‘Doctor Who: Planet of Fire’ (1984)

 

It feels like a long old while since I’ve watched any ‘Classic Doctor Who’ for the blog; ok, July, this year just feels like it has gone on for as twice as long as normal… I was at a bit of a loose end, the other day, and figured it was time to do something about that. Scrolling through the ‘Doctor Who’ episodes on Prime Video, I thought that, instead of revisiting an old favourite, I’d take a chance on a serial that I watched back in the day but could barely remember the other day. So that is just what I did :o) And…

The Doctor is enjoying the sun on a holiday island, until things get hotter than he bargained for...

Rescued from the sea by Turlough, Peri Brown, brings a mysterious object to the TARDIS that her archaeologist step-father has found in a sunken wreck. When the Doctor’s robot friend Kamelion reacts to the object unexpectedly, it has bewildering consequences for the TARDIS crew. For Kamelion sends the Doctor and his friends to Sarn, a terrifyingly beautiful planet of fire. This strange world provides the key to Turlough’s secret past – and, once again, the Doctor is pitted against the wily Master.

It’s the law of averages, isn’t it, or something like that. Whatever it is, the fact remains that if you (me) decide to watch a whole load of old ‘Doctor Who’ serials, not all of them are going to work. There have been a few of those featured here and I’m expecting a few more to follow. What I wasn’t expecting though, was for ‘Planet of Fire’ to be so… dull.

‘Planet of Fire’ is another great chance to watch Anthony Ainley’s Master chew a fair bit of scenery and generally be cartoonishly evil. I’m always up for that and as usual, Ainley’s Master doesn’t disappoint, especially when he is tiny. I love that evil grin he does :o)

Is it enough to carry an entire story though? Especially when not a lot else is happening… The answer is, of course not...

For me, ‘Planet of Fire’ focussed too much on setting things up for Turlough and Kamelion to move on at the end of the story. And for the introduction of Peri as well, ‘Planet of Fire’ is very much a story about transition for the Doctor. While Kamelion’s departure poses a difficult ethical question for the Doctor, there’s not enough actual plot to keep things interesting; just what felt like a lot of debate over the existence of a volcano god and a last minute dash to thwart the Master. The latter is cool, the former… just drags really. Filming abroad always makes for some amazing backdrops though.

‘Planet of Fire’ does its job, if that job is to conclude a couple of ‘Doctor/Companion’ arcs and set up a new one for the next story. The actual story that it’s meant to tell though, didn’t engage me at all; no wonder I didn’t remember it.

Oh well, onto the next one :o)

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