Planet Of Fire (1984) Review

"This man eats vanilla ice cream with NO chocolate chips!"

Planet Of Fire is a superbly entertaining character-driven adventure with a slightly melancholy theme.

WRITTEN BY

Peter Grimwade, whose writing has improved with every serial.

PLOT

Trapped in miniature form after a failed experiment, the Master(hell yeah!) manipulates the Doctor's TARDIS via Kamelion to move his own ship to the planet Sarn, one of the few planets to contain the rejuvenative numismation gas. It also happens to be the prison planet of Trion, Turlough's home, and it's up to him to finally face his past and convince the superstitious natives that they are not the enemies...

ANALYSIS

Planet Of Fire may not be a masterpiece, but it is simply enjoyable on every level, and after several seasons of oddly paced, woodenly acted, plasticky TV, it is incredibly refreshing, even more so than the previous story. Everything feels natural - Turlough's development, the Master's predicament and the colony's plight. It's the show(and especially the Davison era) on top form.

There's a healthy balance between the character drama and good humor(the Master's miniaturisation is downright hilarious) and something is always happening, but this time for good reason as well. I will admit that the plot can be slightly confusing at times, particularly in the early parts... they really don't do a good job explaining the connection between the Trion artifact and the two TARDISes, to the point where I had to seriously tax my brain trying to work it out afterwards.

But that's a nitpick that doesn't detract from my enjoyment of one of a great romp.

CHARACTERS

Peter Davison is on fire, his Doctor finally acquring a steely backbone without any female companions to cater to. It's very nice to see Resurrection Of The Daleks left a serious effect on him, and he's now more careful and emotionally withdrawn than ever.

I don't think any companion has had a farewell like Mark Strickson's Vislor Turlough. Practically this entire story is dedicated to his backstory and development to a person who would risk returning to his former(and hated) life to save a bunch of aliens he barely knows. A brilliant showcase for how the Doctor's influence has improved a person over time.

Nicola Bryant's Peri Brown is a mixed bag. On one side, she's really very sweet, and though they don't spend a lot of time together, it is very plausible for Peri and the Fifth Doctor to become friends. They're so cute together. That, and Bryant is stunningly gorgeous.
On the other, she's a bit of a clumsy, girly cod in this story. I mean, I've never seen a companion sit down and start crying like a baby before.

Gerald Flood really didn't fare well as Kamelion, did he? There's not even much to say about him except that it was a dignified failure. Also, I was pretty surprised that the Doctor would just kill him(since he did seem to be fairly sentient), but I suppose he knows best. And now that he's toughened up, he's not going to take any chances.

Boy, am I glad to see Anthony Ainley again. That cliffhanger where he pops out of nowhere was so very him that it warmed my heart. As usual, the Master is in well over his head and it's up to the Doctor to save him... or is it?

Dallas Adams was grossly miscast as Howard. Leaving aside the downright creepy relationship that him and Peri seem to have, his acting is phenomenally poor and stilted(although to be fair, the American scenes are honestly some of the worst written in Doctor Who history, because Grimwade has no clue how they behave).

Peter Wyngarde's Timanov was a truly tragic character, a good man who was utterly devoted to his God(really a Trion in a spacesuit) and though he was a little too eager to burn unbelievers, you could see that he had no ulterior motives. But he couldn't face the truth even when it was in front of his eyes, and instead simply left life to be with his God(at least that's what he seemed to do... we never actually saw him burn, but that's what seemed to happen). Wyngarde's performance is multilayered, alternating between naivete, paranoia and kindness.

NOTES

*I'm surprised they didn't even bother to reintroduce Kamelion after his extended break.

*Davison's utterly zoned out expression when fixing Kamelion up is LOL material.

*I got serious Three Doctors vibes with all the contacting Kamelion made.

*Purest technobabble ever? "Kamelion's plugged into the computer. He must've computerised the signals we heard."

*I'm glad to see the Doctor and Turlough finally in new costumes, though I'm not so sure about the flowery vest(thankfully it's only in one scene) or shorts(sadly it's there for the whole story).

*I know I said a lot about how Turlough has become a better person, but his torturing of Kamelion to hide the robot's connection to the Trion artifact is pretty disturbing.

*What actually happens to Peri in the water? And why does Turlough bring her to the TARDIS and not the nearby shop?

*When asked, why doesn't Peri just say where she got the artifact instead of why(something that Turlough obviously doesn't care about)?

*I can understand Kamelion-Howard's first appereance, but why does he keep reverting to this appereance in later scenes? They don't even require him to move, so the production team could've just used the prop! Also, what's up with the black suit that Kamelion wears both as Howard and the Master?

*What makes the Sarn colonists think that their machine controls the volcano instead of merely monitoring it(which was my first thought when I heard there were "dials")?

*So the Chosen One is killed and the fire goes out, but Timanov still follows Kamelion simply because he glows? Wasn't it already confirmed that he was not the Outsider? Timanov in particular should realise this, as he looks nothing like the suit we see later on.

*I love the Master's black TARDIS interior. It'd be even better if he had stuff lying around, but that's a crime he shares with the Doctor in this era.

*The Doctor threatening to end his friendship with Turlough if his secrecy ended up helping the Master was a real shocker. He wouldn't have done this even a season earlier.

*I must say, Mark Strickson carries a lot of authority. Seeing him order the Sarn colony around was a treat. I bet he rose through the ranks back home.

*Why was Turlough sent to Earth anyway, and not Sarn like his family?

*Rather humorously, the Trions seem to use a traditional Earth keypad, complete with hash and asterisk.

*What exactly happened to the Master at the end anyway? He seemed to be fine in the flames for a while, and then he just melted into nothingness. The Doctor reacted as if he died, though, so obviously he wasn't surprised by this...

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) The Doctor mulls bitterly over the Daleks after the bloodbath in the previous story. I usually don't like starting a story out by referencing the one that came before, but here it played into his character so well that I really didn't mind.

2) As the Master prepared to escape Sarn, the Doctor considered materialising his TARDIS around the Master's as he had done way back in Logopolis and considered in Time-Flight. Thankfully, we don't open that can of worms again.

3) Turlough wonders out loud whether the Master is doing all of this because he's heading towards another regeneration crisis. The Master spent the Tom Baker era hunting for regenerations and as of The Five Doctors, is still lacking one. I guess the Doctor told him about all that sometime off-screen. It's a valid question though, so it's alright.

4) The Master reminds us all that he's been "lodged" in Kamelion's mind since their first encounter on Xeraphas, as first mentioned in The King's Demons. I think this plot point is pretty self-explanatory myself, but I suppose it would be helpful if you really had forgotten the character.

5) Turlough's mysterious solicitor from Mawdryn Undead gets a mention, and is revealed to be a Trion agent. Good to know.

BEST QUOTE

"It's still a wise precaution to send the occasional free thinker to the flames." - Timanov, considerate as ever.

CONCLUSION

A lighthearted character piece that neatly ties together all the leftover threads from the Peter Davison era.