“Planet of Evil” is an adventure of the thirteenth season of “Doctor Who” classic series which aired in 1975. It follows “Terror of the Zygons” and it’s a four parts adventure written by Louis Marks and directed by Rodney Bennett.

The story

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) responds to a distress call and takes the Tardis to the planet Zeta Minor. There, he and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) find that the members of a Morestran scientific expedition were almost all killed. Only the expedition’s leader, Professor Sorenson, is still alive and thinks he’s on the verge of crowning many years of research on a new energy source.

A Morestran military starship arrives on the planet Zeta Minor shortly after the Tardis and the commander thinks that the Doctor and Sarah Jane have killed the members of the scientific expedition. The story gets even more complicated because the planet is on the edge of the known universe and beyond that there’s a big danger.

Extras

This DVD is rich in extras. There are typical contents such as production subtitles, Radio Times Billings, a promo of the upcoming “Doctor Who” DVDs and a gallery of pictures from this adventure.

There are comments in the adventure alternative audio track by protagonists Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, actor Prentis Hancock and producer Philip Hinchcliffe.

A Darker Side. A 25-minute documentary on the production of this adventure.

Planetary Performance. A look at the production of this adventure from the point of view of the actors.

Studio Scene. A short segment of the original studio recording.

Continuity Compilation. A number of continuity announcements of the various BBC broadcasts of this adventure.

There is also an “Easter egg” in which producer Philip Hinchcliffe comments on various notes written at the time about this adventure. Often, those hidden extras are trivial and very short, for once there’s an interesting one that lasts 10 minutes.

The plot of “Planet of Evil” is explicitly inspired by elements taken from the famous movie “Forbidden Planet” and the classic novel “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. The original contribution is the inclusion of antimatter.

These elements are well mixed, giving life to a story set mostly on the planet Zeta Minor and in particular in a jungle riproduced in studio. Because of “Doctor Who” low-budget, often the artificially constructed environments were unconvincing, instead in “Planet of Evil” the jungle is really well done.

For a story like “Planet of Evil” it’s very important to have an realistic environment because it’s based very much on its atmosphere. Besides the oppressive jungle, to contribute to the tension there’s the planet itself, at the boundaries of the known universe. Soon, it turns out that Zeta Minor is on the borderline between matter and antimatter, and because Professor Sorenson has broken the existing balance an antimatter monster kills the members of the expedition.

Unfortunately “Planet of Evil” also has some flaws. The story contains some clichés such as the scientist who thinks he has made a great discovery but actually broke a natural balance. Since this part of the adventure is inspired by a couple of classics that’s quite inevitable.

The very presence of antimatter is a problem. When “Planet of Evil” was produced, its characteristics were already well known, in particular the fact that when matter and antimatter get in contact they disintegrate each other turning into energy. In this adventure, however, they can interact and Professor Sorenson can be infected by antimatter as if it were a toxic substance.

In “Planet of Evil” antimatter is considered a narrative concept that’s given the characteristics needed to the plot by the author. In “Doctor Who” many scientific concepts have always been used in this manner.

A “Doctor Who” cliché is the Doctor who is accused of the crime he stumbled into. In “Planet of Evil” the biggest problem is that the commander of the Morestran starship is a real idiot who not only decided that the Doctor is guilty but in the course of this adventure does all the wrong things. The only explanation is that he has supporters at very high level because he’s really unable to cope with the situation he’s facing.

Actor Prentis Hancock, who plays the commander, is often criticized for his performance. Hancock had already appeared in “Doctor Who” in the Third Doctor adventures “Spearhead from Space” and “Planet of the Daleks” so he already had experience of the show, therefore he may be partly to blame but his character was unstable and therefore difficult to play in a convincing manner.

Because of these flaws, “Planet of Evil” is one of those adventures that have acquired a quite controversial reputation. In the end, the opinions about it depend on which parts of the plot leave the greatest impression. Those who remember mainly the most atmospheric scenes on Zeta Minor and the high-level episode cliffhangers will make a good if not great opinion about it, instead those who are impressed by its flaws will make a lesser opinion.

Personally, despite its flaws, I think that “Planet of Evil” is overall a good adventure. The extras on the DVD are interesting so I feel I can recommend buying it.