The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (TV story): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Story

|season number          = Season 25

|story number          = 154

|writer                = [[Stephen Wyatt]]

|broadcast date        = [[14 December (releases)|14 December]] [[1988 (releases)|1988]] - [[4 January (releases)|4 January]] [[1989 (releases)|1989]]

|network                = [[BBC1]]

|thwr=24|thwr2=86|thwr3=89}}

'''''The Greatest Show in the Galaxy''''' was the fourth and final serial of [[season 25]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It showcased many of [[Sylvester McCoy]]'s own skills as an entertainer, and some new tricks he had been taught to perform for the story.

The TARDIS materialises on Segonax. The only sign of life readily apparent to the travellers is a roadside stand run by a jaded and cynical [[Stallslady|woman]], who very much frowns upon [[Hippie|hippies]] and the circus as crazy savages. The Doctor and Ace to sample some of the stallslady's delicacies to convince her to tell them the way to the circus, to Ace's reluctance. She then warns them of the circus. Ignoring her advice, Ace and the Doctor press on to the circus.

== References ==

* [[Ben Aaronovitch]] suggested the character that became Captain Cook.

* [[Sylvester McCoy]] was coached in magic by Geoffrey Durham, otherwise known as The Great Soprendo, for the sleight-of-hand and other magic trick scenes. This was the first time that a magic consultant had been involved in the production of a ''Doctor Who'' story since the uncredited contributions of Larry Barnes and Ali Bongo for ''[[The Talons of Weng-Chiang (TV story)|The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]'' in 1977.

* The ''Radio Times'' programme listing for part one was accompanied by a black-and-white publicity shot of the Doctor and the Stallslady with the accompanying caption "The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) discovers mysterious forces at work on Segonax. Will the stallslady (Peggy Mount) help him? / BBC1, 7.35 p.m. Doctor Who". ''(original published text)''

* Part three was originally going to have featured a short scene where two of the robot clowns unload the newly repaired Bus Conductor from the hearse near the bus, and the Bus Conductor then walks back to the bus. However, because part three was overrunning, this sequence had to be edited out of the finished programme and was moved forward to part four, which was running short. Because of the last-minute nature of this edit, [[Dean Hollingsworth]] (Bus Conductor) was still credited on-screen for part three and in the combined cast for parts two/three in the Christmas two-week double-issue of ''[[Radio Times]]'', even though he did not appear. The ''Radio Times'' programme listing for part three was accompanied by a footnote in the form of a small, somewhat misspelled advert for BBC Video's two latest ''Doctor Who'' releases — namely compilation versions of ''[[Terror of the Zygons (TV story)|Terror of the Zygons]]'' and ''The Talons of Weng-Chiang'' — which had gone on sale in November to tie-in with the series' 25th Anniversary: "New from BBC Videos / Doctor Who in / The Terror of the Zygons and The Talons of Wang Chiang / price £9.99". ''(original published text)'' Both of the aforementioned ''Doctor Who'' video titles had previously been available only in Australia.

*At six words, this story had the longest title until the release of ''[[The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (TV story)|The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe]]'' in 2011.

*When filming the explosion of the arena in part four, [[Sylvester McCoy]] was told that he wouldn't need to walk too far of a distance, as the bulk of the explosion would be supplied by special effects. However, the pyro-technicians over-rigged the arena: the resulting explosion was much larger than the crew anticipated, catching McCoy in the heat blast and even setting fire to some of his clothes. Yet he continued to walk away unfazed because he knew that there wouldn't be any retakes.

*This serial features the first appearance of the TARDIS interior since [[TV]]: ''[[Dragonfire (TV story)|Dragonfire]]'', making it the only appearance of the interior in the twenty-fifth season. It was also the final appearance of the console room set introduced in [[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', though the console itself would make one final appearance in [[TV]]: ''[[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]]''.

*This was also the last televised serial in which the Seventh Doctor wears the cream coat as part of his costume, as it's changed for a dark brown one in [[TV]]: ''[[Battlefield (TV story)|Battlefield]]'', to symbolise the character's shift from light-heartedness to dark and manipulative. The turning point is actually seen in this story, in the final confrontation with the Gods of Ragnarok, where he begins by performing goofy tricks for them, but when they respond by trying to turn him into their plaything, he stops messing around and blows the whole thing to smithereens.

*[[Ian Reddington]] came up with a lot of the Chief Clown's mannerisms — the wave, the eyes, the different vocal tones depending on who he's talking to, etc.

*The writer and director had assumed that [[Sylvester McCoy]] could juggle because of his background in physical comedy and mime, and only discovered at the last minute that he couldn't.

*Like Ace, [[Sophie Aldred]] is afraid of clowns.

*This was meant to be the second story of Season 25, but the season was reshuffled to ensure that ''[[Silver Nemesis (TV story)|Silver Nemesis]]'' was broadcast in the exact week of the show's 25th Anniversary after the start of the season was delayed by coverage of the Olympics. This creates continuity errors with Ace already wearing Flowerchild's brooch on her jacket in ''[[The Happiness Patrol (TV story)|The Happiness Patrol]]'', and looking in this story for the rucksack that she blew up in ''Silver Nemesis''.

*While filming a scene where the Chief Clown leans into a cage to talk to Captain Cook, the vertically-sliding cage door accidentally slammed down on [[Ian Reddington]]'s head, causing him to break two teeth. And they were so far behind schedule due to the asbestos situation that he decided to carry on filming for the rest of the day before seeking help. According to Reddington, as he was led off set, he heard one of the wire operators say to the other, "I told you that would happen".

*The role of Captain Cook was originally meant for [[Ian McKellen]].

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_John-Jules Danny John-Jules] and [[Clarke Peters]] were considered for the Ringmaster.

*Originally, the story began with the Doctor and Mel arriving at the circus, where they were soon thrust into the ring with a punk werewolf, a creature called the Blob, the musclebound Nord (inspired by Thor), and an empath known as the Non-Entity. Rather than performing solo, the characters competed against each other for the family's entertainment in a series of games and challenges. Of the circus staff, it was the Ringmaster who played the most overtly villainous role. The alternative circus was more high-tech and played a larger role, being occasionally glimpsed by Mel. At the adventure's climax, the circus was destroyed when the Non-Entity amplified the Doctor's rage at the needless deaths.

*In later drafts, the Blob was replaced by a half-human mutant, the Whizzkid, who then developed into a computer genius who was an expert at all of the in-ring games and referred to himself as the Galactic Games King. After his death, this character returned as a ghoulish self-parody, with a robotic brain and a scoreboard body. Mel encountered a friendly animal called the Squonk, who later evolved into a clown creature referred to as a Honk. There was a love triangle between the Ringmaster, the Chief Clown and the gypsy-like Box Office Lady (who was originally envisaged as grandmother type), and the Non-Entity destroyed the circus using the werewolf's fury rather than the Doctor's.

*In the original script, Segonax was a pastoral setting.

*The robot had dialogue in the original script.

*Captain Cook was originally killed off in part one, his death being the cliffhanger. At one point, he was going to survive the Psychic Circus explosion.

*In the original script, Bellboy was to be haggard and white-haired, implying that he had suffered electric shock treatment, but this was dropped on recording. The script also indicated that he should be lashed to a kite, not a workbench.

*In the original script, the last episode took place during the daytime.

*The "muck" the Doctor and Ace were going to eat was going to be pineapples.

*[[John Nathan-Turner]] suggested a circus setting, thinking that filming could take place at [[Longleat]] House, the home of a ''Doctor Who'' exhibition since 1974 and set something on a fairground, but he went off the idea as he spoke it out loud, much to the relief of [[Andrew Cartmel]] and [[Stephen Wyatt]], who thought it was a bad idea; he also proposed the title.

* The  original pitch involved a circus infested with creatures who lived underground. However, this seemed unfeasible.

*The Psychic Circus reflected [[Stephen Wyatt]]'s disenchantment with the hippie movement of the Sixties.

*Mags originally came from the planet MacVulpine (rather than Volpana) and spoke with a Glaswegian accent, but [[John Nathan-Turner]] felt that this was too silly.

*At one point, the Little Girl was given the name Sandra, but it was never used in the finished version.

*The hippie bus was previously used as the tour bus in [[Delta and the Bannermen (TV story)|''Delta and the Bannermen'']].

*The relationship between the Captain and Mags was toned down so that people wouldn't question the Doctor and his young companions' relationship.

*The circus design was based on the Jerry Cottle Circus, which was quite big at the time.

*[[Alan Wareing]] was scared witless of doing fantasy after his gritty background.

*The clowns were [[Stephen Wyatt]]'s way of avoiding lumbering monsters.

*It was so hot on location that [[Ian Reddington]]'s Pierrot face makeup ran.

*The crew couldn't afford to move the bus from the quarry after the shoot and they had permission to leave it there.

*The cast had a skittles match with the cast of ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockliffe_(TV_series) Rockcliffe's Babies]. ''This allowed the frosty relationship between [[Sophie Aldred]] and [[John Nathan-Turner]] to improve.

*Model shots were originally created for this story to be used during part one when the TARDIS is infiltrated by the advertising drone. They were never being used in the final programme but still exist in the BBC Archives on their original 35mm elements. Thus they were included on the DVD release as a bonus feature.

===Ratings===

*Part two - 5.3 million viewers

*Part four - 6.6 million viewers

===Filming locations===

*Warmwell Quarry, Warmwell, Dorset

*The car park of [[BBC Elstree]], [[Hertfordshire]]

===Production errors===

''to be added''

==Continuity==

*Ace emerges from the TARDIS hallway at one point wearing the [[Fourth Doctor]]'s multicolour [[The Doctor's scarf|scarf]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'' onwards) and [[Melanie Bush]]'s [[Turquoise (colour)|turquoise]] and [[white]] [[blouse]]. ([[TV]]: [[Paradise Towers (TV story)|Paradise Towers]])

*The [[Fifth Doctor]] previously encountered werewolves in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[Loups-Garoux (audio story)|Loups-Garoux]]''. The [[Eighth Doctor]] encountered a strange virus capable of turning humans into werewolves in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Kursaal (novel)|Kursaal]]'', and would later encounter the genuine article in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Wolfsbane (novel)|Wolfsbane]]''. The [[Tenth Doctor]] would later deal with a similar alien race in [[TV]]: ''[[Tooth and Claw (TV story)|Tooth and Claw]]''.

*Mags will later leave the Circus when her transformations will become too strong to be controlled. She will then join the Doctor on his travels, becoming one of his [[companion]]s. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Monsters of Gokroth (audio story)|The Monsters of Gokroth]]'')

*Later in his timeline, the Seventh Doctor will find out that {{Dreyfus}} was behind the foundation of the Circus and its subjugation to the Gods of Ragnarok. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Psychic Circus (audio story)|The Psychic Circus]]'')

==Home video and audio releases ==

===Video releases===

*September 1999 (Australia/New Zealand)

*November 1999 (US/Canada)

===DVD releases ===

*On DVD:

**[[30 July (releases)|30 July]] [[2012 (releases)|2012]] (UK/Region 2)

*Audio Commentary featuring [[Sophie Aldred]], [[Christopher Guard]], [[Mark Ayres]], [[Stephen Wyatt]], [[Jessica Martin]] and [[Andrew Cartmel]], moderated by [[Toby Hadoke]]

*''[[The Show Must Go On (documentary)|The Show Must Go On]]'' - Production documentary

*Deleted and Extended Scenes

*Lost in the Darkness: ''The Greatest Show in the Galaxy's'' Missing Model Shots

*''The Psychic Circus'' - Music video

*Remembrance 'Demo'

*Tomorrow's Times - The Seventh Doctor

*Victoria Wood Sketch

* [[Radio Times]] Listings

*Visual Effects Designs and Storyboards (PDF)

*Isolated Score

*Coming Soon - [[Planet of Giants (TV story)]]

*Easter Egg: Trails and Continuity Announcement. (incomplete VHS quality, with a brief excerpt from ''The Psychic Circus'' Music Video and an ident link into part two of Survival) To access this hidden feature, press right at "Deleted and Extended Scenes" on the Special Features menu

===Soundtrack releases===

==External links==

*{{bbcepguideclassic|greatestshow|The Greatest Show in the Galaxy}}

*{{radiotimes|2012-10-02/the-greatest-show-in-the-galaxy}}