DVD review (region 2)
Directed by David Maloney
Starring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen
Release date 15 October 2007

The Doctor and Sarah battle a deadly anti-matter creature that manifests itself on a spooky jungle planet…

Something of a forgotten classic, Planet of Evil is that rare thing, a Doctor Who story best known for its stunning set design! But away from the creepy alien jungle that looks good enough to give Star Wars’ Dagobah a run for its money, there is much that is memorable in this four-parter from arguably Doctor Who’s finest season, with the dream team of Hinchcliffe and Baker at the height of their powers.

The bland Morestran spaceship design is easily dismissed as a case of the production team having no money left after that jungle, but it actually works fairly well in contrast to the detailed, natural habitat in the story.

The cast work well, with Baker delivering a grave and at times fairly dark performance, a long way from his flippant Time Lord of later seasons. Elisabeth Sladen, who always claims that this is her favourite story, is similarly effective, somehow lifting her performance above the accepted “what’s happening Doctor?” clichés, and suggesting a character who has travelled extensively but doesn’t have all the answers.

Aside from a cheeky cliffhanger resolution (they were much closer to death than that!) and an unforgivably weak performance from Prentis Hancock (especially given the otherwise excellent supporting cast), this is Doctor Who at the pinnacle of its greatness.

As ever, the extras are marvellous (this is an alleged ‘bare bones’ release, yet still seems to cover all the bases), with a showpiece documentary that offers plenty of insight into the making of the story. Philip Hinchcliffe appears rightly proud of his work, and also rather flabbergasted at just how low the budget that he had to work with actually was. Jonathan Wilkins

VERDICT: 9/10
The highlight of the show’s ‘horror years’.