CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS

Written by Robert Holmes.

Directed by Barry Letts.

Transmitted originally: 27 January 1973 to 12 February 1973.

"They've no sense of responsibility. Give them a hygiene chamber and they store fossil fuel in it." - Orum [Speaking of the Minorian lower class of Functionaries]

THE STORY

The Doctor and Jo take the TARDIS on a test flight. They arrive on a cargo ship , the SS Bernice, that appears to be crossing the Indian Ocean in 1926, but is in fact trapped inside a Miniscope - a banned peepshow of miniaturised lifeforms - on the planet Inter Minor. They enter another section of the scope but find themselves confronted by ferocious Drashigs. The Doctor eventually breaks out of the the scope and returns to full size. The device is owned by a pair of Lurman entertainers, Vorg and Shirna, who hope to make a quick profit from Inter Minor's until recently, reclusive natives.

They have run into trouble, however, as the bureaucratic Minorians are unhappy with their credentials. The Doctor's efforts to rescue Jo from the scope, which is on the point of breaking down, are hampered by the schemes of two Minorians, Kalik and Orum, who plan to trick their superior, Pletrac, and overthrow the planet's president, Zarb, by allowing the Drashigs to escape. Vorg destroys the Drashigs with an eradicator weapon, and the Doctor, linking the scope to the TARDIS, is able to return all the exhibits to their points of origin. Jo materialises beside the wrecked device, and she and the Docotr leave in the TARDIS.

CAST:

Doctor Who (Jon Pertwee), Jo Grant (Katy Manning), Major Daly (Tenniel Evans), John Andrews (Ian Marter), Claire Daly (Jenny McCraken), Vorg (Leslie Dwyer), Shirna (Cheryl Hall), Pletrac (Peter Halliday), Kalik (Michael Wisher), Orum (Terence Lodge), Captain (Andrew Staines).

FACTS:

Ian Marter, later cast as the Fourth Doctor's companion, Harry Sullivan, plays John Andrews.

A Cyberman makes a cameo appearance as one of the exhibits in the Miniscope.

OTHER FORMATS:

The Third Doctor Novelisations

Third Doctor Videos

Back to the Third Doctor Programme GuideBack to 'The Three Doctors'.