The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
| The Greatest Show in the Galaxy | |
|---|---|
| |
| Doctor Whohattan | |
| Season: 25 | |
| Episode: 4 | |
Vital statistics
| |
| Air date | 14 December 1988 - 4 January 1989 |
| Written by | Stephen Wyatt |
| Directed by | Alan Wareing |
Episode guide
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| Previous | Next |
| Silver Nemesis | Battlefield |
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy was a vision had by the Seventh Doctor that convinced him his show had to be destroyed in order for it to survive. It was a resounding success.
It stars Sylvester McCoy as Radagast and Sophie Aldred as Aces.
Plot
Ace and the Doctor are banging on the console when suddenly the Doctor gets junk mail: a little probe telling him to come to the Psychic Circus, where KISS will be playing. They land and immediately encounter a series of ludicrous characters, each connected to the show:
- An aging and fraudulent former adventurer who goes on and on about his adventures and abuses young women.
- A kid who was too young to watch the show when it started and knows it's not as good as it used to be, but still gets terribly excited about the whole thing.
- A violent jackass who threatens the Companion with murder when he first meets here, but soon meets a sticky end.
- The ring master of the program, dressed in a garish clownsuit, who's just trying to keep the show he loves running even as it rumbles out of control.
- A horrifying clown man obsessed with turning this child-friendly entertainment into something sick and violent.
- The hippies who were there at the beginning and abandoned the show as it became less groovy and more violent and explotative.
- The faithful servant who, as the show's nature changed, became a more and more volatile weapon of the new regime.
- The mysterious and sinister nuclear family unit who seem to be in control of the show, yet can't contain the might of the Seventh Doctor.
- The only character who doesn't have an immediate and obvious parallel is that Wolf girl who's obviously the future star of the show.
And when I say "the show", I of course mean the titular one.
It eventually unfolds that the Psycho Circus landed on a creepy planet, somehow right on top of a portal to another realm where THE GODS OF RAGNAROK reign supreme. They took over the show, and blah blah blah stuff that's not as satisfying as a metaphor for the downfall of Doctor Who.
In the end, the Doctor kills the BBC and informs a young gay man and a feral woman from a barbaric land that they have to start the show over. He then leaves.
... okay, no, it wasn't the last episode of the series, but oh man, that would have made an even better story.
Reception
Not as good as I think it should be.
Also, the Ringmaster looks like Obama.
...fuck you, I'm not racist.
