"Entertain us or die."
Writer: Stephen Wyatt
Format: TV
Broadcast: 14 December 1988 - 4 January 1989
Season: 25.04
Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace
Synopsis
Verdict
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy was a very good serial to conclude the milestone twenty-fifth season of Doctor Who! Whilst this is a great story, I do think that it could have been ever better as I felt the fourth part was actually the weakest of the bunch. The lead up to get there was really good and the setting of the Psychic Circus works fantastically. It's really a magnificent idea and it's such a unique environment to throw the Doctor and Ace into. The Seventh Doctor is just perfect for this kind of setting and the delight on his face when he is chosen as a surprise act has to go down as one of my favourite moments for this incarnation. A really great moment. This adventure is also a unique one for Ace as we are so used to seeing her boisterous and wanting to blow things up, but here she is really out of her comfort zone and has a relatively common fear of clowns. A circus setting then could be frightening for reasons beyond the traditional. She had a good story as the companion which I liked because I'm not the biggest fan of her as the companion in the televised format. I absolutely love the little songs that appear sporadically throughout the story as they're just so catchy and feel good. They are delivered really well which definitely makes a difference. I watched part one at 7am prior to starting my shift which is now at home and despite my tiredness thanks to some shenanigans from our kitten throughout the night, I found my foot tapping and I was just in a good mood. That was definitely a big bonus of the story. Another big positive was Mags who really is a tremendous character. I must admit that I didn't remember her too much from my first and only viewing some eight years ago, so all the attention she gets in Doctor Who fandom didn't perhaps go noticed by me. However, I loved her in this one and I think she'd make an excellent companion. It's no wonder that she has returned in other formatted stories. I look forward to encountering them to add to Hill of Beans which was a comic story I read last year. Her being turned into her natural state with the moonlight was very good and I found her relationship with Captain Cook most intriguing. He was a weird character in a good way as he didn't seem to be associated with the Psychic Circus at first, but it turned out he very much was. His reaction when the Doctor told him he was a bore was just sublime. He looked gobsmacked! I thought the cliffhangers were pretty strong throughout for this one with them actually being pretty simple. They still made me want to watch more which is always what you want. The Whizz Kid was a good character being a fan of Cook and the Psychic Circus, getting to live his dream before being turned to dust. I think it was quite powerful that we saw the reaction of Mags to him being killed rather than the actual death. Those glasses being left at the end was quite the image. I really liked the rare TARDIS interior scene with Ace donning the scarf of the Fourth Doctor. It's nice to know he had more than one after the Fifth Doctor tore it to shreds in Castrovalva! I was a big fan of the family holding up their scorecards that indicated their levels of entertainment, but when they were revealed as the Gods of Ragnorok, it seemed a tad underwhelming. They looked really impressive, but I found the sinister nature in the way their humanised forms held up the score cards much more imposing. I also felt the Doctor entertaining them went on a tad too long, but the destruction of the Gods and their surroundings looked fantastic. The image of the Doctor walking in front of the explosion was superb. Overall, a really good serial!
Rating: 8/10
Grand episode.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy circuses since I was little. But I object to how animals be abuse.
The Ringmaster tickle me. He be wearing a ringmaster otufit, change up, and also raps. Very amusing.
Ace look lovely as usual. Her stripe blouse was so lovely, as was her tummy. And her face. And although she fears clowns, she face i.. a good inspiring for girls to face fears. She was also nice to Bellboy and Mags.
Cook was a jerk. An arrogant, cold, and greedy rogue. And an affront to ekplorers. His death by Mag's power was poetic after his brutal treatment which shows also why wyld animal tricks were ban from circuses.
Mags was better. A monster but more capable of gentleness than Cook.
Poor Kingpin and Bellboy. They been throuhg much thanks to the Gods of Ragnarok and the Chief Clown.
The Chief Clown and his robotic followers were rogues. An affront to clowns who should amuse and make people happy instead of torture and murder.
The Gods of Ragnarok got me. They were basically as the Roman leaders who force many to entertain them or they die. The scene when they slew the Ringmaster and Morgana for their failure show how cold they were.
The 7th Doctor got me. He prove a good juggler. And a better man than Cock, an alien who prove more human..... seeing Mags as a person instead of mere stock.
Woulda rock if the War Doctor went to the Psychic Circus. And the 8th one. And the 10th, 11th, and 13th. And Sarah J's team. And Rose's team. And the Master during his bald, war, Saxon, Missy, Lumiat, and Spy forms.
ReplyDeleteMy version of a Ringmaster for the Psychic Circus would wear a burgundy top-cap with a Clan Campbell tartan capband, a double-breast tailcoat of teal moleskin with Celt runes on gunmetal buttons and a fuchsia swirl-ling, a single-breast waistcoat of lylac-and-beige paisley with a brass fobclock and 5 velvet buttons, a rainbow kente-shirt with a one-piece collar, a bow-tie of ivory dupioni, cream gloves, tan jodhpur trousers, charcoal gaiders, and mahogany shoes. The kente shirt would improve the style and fit the African heritage of the Ringmaster. The paisley waistcoat would as well, as would the gaiders and burgundy top cap.
I'd add some nice clowns, organic and robotic. And some robotic animals. Zero animal tricks, just robotic animals doing animal behavior as they did on zoos and safari parks. And soem martial artists doing martial arts and weapons things from China, Japan, Korea, Sudan, South Africa, India, Nepal, Arabia, and more. And a motorcycle stunt. And a magician's act.