#Planet of Giants

[unwillingadventurer]

[doctorwhogirlie]

Doctor Who - Planet of Giants

[dailyclassicwho]

This isn’t business, this is science. The formulae is unacceptable and I can’t, and I do meant can’t Mr. Forester, allow DN6 to go into production! 

DOCTOR WHO STORIES 009. PLANET OF GIANTS

[not-another-doctor]

Classic Who classic villain: Insecticide

[headcanonsandmore]

Watching the First Doctor lamenting loss of life in "Planet of Giants" is kinda hilarious; Doc, barely one series ago you were trying to club a caveman to death with a rock 😂🤣

[spacecadet2k]

Planet of Giants

Featuring USS Prometheus

[davros42]

Rewatching Classic Doctor Who, some episodes I haven't seen in years, some of the animated reconstructions I haven't seen at all.

Planet of Giants AKA Minuscule Story AKA The Minuscules AKA Serial I

Season 2 kicks off with a bit of a strange one. It feels very much like a prototype Third Doctor story. The first story to take place in the 'modern day' (and in the UK for that matter) since the first one. Apart from the hook/subplot of the TARDIS crew being shrunk, it has no particular SciFi trappings which, from the vantage point of the 21st century, makes it feel like a historical story. The strong influence from Rachel Carson's Silent Spring doesn't hurt either. Doctor Who getting in on the 'insecticide killing pollinators' thing fifty years early.

The TARDIS doors open midflight (something to do with 'space pressure' but that's not important right now) but Ian and Barbara brute force them closed again. The Fault Locator makes it's last (televised) appearance. And the TARDIS lands safely. Or appears to. All the sensors indicate safety but the scanner screen explodes as if trying to show something too big for the screen. That's not how television works, but ok. It turns out that the doors opening allowed the space pressure to shrink the occupants of the TARDIS (and the outer shell of the TARDIS, but don't think about that too hard) after spotting some dead things, the crew is menaced by a cat, Ian gets captured via matchbox (which is a nice change of pace from how he normally gets captured), and a scientist gets murdered. You see, he's come to reject the application for a phenomenally powerful insecticide having realized the ecological dangers.. so the financial backer of the insecticide straight up shoots him dead in the front yard. It is a powerfully American moment. Oh and Barbara accidentally doses herself with the insecticide and doesn't tell anyone because reasons. Eventually the crew get into the house and try to get involved, messing with the phone, and ultimately blowing up a spray can to attract attention. It works, the switchboard operator (kids, ask your great-grandparents what a switchboard was) is conveniently married to a cop and sends him 'round just in time to catch the baddies. The crew returns to the TARDIS, and returns to full size, saving Barbara. Somewhere along the way the viewer monitor in the TARDIS was repaired so our last shot is a scrambled signal, where could the TARDIS be headed next?

And before anyone gets the wrong idea from my snarky synopsis, I really like this one. Short and sweet. A little silly at times if you think too hard about it but a good story that doesn't get too bogged down in unnecessary explanations and detail. It fits the tone and temp of a lot of the modern era in that way. It has two parallel stories that converge in a satisfying way. Originally meant to be four episodes and cut down to three, it still moves well, not a lot seems to be left out. The oversized props are great fun and there's some decent effects. The production is wise enough not to linger on them, letting most of the special effects exist in the audience's imagination.

Up next - an epic, this one changes everything: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

[ian-chestert0n]

The First Doctor remembers his manners in Doctor Who - Planet of Giants

With William Hartnell as The Doctor and Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright

[demigodofhoolemere]

Happy birthday, William Russell!

[kcdahippie]

Farrow: This isn't business. This is science.

Forester: Too bad, so sad, now die. I have money to make.

[goblininawig]

Why are the first two seasons of Doctor Who 39 episodes each?? Isn't that against British TV standards or something? 🤔 neway, I finally made it to s2. The prop team must've had a blast with this first story arc...

[doctorwhogirlie]

Doctor Who - Planet of Giants

[junkyardbluebox]

Hartnell story "Planet of Giants". They turn around and see the cat staring at them. The viewer is supposed to think: "good thing they didn't try to run, because I've seen how fast a cat can move". But I don't think that giant photograph of a cat is going anywhere very fast.

Bwahahaha... Yeah, the cat itself sported some lousy acting. I mean, he was so one-dimensional.

(ba-dum tish!! Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all night. Try the veal XD)

[elevensbian]

planet of giants is one of the best first doctor stories send tweet

[not-another-doctor]

1 genuinely caring is so sweet. He's like a grumpy grandpa

[rawwkfingers]

Planet of Giants

I think my favorite serial yet tbh. Just a silly little adventure with a murder mystery thrown in for good measure, what's not to enjoy here! A good choice for Susan's penultimate adventure too

Also I wanted to try ranking the serials after each season but I forgot to do that last post so I'll do it here. I did watch the episodes of Reign of Terror that are available but since we don't have the whole serial I'm not ranking it. It would be last on the list though, it fuckin sucks

The Daleks. It's a good story even to modern sensibilities tbh, I definitely understand why they had the immediate cultural impact they did

The Keys of Marinus. Just a good fun pulp adventure, what's not to love

The Sensorites. The writing was hacky at times but I enjoyed it nonetheless

The Aztecs. It was a racist ahistorical mess but I did like its discussions on time travel dilemmas

An Unearthly Child. If it was just the pilot this would be number one but the really bad caveman plot drags the whole serial down

The Edge of Destruction. It's not BAD per se, and it needed to exist to explain how and why Ian and Barbara become much more relaxed about the whole "kidnapped by the Doctor" thing but the writing was tacky and the characterization all over the place