66) CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS
27 January - 17 February 1973
Average Viewing Figure: 9.2M
Plot
Believing to have landed on a Cargo ship in the Indian Ocean, The Doctor discover the Tardis has landed in a Miniscope
Cast
Jon Pertwee (The Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Tenniel Evans (Major Daly), Ian Marter (John Andrews)
Jenny McCracken (Claire Daly), Leslie Dwyer (Vorg), Cheryl Hall (Shirna), Peter Halliday (Pletrac), Michael Wisher (Kalik)
Terence Lodge (Orum), Andrew Staines (Captain), Stuart Fell (Functionary)
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Uncredited Cast
Bill Lodge, Aldwin Davies, Jo Murphy, Murphy Grumbar, George Howard (Functionaries), Mohamed Shamsi, Albert Moses
Jagdesh Kumar, Bob Babenia, Norman Commis, Rudolph Ramil (Ship's Crew), Rick Lester (Ogron), Terence Denville (Cyberman)
Crew
Robert Holmes (Writer), Ron Grainer (Title Music), Dudley Simpson (Incidental Music), Brian Hodgson (Special Sound)
Peter Hamilton (Film Cameraman), Derek Medus (Film Sound), Peter Evans (Film Editor), John Horton (Visual Effects Designer)
James Acheson (Costumes), Angela Seyfang (Make-Up), Clive Thomas (Lighting), Gordon Mackie (Sound)
Terrance Dicks (Script Editor), Roger Liminton (Designer), Barry Letts (Director [also Producer])
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Uncredited Cast
Francis Alcock (Director's Assistant), Colin Munn (Film Assistant), Alec Christison (Sound Assistant), Ian Pleeth (Floor Assistant)
Reg Hutchins (Technical Manager), Gordon Phillipson (Grams), Bill Morton (Vision Mixer), Crew 11 (Camera Crew)
Colin Mapson (Visual Effects Assistant)
Broadcast
Filming Locations
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Tillingham Marshes, Tillingham, Essex
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Carwoods Quarry, Asheldham, Essex
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RFA Robert Dundas, Chatham, Kent
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Television Centre: Studio 4
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Television Centre: Studio 6
Deaths
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Kalik [eaten by a Drashig]
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Orum [eaten by a Drashig]
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Drashigs [killed by Vorg with the Eradicator]
Production Days
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8 Days between Tuesday 30 May - Tuesday 4 July 1972
Production Errors
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A pencil can be heard dropping and rolling across the studio floor during episode one
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The Tardis doors are clearly open when The Doctor steps out, but they are closed in the next shot when the giant hand and reaches for the Tardis and takes it out of the miniscope
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Whilst walking through the marshlands, Jo is waist-deep in the swamp, but by the time she reaches the caves, her trousers and boots are clean
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After emerging from the miniscope, The Doctor is told that Vorg is in charge of the machine, but he later asks who is in charge of the machine - maybe The Doctor wasn't really listening
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How can Vorg control the plesiosaur, and not the Drashigs - when are both unintelligent?
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The Doctor suggested that the miniscope they are in, must have 'slipped through the cracks' when a ban was placed on the machine. Isn't it possible that The Doctor and Jo have landed before the ban was brought in? ​​​
Working Titles
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Out of the Labyrinth
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Peepshow
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The Labyrinth
Verdict
​For the entirety of episode one, Carnival of Monsters successfully fools the audience into thinking The Doctor and Jo have landed on Earth again, until the surreal and almost avant-garde cliffhanger puts everything into its proper place. The scripts are incredibly strong and juggle two totally unrelated storylines for the first three episodes, and successfully mesh them together for the final instalment. However, that doesn’t mean they’re both interesting: the intergalactic political proceedings of the Inter Minorians provide some good satire, and the dialogue is well-written. But the whole Brother vs. Brother storyline is not as creative as some of the other bizarre moments within the Miniscope, and the character of President Zarb is reduced to that of an unseen character - a clever idea, but this leads to several expositional moments. The writing is first-class, incorporating groundhog-day shenanigans which provide some clever and unpredictable material when the same events are repeated for the umpteenth time. The production is met with high levels of energy from the cast and crew alike, and outstanding CSO and puppets shots of the Drashigs, which all accumulate to make Carnival of Monsters one of the most colourful and energetic productions of the 1970s.*****