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Primed as I have been by Patrick Mulkern's Radio Times entry, it's obvious why Planet of Fire has gained a reputation as the Doctor Who eye candy story for al persuasions. Noteworthy, though, is Nicola Bryant's performance, all method - which just makes the unattractiveness of Peri's character more apparent. I'm not sure why the programme was addicted to saddling the Doctor withe Doctor with selfish companions, and it's not as if they had redeeming character arcs. Peter Davison, meanwhile. chooses to quietly play the Doctor as someone ahead of the action, but unable to shape events - much as some actors must feel. Anthony Ainley's Master is badly served; though Dallas Adams's Brian Epstein-like appearance as the Kamelion-Howard-Master is a hint of what might have been, had John Nathan-Turner been able to channel his obsession with the entertainment industry more creatively.
The set of the Temple of Logar interior looks unhappily like a giant pizza oven. Perhaps the set designer was pining for the tourist restaurants of Lanzarote. Design is generally a problem, with the series not for the first time being too ambitious; the contrast between Lanzarote and Television Centre is very apparent.
Back in 1984, in DWB, a thirteen-year-old correspondent denounced Planet of Fire as 'a typical Peter Grimwade story'. I'd say that was only true now in that Grimwade was consistently let down by his interpreters. There's a story here, but it's lost, just as the pathos of Kamelion's plight is lost beneath the apparent cruelty of successive characters of all motivations.
ETA: I was a little harsh to Peri - while she loses points by joining in the Kamelion-kicking, she gains some just by offering her hand to the Doctor and helping him to the top of the mountain. That's a touching framing from the film cameraman, and perhaps redeems Fiona Cumming's workmanlike conceptualisation.
The set of the Temple of Logar interior looks unhappily like a giant pizza oven. Perhaps the set designer was pining for the tourist restaurants of Lanzarote. Design is generally a problem, with the series not for the first time being too ambitious; the contrast between Lanzarote and Television Centre is very apparent.
Back in 1984, in DWB, a thirteen-year-old correspondent denounced Planet of Fire as 'a typical Peter Grimwade story'. I'd say that was only true now in that Grimwade was consistently let down by his interpreters. There's a story here, but it's lost, just as the pathos of Kamelion's plight is lost beneath the apparent cruelty of successive characters of all motivations.
ETA: I was a little harsh to Peri - while she loses points by joining in the Kamelion-kicking, she gains some just by offering her hand to the Doctor and helping him to the top of the mountain. That's a touching framing from the film cameraman, and perhaps redeems Fiona Cumming's workmanlike conceptualisation.