The Season 25 Collection- The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

 

This is a curious story with two facets. On the one hand, it is a very clever sort of story of the type that increasingly became the norm during the original series’ closing couple of seasons. Elliptical happenings, unorthodox visuals, symbolism aplenty  and a sense that we’re a long way from standard invasion of Earth stories.  Yet there appears to be something darker here as well, about entertainment, fandom and most of all depression. The events may present in bright colours and vivid locations but, rather like a circus, it’s just face paint.

 

Stephen Wyatt was given the title and at times appears to be poking fun at Doctor Who itself. There’s Captain Cook and Mags, a mirror image of the Doctor and Ace. The former is subtly manipulating people to do what he wants them to do, the signature behaviour of the McCoy Doctor even if his intentions are more self centred than the Time Lord's. He is also full of stories of past explorations which is reminiscent of the Doctor’s many mentions of well-known places he’s visited. Meanwhile Mags is just trying to avoid her deepest fears rather like Ace has. There’s Whizz Kid whose wide- eyed enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge for all things Psychic Circus and Captain Cook is very familiar territory for anyone who’s dipped more than a toe in fandom. It reminds us of, well, us. There’s the Chief Clown, a once great performer turned thoroughly evil by events just like some of those classic 1970s villains.

Most of all you have the Gods of Ragnarök themselves. At the time people took this to be a pop at the BBC executives with their ceaseless demands. All this time on in the world of competitive streaming it looks more like an analogy for viewers themselves, wanting more and extreme entertainment. We can smile now when they hold up score cards; if they made this today, we would be invited to call a number when all the acts had performed. If you want to stretch the analogy further you’ve got the series’ penchant for turning familiar items into sinister icons such as the kites used as search devices, a homicidal robot bus conductor and so on. Of course, the latter could just be Wyatt’s revenge for some run in with his local bus company! When Whizz Kid decries that the modern circus is not as good as it used to be, this is a universal complaint by followers of anything. It harks back to those Gods who are never satisfied by the entertainment presented to them, always wanting more.

 While these nods to the series, its fandom and the world of entertainment are amusing for those that recognise them, Wyatt weaves in some more personal stories too. The Circus could be any mighty institution gone sour, run into the ground, and employing increasingly dubious methods to survive while at the core sits something rotten. 

What comes over especially strongly is a sadness at the core of the story. Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor becomes more melancholic as he goes along; it suits the series and especially this tale. Here, there are tragedies playing out all over the place; the early death of Flowerchild, Mags’ true form, even the way Whizz Kid’s enthusiasm gets him killed. There’s Kingpin too whom we first meet as Deadbeat, a monosyllabic muttering shell of a man. All of the staff at the circus seem haunted, looking over their shoulder at something. Even the Chief Clown, someone who acquiesced to evil easily and though he thrives, you wonder what he’s really thinking. Yet the most tragic of all is Bellboy. His sense of loss and his later suicide is a jolt every time you see it and Christopher Guard is exceptional portraying this lost, haunted character. Captain Cook is the opposite, he has learned quickly to deal with what is happening finding different ways to cajole others into the ring.

 The story is aided enormously by the real billowing tents and interesting chalk quarry locations which take us to another world altogether. This happy accident of the production’s travails adds a lot because it seems more real. Director Alan Wareing knows how to show it off too making the most of a desolate but interesting landscape and the effects team definitely sell the circus. This Special Edition includes extra material in parts one and three, though the former is slowed a little by it, and some improved effects. As with the rest of the season the original effects were really good anyway so not a lot of patching up is needed.

 Stephen Wyatt’s script treads a perfect line between realism and fantasy; the sadness mentioned is underscored by less strident music than that used by the season’s two more epic Dalek and Cybermen stories. An eye for strong images gives us memorable moments such as that scene when the hearse looks like its gliding as well as using wide vistas to give a real sense of space.

 The acting is universally strong with standout performances from Ian Reddington, TP McKenna, Jessica Martin, Chris Jury, Gian Sammarco, and most of all Christopher Guard. Ian Reddington’s iconic hand gestures and unsettling presence remain a defining image from this era of the show. And there’s even rapping. Well kind of. Don’t scoff- in 1988 this was ground breaking stuff.

Having a slightly disappointing ending is no crime on Doctor Who; some of the very best stories do fizzle out a bit and `The Greatest Show` does drop a few juggling balls about half way though part 4 when you realise Wyatt has written himself into a corner. How can the Doctor defeat the Gods of Ragnarök? Oh, by faffing about with a piece of rope and some pans while waiting for that eye broach thing to turn up. It makes perfect sense, but is a drab kind of conclusion for such a colourful story. However, I do like it more nowadays as we can see Sylvester McCoy’s adroit performance skills put to good use. Despite this `The Greatest Show in the Galaxy` definitely provides a strong end to a very strong season.