Planet of Giants (TV story)

Planet of Giants was the first serial of Season 2 of Doctor Who. Episode one, or "Planet of Giants", was the first episode set in then-contemporary England since "An Unearthly Child". Though similar to an idea first proposed by C E Webber for the pilot of Doctor Who, writer Louis Marks claimed that the inspiration for the story was the seminal pro-ecology work by Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, which contained strong warnings against the use of insecticides. He reckoned that by shrinking the Doctor, he would have the opportunity to put the TARDIS crew face-to-face with the dangers Carson had warned against in her book. (REF: The First Doctor Handbook) It was therefore the first "environmentalist" Doctor Who story, a kind of gently moralistic tale — like Invasion of the Dinosaurs and The Green Death — later to be particularly favoured by Barry Letts.

Though fully scripted and recorded as a four-parter, parts three and four were merged into a single episode, effectively leaving an episode on the cutting room floor. This edited material was never retained — though some of it made it into the novelisation. In a sense, then, Planet of Giants was the first serial to have a missing episode.

Synopsis
The main doors of the TARDIS open of their own accord just before it materialises, causing it to run out of control. On emerging, the travellers discover that the ship has been reduced in size and they are now only about an inch tall.

In this miniaturised state, they stumble across a plot by a ruthless businessman, Forester, and his misguided scientist colleague, Smithers, to launch a new insecticide named DN6 - a product so destructive that it would kill not only those insects harmful to agriculture but also those vital to it.

Forester is even willing to commit murder to ensure the success of his business, as civil servant Arnold Farrow discovers to his cost.

The criminals are eventually brought to justice when the Doctor and his friends - hampered by the fact that Barbara has herself been made ill by the insecticide - tamper with the telephone in Smithers' laboratory, thus fuelling the suspicions of the local exchange operator, Hilda Rowse, who sends her police constable husband Bert to investigate.

Planet Of Giants (1)
Following a malfunction on the TARDIS console and the bleating of a klaxon indicating something is amiss, the Doctor insists the fault locator shows nothing is wrong and it is safe to venture outside. He leads his companions Ian, Barbara and Susan to the world beyond and within minutes they find a dead giant earthworm followed by a large deceased ant. They seem to have died immediately. After some deduction the travellers realise they have arrived on Earth but have shrunk in size to mere millimetres.

Ian is investigating a discarded matchbox when someone picks it up and he is hurled around inside. That someone is a government scientist called Arnold Farrow, who has come to the home of callous businessman named Forester to tell him that his application for DN6, a new pesticide, has been rejected. In reality DN6 should not be licensed: it is far too deadly to all insect life. When they fall out over this news, Forester shoots Farrow and leaves him for dead outside his home.

The Doctor, Barbara and Susan hear the gunshot as an enormous explosion, and head for the house. They find Ian unhurt near the dead body and surmise a murder has taken place but can do little about it. However, they are determined to ensure the murderer is brought to justice despite their microscopic size.Suddenly a cat looks down on them.

Dangerous Journey (2)
They avoid the cat and the travellers split up again with Ian and Barbara hiding in a briefcase. The giant Forester returns to the garden and collects the briefcase, taking it inside to his laboratory. His aide, Smithers, suspects him of murder, but does not report him for fear of undermining the DN6 project to which he has given his life. The Doctor and Susan scale a drainpipe to gain access to the house and locate their friends, braving the height as they go. Suddenly the water starts to rise threatening to drown them.

Crisis (3)
Meanwhile Ian and Barbara examine the laboratory and encounter a giant fly. She foolishly touches a seed that has been contaminated with DN6 and soon starts to feel unwell. Nevertheless, attracted by Susan's voice in the reverberating plughole, the four friends are reunited.

Forester has meanwhile doctored Farrow's report so as to give DN6 the licence he wants and, disguising his voice as Farrow's, makes a supportive phone call to the ministry to the same effect. This overheard by the local telephone operator, Hilda Rowse, and her policeman husband Bert, who start to suspect something is wrong.

The Doctor has meanwhile realised the deadly nature of DN6 and the probable contamination of Barbara. They try to alert someone by hoisting up the phone receiver with corks, but cannot make themselves heard. However, Hilda notes the engaged signal and she and Bert become even more concerned. Forester and Smithers return to the lab and correct the engaged handset and then Hilda rings to check things are okay. She rings again moments later and asks for Farrow and, when Forester impersonates him, knows there is something badly wrong. Bert heads off to the house to investigate.

The Doctor and his companions decide to start a fire to attract attention to the house and succeed in setting up an aerosol can of insecticide as a bomb. This coincides with Smithers discovering the true virulence of DN6 - it's lethal to everything - and demanding Forester stop seeking a licence. Forester spots the makeshift bomb, which goes off in his face. Smithers retrieves the gun as PC Rowse arrives.

Their work done, the travellers return to the TARDIS and the Doctor reconfigures the machine to return them to normal size. Barbara, who was on the verge of death, recovers on being returned to full size; the insecticide in her bloodstream and the seed responsible remain their proper miniscule size.

Cast

 * The Doctor - William Hartnell
 * Ian Chesterton - William Russell
 * Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill
 * Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford
 * Forester - Alan Tilvern
 * Arnold Farrow - Frank Crawshaw
 * Smithers - Reginald Barratt
 * Hilda Rowse - Rosemary Johnson
 * PC Bert Rowse - Fred Ferris

Crew

 * Writer - Louis Marks
 * Director - Mervyn Pinfield
 * Director - Douglas Camfield (material for episode 4 which was included in episode 3)
 * Producer - Verity Lambert
 * Script Editor - David Whitaker
 * Designer - Raymond Cusick
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Dawn Robertson
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Val McCrimmon
 * Associate Producer - Mervyn Pinfield
 * Costumes - Daphne Dare
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Make-Up - Jill Summers
 * Production Assistant - Norman Stewart
 * Special Sound - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Howard King
 * Studio Sound - Alan Fogg
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Story notes

 * The first television story since An Unearthly Child to be set in modern day England.
 * All 3 episodes exist in 16mm telerecordings.
 * Negative film prints of all 3 episodes were recovered in 1978.
 * Arabic prints of all 3 episodes are also held by the BBC.
 * The story went by the working title Death in the Afternoon.
 * Originally filmed as a 4 part story it was later compressed to 3 episodes at the request of Donald Wilson, BBC Head of Serials. Episode 3 was originally entitled Crisis and episode 4 was entitled The Urge to Live. The material filmed for these 2 episodes has not been retained by the BBC and it appears unlikely that it will ever be recovered.
 * The story was originally developed under the title The Miniscules which was originally intended to form episodes 2,3 and 4 of the show, following on from An Unearthly Child.
 * The story was filmed as part of the first bloc of stories but a decision was made to hold it over as the opener for the second series.
 * This story sees the debut of Dudley Simpson, the show's most prolific creator of incidental music.
 * This story appears to be influenced by stories such as; Gulliver's Travels (1726), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) and Silent Spring (1962).
 * A few years later, an American science fiction series called Land of the Giants would replicate the general concept of this storyline.

Ratings

 * Planet of Giants - 8.4 million viewers
 * Dangerous Journey - 8.4 million viewers
 * Crisis - 8.9 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Filming locations

 * Ealing Television Film Studios
 * Lime Grove Studios (Studio D)

Production errors

 * At the end of episode 2 the sink is emptied and the plug is placed upon the bench. At the beginning of episode 3 the plug is back in the sink providing a method of escape.

Continuity

 * An emergency klaxon is heard in the TARDIS in episode one which appears to be a forerunner of the Cloister bell (first heard in DW: Logopolis, and various stories since).

Timeline

 * This story occurs after ST: The Duke's Folly
 * This story occurs before PDA: The Time Travellers

Video releases

 * UK Release: January 2002 / US Release: May 2003
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV7263
 * NTSC - Warner Video E1740

This story was enhanced by the Doctor Who Restoration Team and further information on this project can be found at Restoration Team Website

Novelisation and its audiobook

 * Main article: Planet of Giants (novelisation)

Novelised as Planet of the Giants in 1990 by Terrance Dicks.