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The Greatest Show in the Galaxy Format Reviewed: VHS Review The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is a story that can be seen as typical of some of the more bizarre tales told in the Sylvester McCoy era of the show. For this story, Sylvester McCoy was coached in magic and illusion by Geoffrey Durham, a prominent English magician of the time. What he learnt for this story he took forward and used throughout the rest of his time playing the Doctor on the show. An advertising pod materialises in the TARDIS, proclaiming the Psychic Circus as a great attraction. The Doctor then takes Ace there, discovering that people are visiting from far and wide to appear in the talent contest. The founders of the circus though are divided into whether they are supporting the circus, or have either lost their minds or flat oppose it. Eventually, the head of the original circus, Deadbeat, recovers his mind and becomes Kingpin again. The Doctor then occupies the alien menace playing circus tricks and illusions until Kingpin can get him am amulet which he uses to destroy the Gods of Ragnorok. Whilst I described this show above as being part one of the more bizarre stories that became typical in this era, it doesn't suffer from the failings of the other stories. The tone of the story is indeed inline with tales such as Paradise Towers or The Happiness Patrol, but what is presented here is much better organised and more polished. The story itself is an interesting premise, in that a malevolent alien presence controls a tourist attraction for their own ends, but what I feel this production does really well is capture the spirit of the founders of the circus so well. Whilst this harps back to English circuses of decades past, it is very fitting for what would have been the perception when this story was written. After all, Cirque de Soleil wasn't a known entity in 1988. This story focusses more on the companion rather than the Doctor, so Sophie Aldreds performance is key. She does well here, and holds up the story with aplomb. McCoy also gives a typically solid performance, and with having to learn magic and illusion, probably worked harder on this than any other story. Of the guest cast, it is hard to pick out anyone that did really well or badly. THis is because the performances of the guest cast are of almost universal good quality. Not perfoect, but very good. The weakest, but probably through the lines he was forced to say rather than his own performance, was T.P. McKenna as Captain Cook. Faring much better, and doing well with both sides of the characters personality was Chris Jury as Deadbeat and Kingpin, and Ricco Ross as the Ringmaster. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is the final story of a series of four adventures that raised the quality overall from the offerings of many seasons past. Not really since the Peter Davison era has there only been one weak effort in a series. This is achiueved here principally through the characterisation, but also through the relative slickness of production, despite the use of another quarry. Doctor Who is always said to have wobbly sets and plastic creatures. Here the effects go well, complimenting the action rather than detracting from it. Overall, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is another decent story in an era where the shows are generally dismissed as being of not very high quality. The entire cast put in good performances, and the characterisation really brings this show to life. The effects though make the story very well polished, and there is also little padding to detract from the quality of the action, good stuff. Rating:  |