Episode #154 : The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

"I told you, girl, to get lost. Or I'll do something 'orrible to your ears"

Episode 154:   The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.
Companions:   7th Doctor and Ace.
Air Date:         14th December 1988 to 4th January 1989.

The Doctor and Ace head for the Psychic Circus on the planet Segonax, where they meet a disparate group of fellow visitors including a pompous explorer named Captain Cook and his companion Mags and a biker known as Nord. The Circus itself is dominated by the sinister Chief Clown and his deadly troupe of robot clowns, who organise a talent contest in which all visitors take part. The audience consists of just a single strange family - mother, father and daughter - seated at the ringside. Although hindered by the treacherous Cook, the Doctor eventually discovers that the Circus hides a terrible secret: the family are in reality the Gods of Ragnarok, powerful creatures with an insatiable craving for entertainment who invariably destroy those who fail to please them. With Ace's help, the Doctor ends the Gods' influence here and returns the Circus to the control of its original hippie owners.

The idea of a dark and evil force lurking behind the farcical front of a circus is nothing new but it is a plot element that I am surprised took this long to appear in the show. This adventure for the 7th Doctor and Ace takes that and gives it a rather bizarre surreal twist but not in a way that I find particularly good way. Surreal can be a very good way of dealing with a story concept but this adventure takes it a step too far with robot clowns, ancient "gods" from before the dawn of time and characters that just don't fit the Whoniverse at all. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy hearkens back to the early days when we had stories like The Mind Robber and the The Celestial Toymaker. Those stories didn't really fit in either but dropping such a story in now feels even more out of place.

The 7th Doctor drops back into the mold in which he first appeared on our screens with a clownish behaviour. He seems to be enjoying this dark eerie circus far too much and spends a big chunk of the final part just doing stage magic to amuse the Gods of Ragnarok. Where is the manipulative Doctor who had started to appear over the last few stories?

One interesting note for this story was a surprise for myself. Whilst doing some research on the story I learnt that the actor playing the Ringmaster (Ricco Ross) played the marine Frost in the Aliens movie. Sometimes it really is surprising to see who ends up with a role in BBC television dramas.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is one of the biggest flops for the show. I recommend avoiding this one entirely.