Episode #81 : Planet of Evil

"Here on Zeta Minor is the boundary between existence as you know it and the other universe which you just don't understand. From the beginning of time it has existed side by side with the known universe. Each is the antithesis of the other. You call it "nothing", a word to cover ignorance. And centuries ago scientists invented another word for it. "Antimatter", they called it. And you, by coming here, have crossed the boundary into that other universe to plunder it. Dangerous..."

Episode 81:   Planet of Evil.
Companions: 4th Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith.
Air Date:       Four episodes. 27th September to 18th October 1975.

The TARDIS picks up a distress call and the Doctor and Sarah arrive on the planet Zeta Minor. There they discover that a Morestran geological expedition has fallen prey to an unseen killer and only the leader, Professor Sorenson, remains alive. A military mission from Morestra has also arrived to investigate. The culprit is revealed to be a creature from a universe of antimatter, retaliating for the removal by Sorenson of some antimatter samples from around the pit that acts as an interface between the two universes.

There is a line in this story where the Doctor tells Sorensen "You and I are scientists, Professor. We buy our privilege to experiment at the cost of total responsibility." That pretty much sums up the apparent construct of this story; whether science has the right to meddle in things that should be left alone. In this case it relates to matter and anti-matter, but you can see that that very question is extremely relevant to today's world of nuclear energy, chemical weapons and cloning. Unfortunately this thought provoking concept doesn't save the story.

Even if you ignore the terrible set designs (and as Who fans we love our wobbly sets), this story just doesn't hold the viewers interest I find. The acting is off from pretty much everybody, though as always that could just be down to the script. The effects are quite poor though they do work with regards to the anti-matter monster that is hunting down the people on the planet. But some of the ropey transformation sequences for Sorenson are too reminiscent of the Primoids from Inferno. Some fans love this story but for my money I cannot see how.