Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: Planet of Fire (Story 135)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Watch out for this one - it does not include the making-of documentary. This isn't listed anywhere on the product page, but the back of the DVD case says: 'Due to insurmountable rights issues, the "making-of" documentary "The Flames of Sarn" cannot be included on this DVD'. If you want this you have to get the Region 2 DVD imported (and have a multi-region DVD player).

Fifth Doctor Peter Davison's penultimate episode "Planet of Fire" at last is coming to DVD. Lost between the grey and gloomy Ressurection of the Daleks and the apocalyptic Caves of Andrazani POF at times has been seen as a transitional story to be quickly glanced over in route to the grim Davison finale. True Planet of Fire is the ultimate transitional story if ever Doctor Who had one. The viewer has the following transitions to contend with in one four part adventure: Davison's first episode without companion Tegan J. (Finally) as well as his last encounter with The Master, robotic side kick Kamillion's second, final and ill-fated appearence in the program, Companion Turlough's final episode (the truth is revealed at last),and the introduction of new companion Peri Brown (don't ask me to spell her full name). Add all that to the fact that a regeneration is just an episode away and one begins to wonder is there any room left for a plot?? The Answer is yes and in my opinion a good one.
The story centers around The Master's attemp to regain controll of the shape shifting robot Kamillion for the greater purpose of "stealing" a rare and precious gas from the planet Sarn. This gas will help The Master reverse a "little" trouble he got himself into (you'll see what I mean first timers). Stealing this gas is not as easy as one would think as Sarn is a prison planet for fugitives from Turlough's home world of Trion. The prisoners have divided into two factions: One devout, relgious sect dedicated to the worship and protection of "The Fire" (or numismiton gas that The Master seeks) and a second more scientific minded(yet supressed by the first group) group of free thinkers bent on revelation of the fire's true nature as it relates to the planet Sarn's inpending doom. While the story attemps to be fair to both points of view it ultimatly lends itself to the liberal, secular point of view held by the non-religious group.
Where I believe Planet of Fire realy shines is in the performance of the lead cast. Peter Davison gives one of his best perfomances in his tenure as the Doctor. I am not sure if he is more relaxed knowing his time on the program is near an end, or if he has altered his performance to compensate for the lack of Janet Feilding or mayby he just is more comfortale not hiding behind the Cricket suit ( No Cricket jacket, sweater, or celary for most of this episode); But the viewer gets Davison at his best hear. In addition Mark Strickson give his best performance since Terminus which is no suprise as he is finaly given something to do and say. For fans of Anthony Ainley's Master take heart as he is allowed to elevate his performance slightly above the mustache twisting, tie a youg lady to the train tracks badie stereo-type that he was forced to play in previous episodes. And last new companion Nicola Bryant gives her first and best performance during her stay with the program; Of couse this is helped by given a lot to do in the story but still she makes the most of the spot light.
While on the subject of Peri I would be amiss if I did not mention the lovely young Ms Bryant tastfully parading around in the "Skimpiest" outfit a companion has ever worn on the show. I am of course referring to the famous peri in the bikini scene at the end of episode one and start of episode two. Male viewers and perhaps some female viewers to (not that there is anything wrong with that) will admit that this scene alone is worth the price of admission. Meow!!!
A final note worth mentioning is the scenery as this episode's external shots were filmed in The Canary Islands off the coast of North Africa....One word...Beautiful! To sum it all up If you are looking for daleks, cyberman and fast paced paced adventure than this is not for you. But if you want to tie up all the lose ends from the Peter Davison era than Planet of Fire is a must for your collection....and a pretty good story to bust...ah, no butt,ah,uhm no no I mean to boot. Gosh, All this reminiscing about Peri of Fire, no I mean Planet of Fire, has left me in need of a COLD shower. Meow!!

The Davison era phase-out continues on Planet Of Fire, which is more or less a wrapping up regarding two companions and the introduction of the most voluptuous companion to ever grace the series. And in my Arc of Infinity review, I made the mistake of saying it was the second of three stories made in a foreign location. This is actually the third one, set in Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands, a hop or two away from Morocco, which makes The Two Doctors the fourth foreign-made story--sorry, mea culpa.

A distress call from Earth is picked up by the TARDIS. Turlough recognizes it as a Trion signal and cuts it off. He really has a lot to play in this story because his origins are finally revealed. While in the TARDIS, he spots Peri, a young American girl drowning in the sea around Lanzarote, and rescues her. He lays her down in a spare bedroom, only to find among her belongings a metal artifact with two overlapping triangles, a design that matches a brand on his left arm.

That brand is also found on the Chosen One on the volcanic desert planet Sarn, currently torn between those who believe in Logar, Lord of the Fire Mountain, and unbelievers who think Logar is a myth. Things are more tolerant than before, when Unbelievers were cast into the fires. Malkon, a young man who's the current Chosen One, thinks that it's right to doubt, whereas the Chief Elder and his mentor Timanov thinks it's "still a wise precaution to send the occasional free-thinker to the flame." When the young man says he lacks the faith to condemn anyone, his mentor tells him "accept what you see and hear and feel all around you. The faith will come."

But it's also a time of testing, as an eruption of the Fire Mountain is imminent. Legends say that if Sarns submitted to Logar, an Outsider will come and bring them gifts. That being is impersonated by Kamelion, the shape-shifting android in the company of the Doctor, or rather, Kamelion in the guise of the Doctor's old enemy, the Master. And the real Master is using the droid in continuing his feud with the Doctor, but for some other reason as well.

Certain Sarn men have an interesting mix of costume, khaki shorts and Arab style kaffiyehs, whereas the elders have a total Arab-influenced costume, white robes and kaffiyeh headdresses, and the belief of submitting to Logar is a take on Islam, based on submission to Allah.

Nicola Bryant doesn't do too badly in her debut as Peri, the most underdressed companion since Leela (her bikini scenes). And despite being somewhat of a wimp, she's also got the courage to talk back to the Master. In response to the Master's "I am the Master!" she says "So what? I'm Perpugilliam Brown and I can shout just as loud as you can!" And veteran actor Peter Wyngarde plays Timanov as a leader dedicated to his god to the end. Another solid performance comes from James Bate as Amyand, leader of the Unbelievers, who bears a slight resemblance to Muammar Qaddafi, especially with his beige headdress.

The reason why Kamelion wasn't used continuously was that his designer Mike Power was killed in a boating accident and left little documentation on how to run the robot, so he was killed off in this story. A pity, as he did have potential re his abilities. Here, he's portrayed as a "silver puppet jumping on a string," forced to change his form on someone's mental bidding.

One of Turlough's best stories, and a good one to go out on. The scenery around Lanzarote is a welcome change from the usual studio sets or quarries doubling as alien worlds. Not much goes on in the story, but it's still well done.

This is truly a fantastic Fifth Doctor adventure, right in time for the anniversary week. Author, Peter Grimwade creates an elaborate and compact plot, as well as finding time to introduce Peri. Beyond its (somewhat) historical value, it sports the reappearance of Kamelion, and the Master, as well as probing into the depths of the characters' past and their relationship to Sarn, the Planet of Fire.

In the episodes enetitled "Planet of Fire" the local population is under the control of the relgious order who claim the fire gods of the mountains speak to them. Two youths who wish to see if this is true make thier way up to the sacred peak and see if a god slumbers. Meanwhile inside the TARDIS Kamelion has linked himself up into the console and is taking over control. Turlough tries to stop him and they find themselves overloading the system. The Doctor must make a landing on Earth. On Earth an underwater archeology team has uncovered a rare find of ancient greek statues and valuables. Amongest which an alien device that is emitting a signal and bears a strange symbol that Turlough recgonizes as from his own people. What the Doctor and Turlough don't know is thst the device has fallen into the hands of young American student Perpigilian Brown or Peri for short. After her step father leaves her stranded on the boat trying to stop her from going to Moroco. She swims back to shore only to drown if Turlough hadn't spotted her. Kamelion has regained control and once again tries to set cordinates to another planet. The Doctor is too late to stop it and they dematerilise with Peri still on board. The Doctor and Turlough investagte the new planet and the stramge signal. Kamelion begins to change in form..to the Master. Can the doctor find out what he is up to or will the Master finally win?

This is one of a strong run of episodes in Peter Davison's final season and is the penultimate story of his too-short tenure as The Doctor. The shape-shifting robot Kamelion is finally put to good use and Anthony Ainley as The Master has lots of delicious scenery to chew (although when he is playing Kamelion posing as The Master he has some nice subdued moments). Mark Strickson puts in a good performance as Turlough and we finally learn about his mysterious origins. There is some great location filming in Lanzarote which doubles as itself and a volcanic alien landscape. Davison is excellent as always.

The only downside is the introduction of the new companion Peri (short for Perpugilliam, the first ridiculous conceit involving the character). Although her bikini-clad debut is often referenced by Who fans, she turned out to be an exceedingly cringeworthy character with an annoyingly phony American accent. The actress Nicola Bryant is very good when performing in other roles in her native accent but when she puts on Peri's exaggerated nasal whine with its overly-hardened 'r's, it's like nails on a chalkboard. Dallas Adams, who plays her supposedly-American stepfather, has an even wobblier accent. The producer of the time made Peri an American to acknowledge the growing interest in DW in the U.S. Unfortunately Peri wasn't much of a tribute. Luckily, in the two stories in which she is paired with Davison, his low-key performance keeps her annoyance-level under control. The worst was yet to come with the tiresome, argumentative relationship she would have with the next incarnation of The Doctor played by Colin Baker.

This story, however, is among the high points of 80s Who and well worth the purchase.

Not too bad. Grimwade's scripts, including "Time-Flight" and "Mawdryn Undead", have lots of Who continuity and great dialogue. Although, the only thing that really undermines the plot is the inclusion of Kamelion. Kamelion would be ok, only if there was an actor in a C-3PO style costume, as the animated mannequin just doesn't work, and makes everything around him look tacky. So, I guess it was a good idea that he could change forms, which eliminated scenes of this robot actually walking. But anyway, "Planet.." does have a lot of great things about it. The whole "born again" idea, Timanov and the elders, and the Trions' science that tries to tame the planet. Nicola Bryant certainly makes a great debut, but her accent keeps slipping. Strickson really shines in this one. It's a shame that he wasn't included earlier in the Davison era, as he is probably the best male companion since Jamie(not including the UNIT gang). The design of the whole production(except Kamelion) is up to par. Ainley does a good job, as always. Great soundtrack, too. But isn't strange to see a Davison story sans Tegan?

Peter Davison's third season has a rather special place in my heart. It was the first season I ever watched and the one that made me fall in love with the show. It was much more moody and interesting than his first two seasons, lacking the "crowded TARDIS" of his first season and the endlessly returning villains of the second. Davison himself has said that if his first two seasons had been more like his third, he might have stayed on.

Planet of Fire fits in well with his ultimate season and is very under-rated. Most people know about Nicola Bryant in a bikini, but that's not the *only* reason to like this episode. Davison is at peak form, bringing the quiet charm and decency that defined his Doctor. The companions shine. For once, Turlough is given something to do, becoming a useful and interesting character to the point where it's kind of sad when he leaves. Kamelion is also used effectively (by barely being used in his robot form). Peri, in her first episode, mainly has to run around. But when she is given a chance to act, she's brave and brassy. Her repartee with the Master ("So what? I'm Perpugilliam Brown and I can shout just as loud as you can!") is priceless.

Despite the return of the Master, the episode is fairly original, using the beautiful Lanzarote locations effectively to create a realistic volcanic world. Most of the Sarns are a bit weakly characterized, but Wyngard, as Timonov, is excellent, bringing fire and brimstone and, in his final scene, a wonderful resignation. I just wish they'd AInley really act rather than forcing him to ham it up. On occasion, he brings some real fire to the Master, no pun intended.

I buy these DVDs for the episodes, so am not really concerned about the extras. But the commentary on the episode is quite enjoyable, with Byrant, Strickson, Cumming and Davison swapping stories and reminiscing about the production. The big extra on here is the recut version. All I can say is ... don't waste your time. The episode is significantly cut down, removing some nice character scenes. There's a new and quite lame scene at the beginning. There's a bunch of CGI flames added everywhere that look ridiculous. Perhaps the worst crime is that Peter Howell's evocative score is gone and the episode is presented in "wide screen" that consists of slicing off the top and bottom of the image. This leaves every scene cramped and awkward. Please, BBC, don't waste the Restoration Team's time on this. I'd much rather see more animated versions of missing episodes.

Well, Planet of Fire has many things going for it. First it does'nt feature Tegan - which gives Peter Davison's Doctor a chance to actually seem intelligent - and yes Peri in the swimsuit might just encourage male viewers. Just as a note this story also acts as a swansong for Kamileon - a little-seen robotic companion first seen in "The King's Demons"

Why Planet of Fire is so criticized is a mystery to me. This episode has one of the most thorough plots and some of the best production values of any Peter Davison story. And as any true Doctor Who fan will know, production values were a trouble spot in this era of the show. Fortunately, this story feels a lot better than some "certain" stories from previous seasons. And fitting in betwenn Ressurection of the Daleks and Caves of Androzani, forms the center piece in a trilogy that sees Doctor Davison out in fine fashion.
Planet of Fire really benefits from some excellent location filming and thorough workings of a not-so-foreign society. Peter Davison and Mark Strickson really shine, and even though I think Nicola Bryant is one of the worst companions in Doctor Who, she doesn't detract too much. We finally see what Turlough was doing on Earth and he gets a nice departure, leaving our favorite time traveler heading off minus his last male traveling companion.