The Greatest Show in the Galaxy - review

Is this my first proper Doctor Who article on here? Blimey. Well, I saw this late 1980s story recently, and wondered if I could write a review on it. It's a tricky one to get your opinion round, so perhaps it's a good idea. Here goes then.

The icing on the cake of any Doctor Who story is if it includes a scary monster, something that will last long in the memory of children watching. The setting of The Greatest Show in the Galaxy delivers on this front - the Doctor and companion Ace visit the renowned Psychic Circus, whose acts are turning murderous... Killer clowns? It's a classic frightening image that rarely crops up in the show, possibly because it's almost too frightening for half seven in the evening (see The Deadly Assassin for a previous incredibly scary cameo).

And elsewhere, it's a typical Doctor Who adventure, and very reminiscent of other stories of the era. The wealth of location filming in a rather fine desert-like quarry means the production stands up rather well. The writer, Stephen Wyatt, also wrote Paradise Towers in the previous season, to mixed reviews. The similarities are there if you look for them - both have settings populated by a variety of surreal characters, and by the Doctor has arrived, the place has run down, with the robots seemingly developing a mind of their own, in order to appease a god-like figure. But thanks to a much more grounded location - a circus tent! The corridors are simply walled by bits of cloth, genius! - and more focused direction, this second story is far better (even if the production was apparently rather troubled - but you can't tell).

Inside the circus of terror... cheap but cool!

With Sylvester McCoy having found his feet by now, the Doctor is a delight to watch, not least demonstrating some crazy circus skills in the final part. Ace, by comparison, doesn't have an awful lot of character moments, although her fear of clowns is acknowledged (and, in part, overcome), but does get a strong part of the plot, helping the Doctor as his plan comes together whilst defeating robots, without hardly a scream or a pointless question. But it's the mysterious Mags who steals the limelight, getting a nifty twist to her character and a cliffhanger too.

At four parts, it's not too long, but perhaps the story sags in the two middle parts set entirely inside the circus tent. The bad guys only show their faces at the climax of Part Four, alas - and they're pretty famous, bandied about everywhere, like on the DVD cover - though they are done well, with menacing voices. Similar pacing is abound in the likes of Ghost Light or Paradise Towers or The Curse of Fenric - but at least it means the final episode isn't a damp squib.

It's a story with a wonderfully surreal flair, a script that's surprisingly original (not to mention layered - you can read plenty into the McCoy stories, this one included), whilst still keeping traditional monsters and thrills. This surely means, with some competition, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is among the top stories of the era.