being removed from the hold of the ship by a giant hand at the conclusion of the first episode and leads to our discovering that our duo are infact trapped in an intergalactic peepshow called the Scope. The travelling showman (Vorg) and his assistant (Shirna) are a delightful character pairing and add much to the distinct enjoyment of this Pertwee tenth season offering. If you throw in the first series appearance of future 'Harry Sullivan' companion actor Ian Marter (here playing Andrews) and the dreaded wormlike veracious Drashig's together with a touch of Inter Minor politics no doubt further stimulated by the malfunctioning Scope and the lasting appeal of this story becomes clear. The best thing about this DVD release is the light-hearted good-natured feeling you always get whenever Katy Manning participates in a commentary and she counterpoints the schoolmasterly tone of Producer/Director Barry Letts. Aside from this, sadly the extras on offer are particularly slim and only total about 23 mins so whilst its an absolute joy to see "Carnival of Monsters" in all its digitally remastered finery I'd certainly avoid paying over the odds for such a lightweight content title.

My slow by steady project of delving into vintage 'Doctor Who' tales continues with this fun Jon Pertwee adventure.

As a child, I collected many (in fact, most) of the tie-in Target novels, but for whatever reason I never had this one, meaning that I was mostly unfamiliar with the plot - but that turned out to be a plus point when, all these years later, I came to watch the DVD; I loved every minute of this great adventure unfolding, never knowing what would happen next.

Although a long-standing 'Doctor Who' fan (though my interest dipped a bit in those long barren years when it was off-air) I confess to having not watched a full Jon Pertwee adventure for some years now. Shame on me - I'd almost forgotten what fun he was; and I prefer his "dashing dandy" take on the character far more than some of the more "over excitable" leads who seem to have got all the attention in recent years.

Both Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning are on fine form in this story; they work well… more »

My slow by steady project of delving into vintage 'Doctor Who' tales continues with this fun Jon Pertwee adventure.

As a child, I collected many (in fact, most) of the tie-in Target novels, but for whatever reason I never had this one, meaning that I was mostly unfamiliar with the plot - but that turned out to be a plus point when, all these years later, I came to watch the DVD; I loved every minute of this great adventure unfolding, never knowing what would happen next.

Although a long-standing 'Doctor Who' fan (though my interest dipped a bit in those long barren years when it was off-air) I confess to having not watched a full Jon Pertwee adventure for some years now. Shame on me - I'd almost forgotten what fun he was; and I prefer his "dashing dandy" take on the character far more than some of the more "over excitable" leads who seem to have got all the attention in recent years.

Both Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning are on fine form in this story; they work well together and really bounce off of each other. The story is certainly a surreal one, but kudos to the ever reliable Robert Holmes for daring to try it - and for pulling it off! Of the guest cast, Leslie Dwyer is particularly fun as travelling showman Vorg.

I watched this story - and am writing this review - in the middle of the new Series 5 on Saturday nights (in which I am enjoying Matt Smith immensely more than David Tennant, and in which Amy Pond is by far the most modern 'Who' companion IMO, but that's for another site!)... so obviously I notice the difference in special effects with these old stories. But this does actually not bother me - the story is strong enough to excuse these limitations, and it actually reminds me of just how genuinely scared some of those old monsters could be!

The extras are as good as we've come to expect from a 'Doctor Who' release, featuring a number of interesting bonuses (including a terrible proposed update of the theme, which thankfully was never used). As is usually the case, my personally favourite extra is the in-episode trivia track.

I really enjoyed this story, it ranks just short of a solid 5 stars from me, but comes pretty damned close. If you're looking for a decent Third Doctor tale to check out, I highly recommend this one.