The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

Last updated

151 [1] The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
Doctor Who serial
Cast
Others
Production
Directed by Alan Wareing
Written by Stephen Wyatt
Script editor Andrew Cartmel
Produced by John Nathan-Turner
Executive producer(s)None
Music by Mark Ayres
Production code7J
Series Season 25
Running time4 episodes, 25 minutes each
First broadcast14 December 1988 (1988-12-14)
Last broadcast4 January 1989 (1989-01-04)
Chronology
 Preceded by
Silver Nemesis
Followed by 
Battlefield
List of Doctor Who episodes (1963–1989)

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is the fourth and final serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who , which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 14 December 1988 to 4 January 1989.

Contents

The serial is set on the planet Segonax. In the serial, visitors to the Psychic Circus are forced to put on acts for the amusement of their evil hosts.

Plot

The Seventh Doctor and Ace are invited to the Psychic Circus on Segonax. Aside from others who have been invited, the Circus is surprisingly empty; a few entertainers and stagehands are present alongside the Ringmaster and Morgana, the ticket seller and fortune teller; the only audience is a stoic family of three: a father, mother, and daughter. The Doctor and Ace learn that they are expected to perform and those who fail to entertain the family are annihilated. Escape is nearly impossible, as the Chief Clown, aided by numerous kites used for surveillance, leads a group of mechanical clowns around the wastelands of Segonax to recapture escapees.

The Doctor and Ace discover the corpse of Flower Child, who had attempted to escape. Ace takes one of her earrings and pins it to her jacket as a keepsake. The Chief Clown later notices this and demands to know where Ace got it; she flees into the circus, finding the robot-mechanic Bellboy hiding there. He recognises Flower Child's earring; although his memories were disrupted when he was captured, he tells Ace he remembers there being more people at the circus. Ace unties him and they hide in a circus caravan, where Ace tries to help Bellboy recover his memory.

The Doctor, meanwhile, has joined with intergalactic explorer Captain Cook and Mags, who had also been invited to the circus. The Ringmaster tells them that they will be expected to entertain soon. Mags joins the Doctor as he explores the circus to try to learn what really is going on. They find a well, with a glowing energy source at the bottom, featuring an eye symbol similar to that on the Chief Clown's kites and Morgana's crystal ball. They are cornered by Cook along with several mechanical clowns, who tell the Doctor that he is on next. The Doctor escapes, encountering a worker named Dead Beat who has a medallion with the same eye symbol.

The Doctor enters the same caravan in which Ace and Bellboy are hiding. Ace has helped Bellboy restore his memories. In the past, Dead Beat, then known as Kingpin and owner of the Psychic Circus, had come to Segonax in search of a great power; in finding it, the power drove him mad and caused him to enslave the rest of the circus to that power. The Chief Clown locates the three in the caravan, and Bellboy, feeling responsible for Flower Child's death as he had been forced to construct the robotic bus conductor, sacrifices himself to let the Doctor and Ace escape.

The Doctor and Ace locate Dead Beat and take him to the well. The Doctor recognises Dead Beat's medallion is missing a piece; he believes it to be in the bus and offers to cover for Ace and Dead Beat to look for it by taking his role in the ring. Cook says that the Doctor, he, and Mags are up next. Cook asks for a beam of moonlight to aid in his performance, which reveals Mags to be a werewolf. However, instead of attacking the Doctor, she attacks and kills Cook. The family cheers, entertained by the violent display, and the Doctor and Mags escape. With no other entertainment, the family orders the Ringmaster and Morgana to perform, but they fail to entertain and are also killed.

The Gods of Ragnarok, on display at a Doctor Who exhibition. Gods of Ragnorok (5481323758).jpg
The Gods of Ragnarok, on display at a Doctor Who exhibition.

Ace and Dead Beat recover the medallion piece from the bus and, once attached, Dead Beat recovers his Kingpin personality. Kingpin helps defeat the Chief Clown and his robots before they return to the circus, only to find the Doctor has again been called to entertain the family. The Doctor has determined that the family are really Gods of Ragnarok, who feed on entertainment and kill those who do not satisfy them. The Doctor instructs Ace and Kingpin to throw Kingpin's medallion, linked to the dimensional portal that the Gods use, into the energy well while he tries to give them time by performing for them. Ace and Kingpin complete this task just as the Doctor is about to be obliterated; the medallion falls into the ring—as the well was a dimensional portal—and the Doctor uses the medallion to reflect the Gods' powers back onto them. The Doctor leaves the main tent as it explodes.

The Doctor regroups with Ace, Mags, and Kingpin. Kingpin and Mags decide to reclaim the circus and take it to a new planet to start it anew. The Doctor and Ace say their goodbyes.

Production

The character of Whizz Kid was created as a parody of obsessive fans. [2] Sylvester McCoy was coached in the magic tricks he performs in episode 4 by Geoffrey Durham, formerly known as the Great Soprendo. [2]

Owing to the discovery of asbestos at the BBC, which led to the temporary closure of various television studios, this story nearly met the same fate as that of the uncompleted Shada - that of being cancelled after the location work had been completed. However, a tent was erected in the car park of BBC Elstree Centre, where the crew completed all sequences previously scheduled for the studio.[ citation needed ]

Model shots were originally created for this story to be used during Part 1 for when the Doctor's TARDIS is infiltrated by the advertising drone. They ended up not being used in the final programme but still exist in the BBC archive on their original 35mm elements. Thus they were included on the DVD release as a bonus feature. [3]

Cast notes

Director Alan Wareing provides the voice for the third God of Ragnarok in Part Four. Dean Hollingsworth as the Bus Conductor is credited for Part Three, but does not appear. Hollingsworth had played an Android in Timelash (1985). Jessica Martin, who plays Mags in this episode, briefly returns in "Voyage of the Damned" (2007) voicing Queen Elizabeth II. Martin later reprised her role as Mags when she became a companion of the Seventh Doctor in Big Finish audio plays. Ian Reddington, the Chief Clown, reprised his role in the audio play The Psychic Circus and later played Nobody No-One in the audio play A Death in the Family . Harry Peacock, the brother of Daniel Peacock, who plays Nord the Vandal in this serial, later appeared in the 2008 episodes "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead" as Proper Dave.

Broadcast and reception

EpisodeTitleRun timeOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [4]
1"Part One"24:2314 December 1988 (1988-12-14)5.0
2"Part Two"24:2021 December 1988 (1988-12-21)5.3
3"Part Three"24:3028 December 1988 (1988-12-28)4.9
4"Part Four"24:244 January 1989 (1989-01-04)6.6

Part 4 received the highest viewing figure of Sylvester McCoy's time in Doctor Who - 6.6 million against Coronation Street . [5]

Reviewing The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, Tat Wood described it as "a story with so much going right" and a sign of how he believed the show had improved since its mid-1980s period. [5] Noting how difficult the story had been to film, he stated "it was worth it. This is everything Doctor Who should be." [5] In The Discontinuity Guide , Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping said: "The ideas in this, one of the most iconic stories, are very imaginative and the direction is psychedelic." [2]

In his 2015 book Unofficial Doctor Who: The Big Book of Lists, author Cameron K. McEwan wrote: "While certainly not underappreciated by Sylvester McCoy fans (all twelve of them), those who are less impressed with the Seventh Doctor's run will find much to enjoy in this four-parter." McEwan concluded "... the highlight is most definitely Ian Reddington's role as Chief Clown. A superb performance and, still to this day, one of Who's finest villains." [6]

In the book The Doctors Are In, Graeme Burk wrote: "It's delightfully subversive and funny. Like all good satire, there is a variety of interpretations of what the target might be. But it's undergirded by some scary set pieces to make it tense, brilliant direction by Alan Wareing, some thoughtful moments and a stunning performance by Ian Reddington as the Chief Clown. McCoy, guided by Classic Who's last great director, turns in a lovely, nuanced performance." Co-author Robert Smith stated "this might be the ultimate McCoy story" which "showcases McCoy's quirky range". [7]

In 2017, Entertainment Weekly chose the robot clowns from the story as among the "26 Scariest Pop-Culture Clowns" and described Ian Reddington's performance as "chilling". [8]

Commercial releases

In print

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
Doctor Who The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.jpg
Author Stephen Wyatt
Cover artist Alister Pearson
Series Doctor Who book:
Target novelisations
Release number
144
Publisher Target Books
Publication date
21 December 1989
ISBN 0-426-20341-0

Stephen Wyatt's novelisation was published by Target Books in December 1989. An unabridged reading by Sophie Aldred was released on 1 August 2013 by BBC Audiobooks.

Home media

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy was released on VHS in January 2000. The Region 2 DVD release was on 30 July 2012, completing the DVD releases of Seventh Doctor stories. [9] This serial was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files in Issue 113 on 1 May 2013.

Soundtrack release

Doctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
Greatest Show in the Galaxy (audio).gif
Soundtrack album by
Released1992
Genre Soundtrack
Length76:21
Label Silva Screen
Mark Ayres chronology
Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric
(1991)
Doctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
(1992)
Doctor Who: Ghost Light
(1993)
Doctor Who soundtrack chronology
Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric
(1991)
Doctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
(1992)
Doctor Who: Ghost Light
(1993)

Music by Mark Ayres was released on CD in 1992 by Silva Screen Records. [10] [11] [12]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mark Ayres, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Introduction: 'Doctor Who'" (Ron Grainer arr. Keff McCulloch) 
2."The Psychic Rap" 
3."Invitation to Segonax" 
4."Bellboy and Flowerchild" 
5."A Warning" 
6."Fellow Explorers" 
7."The Robot Attacks" 
9."'Welcome, One and All!'" 
10."The Circus Ring" 
11."Deadbeat" 
12."Eavesdropping" 
13."'Let Me Entertain You'/Stone Archway" 
14."The Well" 
15."Powers on the Move" 
16."Sifting Dreams" 
17."Survival of the Fittest" 
18."Bellboy's Sacrifice" 
19."Plans" 
20."The Werewolf/'Request Stop'" 
21."The Gods of Ragnarok" 
22."Playing for Time" 
23."Entry of the Psychic Clowns" 
24."Liberty Who" 
25."Psychic Carnvial" 
26."Coda: Kingpin's New Circus" 
27."Epilogue: 'Doctor Who'" (Ron Grainer arr. Keff McCulloch) 

An edited suite of music from the story was also released on the series 50th Anniversary album from Silva Screen.

Related Research Articles

<i>The Circus</i> (1928 film) 1928 film by Charlie Chaplin

The Circus is a 1928 silent film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film stars Chaplin, Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Harry Crocker, George Davis and Henry Bergman. The ringmaster of an impoverished circus hires Chaplin's Little Tramp as a clown, but discovers that he can only be funny unintentionally.

Time and the Rani is the first serial of the 24th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 7 to 28 September 1987. It was the first to feature Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor.

Remembrance of the Daleks is the first serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The serial was first broadcast in four weekly episodes from 5 to 26 October 1988. It was written by Ben Aaronovitch and directed by Andrew Morgan.

The War Games is the seventh and final serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969.

<i>Survival</i> (<i>Doctor Who</i>) 1989 Doctor Who serial

Survival is the final serial of the 26th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 November to 6 December 1989. It is also the final story of the series' original 26-year run; it did not return regularly until 2005. It marks the final regular television appearances of Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace, and is also the final appearance of Anthony Ainley as the Master, the latter appearing alongside McCoy's Doctor for the only time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Nathan-Turner</span> British television producer (1947–2002)

John Turner, known professionally as John Nathan-Turner, was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who and the final producer of the series' first run on television. He finished the role having become the longest-serving Doctor Who producer and cast Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, respectively.

Ace (<i>Doctor Who</i>) Fictional character in the TV series Doctor Who

Ace is a fictional character played by Sophie Aldred in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. A 20th-century Earth teenager from the London suburb of Perivale, she is a companion of the Seventh Doctor and was a regular in the series from 1987 to 1989. She is considered one of the Doctor's most popular companions.

The Curse of Fenric is the third serial of the 26th season of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 25 October to 15 November 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seventh Doctor</span> Fictional character from Doctor Who

The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy.

Ghost Light is the second serial of the 26th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 to 18 October 1989.

Silver Nemesis is the third serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 in three weekly parts from 23 November to 7 December 1988. In New Zealand, all three parts were broadcast on TVNZ on 25 November.

Dragonfire is the fourth and final serial of the 24th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 23 November to 7 December 1987. This serial marked the departure of Bonnie Langford as Mel Bush and the introduction of Sophie Aldred as companion Ace.

The Happiness Patrol is the second serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 16 November 1988.

Ian Reddington is an English actor with many stage and television credits since the early 1980s. He became widely known for television roles such as the Chief Clown in the Doctor Who serial The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, Richard Cole in EastEnders and Vernon Tomlin in Coronation Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Guard</span> English actor

Christopher Guard is an English actor, musician and artist. He is known for roles such as Jim Hawkins in Return to Treasure Island (1986), Bellboy in Doctor Who serial The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (1988), Marcellus in I, Claudius (1976), Marius in Les Misérables (1978), Ken Hodges in the medical drama Casualty (1993), and voicing Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings (1978).

Mark Ayres is an electronic musician, composer and audio engineer.

The Day of the Clown is the second serial of the second series of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was first broadcast in two weekly parts on the CBBC channel on 6 and 13 October 2008. The Day of the Clown introduces main character Rani Chandra and her parents, Haresh and Gita Chandra, and they would stay for the rest of the series.

<i>Doctor Who</i> (season 26) Season of Doctor Who original TV serial

The twenty-sixth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 9 September 1989 with the serial Battlefield, after a regular series of four serials was broadcast finishing with Survival which was the final episode of Doctor Who to air before a 16-year absence from episodic television following its cancellation. John Nathan-Turner produced the series, with Andrew Cartmel script editing.

<i>Doctor Who</i> (season 25) Season of television series

The twenty-fifth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 5 October 1988. It comprised four separate serials, beginning with Remembrance of the Daleks and ending with The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. To mark the 25th anniversary season, producer John Nathan-Turner brought back the Daleks and the Cybermen. The American New Jersey Network also made a special behind-the-scenes documentary called The Making of Doctor Who, which followed the production of the 25th anniversary story Silver Nemesis. Andrew Cartmel script edited the series.

<i>Doctor Who</i> (season 24) Season of television series

The twenty-fourth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 7 September 1987 with Sylvester McCoy's first story Time and the Rani, and ended with Dragonfire. John Nathan-Turner produced the series, with Andrew Cartmel script editing.

References

  1. From the Doctor Who Magazine series overview, in issue 407 (pp26-29). The Discontinuity Guide , which counts the four segments of The Trial of a Time Lord as four separate stories and also counts the unbroadcast serial Shada , lists this story as number 155. Region 1 DVD releases follow The Discontinuity Guide numbering system.
  2. 1 2 3 "BBC - Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide - The Greatest Show in the Galaxy - Details". www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. "Doctor Who - the Greatest Show in the Galaxy". Amazon UK. 30 July 2012.
  4. "Ratings Guide". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Wood, Tat (2007). About Time 6: Seasons 22 to 26 and TV Movie. Illinois: Mad Norwegian Press. pp. 274–90. ISBN   978-0975944653.
  6. McEwan, Cameron K. (2015). Unofficial Doctor Who: The Big Book of Lists. Race Point Publishing. p. 152. ISBN   978-1631060427.
  7. Graeme Burk, Robert Smith (2015). The Doctors Are In: The Essential and Unofficial Guide to Doctor Who's Greatest Time Lord. ECW Press. ISBN   978-1770412545.
  8. Todd, Carolyn (3 August 2017). "26 Scariest Pop-Culture Clowns". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  9. "DVD Update: Summer Schedule". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  10. Doctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (CD Booklet). Silva Screen. 1992. FILMCD 114.
  11. Ayres, Mark. "Mark Ayres - Doctor Who Incidental Music". Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  12. "Millennium Effect". Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2008.

Target novelisation