Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet (Story 99, The Key to Time Series Part 2) (Special Edition)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Searching for the second segment to the Key to Time, The Doctor, Romana and K-9 land on what should be the planet Calufrax, but the reality of the situation is not what the Doctor expected. "The Pirate Planet" might look a little cheap at times, but behind the cheesy CSO effects, is a clever, witty and totally absurd script. There are rampant "Hitch-hicker" jokes, and even a couple of Monty Python influences. Baker is in top form, giving a commanding and goofy performance. The supporting cast sometimes seems a little lazy, but the main characters give it their all. With "The Ribos Operation", this is the highlight of the 16th season.

The late Douglas Adams wrote three scripts for the classic English sci-fi serial Dr. Who. Speaking as a fan of both the writer and the series, I hate to admit that the combination of the two never quite jelled. While both approached science fiction from a refreshingly English point of the view (i.e., none of the painfully serious, pompous preaching that have basically made the various incarnations of Star Trek, for me, unwatchable), Dr. Who was always -- at heart -- a rather earnest enterprise and that idealism was an uneasy mix with Adams' more pythonesque sense of the absurd. As a result, all of Adams' scripts ended up playing more like a slightly toned down version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and less like Dr. Who. However, this is not to say that Adams' scripts didn't have their charms. When taken on their own terms, they are actually some of the most entertaining stories told over Dr. Who's lengthy run.

The Pirate Planet was Adams' first script for Dr. Who and -- if rather underappreciated at the time -- it probably holds up the best. The Doctor (played, in his fourth incarnation, by Tom Baker) and his companion, Romana (played by the very classy and lovely Mary Tamm) -- while searching for the second segment of the all-powerful Key to Time -- run across a hollow planet-turned-spaceship that is ruled by the occasionally buffoonish but thoroughly evil Captian (played by Bruce Purchase who manages to be both hilarious and evil at the same time) who basically spends his time using his hollow planet to plunder the valuable minerals of other, less-hollow planets (of course, these other planets are destroyed in the process but these things happen...) Its actually a rather clever story and -- even if his script is heavy with his trademark humor -- Adams also managed to keep the threat of the villians entirely credible and so, even if the story is full of silliness, it never actually becomes silly itself. As for the humor, this episode actually contains some of Adams' funniest lines. Luckily, Baker and Purchase were obviously pros when it came to delivering over-the-top comic dialouge and Mary Tamm's own regal bearing and distinguished air brings just the right amount of class to the absurdity on screen. If you're not familiar with Dr. Who, the Pirate Planet is probably not the best introduction to the series. However, fans of the series will probably enjoy the Pirate Planet's change of pace and this is definitely a must have for fans of Douglas Adams curious to see what he was doing when he wasn't following Arthur Dent across the universe.

THE PIRATE PLANET must count as one of the Doctor Who stories with the highest number of total deaths. Untold trillions of people are killed, countless civilizations are completely wiped out, and genocide occurs multiple times - and this is even before the opening credits have run. Strangely enough, with all of this death, destruction and mayhem in the background, the story that follows is a goofy and silly Douglas Adams script that bounces between slapstick gags, silly one-liners, and hilarious dialog. There's a serious undertone to the story (horrific, if one really pays attention), but somehow it never really overshadows the humor.

Bruce Purchase has the thankless task of playing a villain who actually has a legitimate reason for being a seemingly over-the-top, screaming, raving lunatic. His Pirate Captain plays very well off of Andrew Robertson's Mr. Fibuli, and the two of them make for hilarious viewing no matter what else happens to be going on in the scene. The Captain's dialog is particularly wonderful, and Purchase obviously relishes the task of stomping through the BBC sets screaming such energetic nonsense. "By the left frontal lobe of the Sky Demon", indeed. "Obliterable!"

The balance between drama and comedy becomes a little strained at times, with the story not quite knowing which direction to go. The example that leaps to mind is the Doctor's passionate confrontation with the Pirate Captain as he expresses the absolute horror at the destruction that has been unleashed. And the moment his speech is over, Tom Baker goes straight back to into ham mode. It's been said that surrounding the sudden seriousness with humor (as these sequence did) helps to emphasize the horror that the Doctor feels, but I just don't see it. It's a stunning moment that's striking in spite of the surrounding humor, not because of it. Individually, a lot of the pieces are quite good, but not all of them gel together.

There are several aspects of the plot that don't really make much sense under scrutiny. The ending is a bit of a problem with the conclusion boiling down to a few twists of the TARDIS controls solving all the problems. The dramatic battle between the two ships attempting materialization in episode four would have been a more satisfying conclusion, but unfortunately there are too many loose ends left dangling, so the plot must continue on for quite a while afterwards. It's a pity that there isn't a little more drama, though overall it doesn't make the adventure that much less enjoyable. One can see that Douglas Adams hadn't quite yet got the hang of writing for Doctor Who's format; of the three cliffhangers, only the conclusion to episode three carries any sort of dramatic weight. The other two seemingly appear out of nowhere, with hardly any build up at all.

Still, the main question is whether the story was entertaining or not. And that is the main thing that THE PIRATE PLANET does well. Whether it's watching the Doctor claim credit for the discoveries of Isaac Newton, or boggling at the sheer scale of Douglas Adams' imagination, this adventure does a lot of things right. The dialog is nice and snappy, with Tom Baker's antics containing more positives than negatives. Even the pieces that don't make a lot of sense are amusing to watch. The story marches ahead confidently, defying logic or reason. Maybe it's a matter of style over substance, but Douglas Adams had quite a lot of style. It may be madness, but it's madness that is hugely entertaining to behold.

The DVD commentary from actor Bruce Purchase and director Bernard Roberts is more restrained than that of Tom Baker and Mary Tamm in the previous serial (THE RIBOS OPERATION), but what it lacks in pure entertainment it makes up for in its informative nature. Purchase is particularly amusing - after one of the Pirate Captain's more explosive outbursts, he quietly asks Roberts if he managed to hear that all right.

The production notes feature on this disc is particularly noteworthy, giving us details about what the original Douglas Adams script was like and how it evolved as it reached the production stage. That initial script certainly seemed to be more Hitchhiker's Guide based, with little tidbits in it such as Queen Xanxia being sold the time dams by a corrupt and collapsing mega-corporation, and Mr. Fibuli wryly noting near the end that the newest "Golden Age of Prosperity" was occurring mere days after the previous one.

Once again, the Doctor Who DVDs give us picture and sound quality that is far greater than other comparable television discs on the market. Another tradition being kept is the strange desire to feature extremely boring film clip extras. I'm not sure who would be interested in seeing the zombie Mentiads marching and attacking the Captain's Guards without the aid of special effects, but I suppose someone must be. Of course, these extras (along with the Who's Who and Photo Gallery) are just that - extras. And they certainly can't detract from what is a great disc.

"The Pirate Planet" is, like "The Ribos Operation" immediately before it in the Key To Time box set, a story that mostly went over my head at age 12. A mixture of technical jargon and too-fast dialogue proved too much for my young "Who"-addled brain to grasp. It took the onset of relative old age, and reading the first four Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy efforts, to persuade me to enjoy this story as much as author Douglas Adams intended. Since I'm now older than Adams was when he wrote this, I figured it was about time I caught on.

"Pirate Planet" is indeed prototypical Adams -- it's his first DW script and was written contemporaneously with the original Hitchhiker's radio serial. There's a brilliant sci-fi concept at the heart of the story: a hollow planet with the power to materialize around other worlds, and crush the minerals and fuels right out of them. Overlaid on that is Adams' trademark satire. I enjoyed how the planet's villagers (exactly 4 speaking parts) are all ciphers with silly haircuts, while the villain is a full-blown pirate Captain: a cyborg with a mechanical bird on his shoulder, and a "plank" at the top of a mountain, off which his victims must walk. There are black leather-clad guards and earnest yellow-clad telepathic rebels. And then Tom Baker's Doctor shows up to smirk at it all, and trade barbs (alternately funny and profound) with the Captain. The story's powerhouse moments come when the Doctor and the Captain square off, and in the end, the Captain is far more than just a one-dimensional villain.

The DVD edition is a good showcase for the story. As is the norm for digital "Doctor Who", there are two commentary tracks, which means you can watch the entire story through 3 times before catching it all. The text commentary is one of the best yet, covering everything from the origins of Adams script (including much material deleted in the interest of time, since his scripts were about twice as long as necessary), to the origins of all the numbers cited in the story (fascinatingly, Baker ad-libbed the number 337.98 when the script called for 338.97.......).

The audio commentary track is average for DW DVDs, most notable for its offbeat choice of participants: story director Pennant Roberts, and actor Bruce Purchase, whose scenery-chewing Captain was one of "Doctor Who"'s more memorable villains in the 1970s. Between the two, they recall a good deal about the production, above and beyond what they learned from the text commentary). Like a couple of knowledgeable fans, they even provide some insight into what's going on that made me appreciate certain elements of the story anew, such as longtime DW composer Dudley Simpson's orchestral score. On the negative side: well, I really couldn't tell their voices apart. A couple of anecdotes fail to go anywhere, such as Purchase's running gag about Baker owing him 1.25 million pounds.

The remaining extras features are disc-filler: a "Who's Who" of selected cast members, and a photo gallery of production stills. While one or two of the photos are interesting behind-the-scenes looks at actors in front of blue screens or out of costume, there's also an unfathomable 10 minutes of raw location film footage. No sound effects, no visual effects... just actors in improbable costumes marching, jumping, and twitching. Help yourself to that!

This adventure, penned no less by Douglas Adams, is a zany, over the top romp. It has lots of inexplicable technobabble, machines and gadgets with absurdly long names and a blustering cyborg pirate Captain, complete with robot parrot. It's also lots of fun! With Douglas Adams you know to expect it to be completely over the top, and he certainly delivers! The second story in the Key to Time series has the Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive at the exact moment in space and time they are supposed to - but the wrong planet! The plot of the story is not really feasible sci-fi; many of the concepts are incomprehensible and sometimes downright silly. But the story is so enjoyable, who cares? Everyone looks as though they're having fun; some of the characters are plain and bland, but the Captain and Mr Fibuli are an excellent pairing. I also love the close-up on the Polyphase Avatron when K9 appears on the bridge's monitor! Despite its deliberate humour, "The Pirate Planet" has its serious moments. I don't think I've ever seen Tom Baker's Doctor so passionate when he confronts the Captain about the immorality of his actions in episode three. The story also has plenty of pace and an exciting, tension filled final episode. It's terrific!

Doctor Who is at its best taken in a humorous vein and this story is one of the funniest of the lot!

The interplay between the Doctor/Romana, Captain/Mr. Fibuli, Doctor/Captain, K9/Everyone, is superb. All the characters have their own agenda and the story manages to do all of this in a humorous, tightly plotted, and ocassionaly very tense and dramatic fashion.

The Captain is IMHO one of the best characters created by Douglas Adams. His shouting and emotional swings are hilarious, but this is a front to hide the character's true intelligence and intentions. You'll just have to watch the story to find out more.

This story tends to get lost in the shuffle sometimes, as it is in the midst of one of Doctor Who's best seasons. It can, however, stand alone as a great piece of science fiction. This story is probably one of my top ten, and I highly reccomend buying it.

I love the Tom Baker Dr. Who, but not all episodes are equally good. This series is one of the better ones -- not unexpectedly, since Douglas Adams wrote it.

The plot involves a sinister Captain who brings prosperity to his people by doing something really evil -- and I won't tell you what it is for fear of giving away the plot.

The budget for special effects and sets for this series must have been about fifty pounds per episode (makes the original Star Trek series look slick in comparison) but for a true Dr. Who fan, the cheesiness of the sets only adds to the charm. This video has a classic laughably funny scene, with a ride in an "air car" that is obviously a cheaply constructed prop tilted to one side, with a blue back drop, and a fan blowing on the characters to imitate flight. But there are also some very witty lines, beautifully delivered by Tom Baker and others in the cast.

If you collect Dr. Who videos, this one is a "must have."

You hear, "Mr. Fibuli!!!!" alot in this excellent Dr. Who adventure. Out of my vast collection of Dr. Who tapes that I own, this adventure has to be the most watched. This entire story is so well done and it is such a unique tale that you will want to watch it again and again. The story starts with the Doctor in search of the 2nd key to time, which takes him to the planet Calufrax. Calufrax is actually a planet this is just about to be consumed by the very evil Pirate Planet. The captain of the pirate planet and the evil queen Zansea move about the cosmos eating other planets for their minerals. (Our Earth eventually becomes one of their targets... YIKES!!!) Of course, this is completely unexceptable to the good Doctor and the ever lovely Romana. After landing on the Pirate Planet they quickly become involved in aiding the mentiads in overthrowing the evil captin and queen. This story has a lot of adventure and excitement. The story is very engrossing and the special effects are actually not to bad this time around. The acting is well done and you will fall in love with the captain, queen and the comical Mr. Fibuli as they race toward their inevitable destruction. I won't tell you how this ends but I will tell you that it is an amazing surprise! Definately get this episode for your collection and you, like me, will find yourself walking around your house yelling ... MR FIBULI!!!!!! MR. FIBULI!!!!! hehe.

The second story of the Key To Time series, The Pirate Planet, is a winner just like its predecessor, The Ribos Operation.

In the opening titles for every episode, the viewer will notice that the writer is Douglas Adams. Yes, it is THAT Douglas Adams, who was taken away from us this summer, so the viewer will know what to expect. The dialogue here is superb as a result, especially those of the Doctor, Pirate Captain, Romana, and Mr. Fibuli. Example: the Doctor while jetting from one end of a corridor to another via a linear induction corridor: "I'll never be cruel to an electron in a particle accelerator again!" And he makes an entrance on the bridge, with a rapid fire introduction delivered to Mr. Fibuli. "Hello, I'm the Doctor. I've heard what a wonderful chap you are. I see you've met my assistant Romana. Getting on like a house on fire, are we? What a splendid place you have here!"

Calufrax is the destination of the second segment of the Key, but somehow, the TARDIS lands on Zanak, a planet that somehow occupies the coordinates of Calufrax. The planet is ruled by the Captain, a big yelling bully of a pirate whose entire left side is mechanical, all due to when he crashed his vessel on Zanak long ago. But what exactly is he up to? The truth later becomes apparent, as he and Romana have "stumbled upon one of the most heinous crimes in the Galaxy."

There's a silly moment where the Doctor steals an aircar by tossing a bag of jellybabies on the hood of the aircar, distracting the guard with a trail of jellybabies, and then taking off, waving bye to the guard.

Tom Baker gets upstaged here as he did in The Ribos Operation, but only once. His attempts to contact the citizens of Zanak as to the whereabouts of the planet Calufrax come to naught, as they either ignore or run away from him as if he is deranged. "Excuse me, have any of you seen a planet called Calufrax? 14,000 kilometers wide, oblate spheroid?" Exasperated, he spreads his arms out and yells, "Has anyone seen a planet called Calufrax?" To add insult to injury, Romana succeeds in striking a conversation with a citizen of Zanak on her first try. However, he does burst into the house of Balaton and says, pop eyes and all, "Excuse me. Are you sure this planet is supposed to be here?"

Bruce Purchase is well-cast as the shouting Captain, and like Garron in Ribos, has a fair share of good lines. "Find him and destroy him, or by all the suns that blaze, I'll tear you apart... molecule for molecule." That is followed by a silly, insane giggle. He works best with his first mate, the timid and bookish Mr. Fibuli. "Excellent, Mr. Fibuli. Your death will be delayed." Fibuli says, "Oh, thank you again and again, sir. Your goodness confounds me." And his oaths: "By the left frontal lobe of the Sky Demon", "by the great parrot of Hades." Silly silly silly!

Mary Tamm shines again as Romana. When ordered to get into an air car by a guard, she says, "I'll take that as an invitation." She hands him her telescope, thanking him, and as she's getting in, asks, "Will you drive? I assume you know where we're going." All of this said in an unruffled, dignified, but casual manner. Now that's class! Her outfit consists of white slacks, heels, and blouse, over which she wears a pink tunic. And her hair, parted in the middle, is a wave of curls framing her classic features.

By the spleen of the Sky Demon, another shining story in the Doctor Who canon!

Doctor Who and Douglas Adams. Two of the absolute greats of British science fiction, both equally quirky and imaginative, and here they are combined, no less! The results are timeless, of course. Okay, sure, it's a bit clear that Adams is a bit new at writing for television, and the script has a few rough spots, but overall his style resonates perfectly with "Doctor Who"--his audaciously ambitious vision and conceptual sophistication are dead on with the show's approach to the sci-fi genre, and his oddball cerebral humor and sharp sense of satire play right in to Tom Baker's somewhat whacked interpretation of the Doctor. Indeed, it seems pretty clear that Baker is thoroughly enjoying this performance, even despite a dog bite on his lip (No, not from K9).

This is also a visually interesting story in many ways, with a top-notch attempt to depict an alien architecture and lifestyle on the pirate planet Zanak, including the technological additions shoehorned into the planet rendering it a portable, marauding pirate ship on a massive scale. The pirate captain is also larger than life, a sort of Captain Hook ingeniously translated into sci-fi terms (with a cybernetic eyepatch and mechanical arm as well as a robot parrot perched on his shoulder) blustering and belligerent in a totally over the top manner. And rather surprising, in that he seems like an amusing but utterly forgettable one-dimensional villain at first, and then towards the end Adams really throws you by revealing layers of complexity in this supposedly stock character.

Not all the characters are so memorable, it must be said. Most of the inhabitants of the planet are a bit bland, and some of the actors seem to be walking through their roles by rote. There are too many long, drawn out scenes of the expressionless Mentiads (telepaths) strolling along the landscape, and most of the action scenes are humdrum and lame in ways that the show should've transcended since Jon Pertwee's tenure. Still, the excitable Captain and the funny interplay between him and his majordomo, Mister Fibuli, along with the Doctor and his bickering repartee with Romana of course, all make up for these defects, as does the genuinely fascinating story idea as a whole. And anyway, it's not everyday that you get Douglas Adams hitchhiking on the Tardis, so enjoy!

P.S. Since "The Pirate Planet" is the second storyline in the six-part "Key to Time" saga of the sixteenth season, this DVD is also included with five other DVDs in a box set, Doctor Who - The Key to Time Collection, so unless you have a particular interest just in this one storyline, that may be the better option both in terms of economics and convenience.