Doctor Who review: The Planet of Witches gives subversive takes on familiar ideas
By James Aggas
Witches. Broomsticks. Witchfinders. The Planet of Witches has all of these classic elements – but they’re also given a distinctly Doctor Who twist…
The Planet of Witches sounds pretty straightforward. Like many classic Doctor Who stories, it’s got the kind of title that tells you exactly what to expect. Well, that’s what we’re lead to believe. In some ways, it follows expectations, but in other ways, it doesn’t.
I should have expected this from an Alan Barnes script. Stories by Alan Barnes can be either extremely emotional or extremely subversive. (Sometimes both.) Bonus points if what he’s subverting is a classic monster. (The Red House from The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure and An Alien Werewolf in London are prime examples of this.)
So it shouldn’t be surprising that he takes a lot of tropes associated with stories featuring witches and twists them a little. This is especially true of the Witchfinders. Witchfinders are common in both horror and history, but these Witchfinders are noticeably different due to who they’re working for. It’s a little detail that helps this story to stand out. One of many little details, in fact.
The first story of The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Series 9, The Planet of Witches features a number of fleshed out characters and intriguing ideas.
Image Courtesy Big Finish Productions
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A mix of ideas and characters
There are also some rather distinctive characters in this story, too. One in particular that stands out is Crone. Played brilliantly by Abigail McKern, Crone is a character that changes over time as the story goes on. There are a lot of different sides explored with her, and McKern plays all of them rather well.
What’s also great about this story is that Barnes doesn’t just settle for one antagonist. Instead, he presents a world of colliding forces, forces that want to destroy each other but are equally dangerous to the rest of the universe. Sometimes, two hours can be too long for a Doctor Who story, so having multiple antagonists to explore works rather well.
Lastly, like Purgatory 12 and Chase the Night, The Planet of Witches also fits the tone of Season 18 extremely well. Surprisingly so, in fact, considering Tom Baker’s final season featured a harder sci-fi approach, thanks to the script editing of Christopher H. Bidmead. (Vampire story State of Decay was the one exception to this.)
But, despite being focused on “witches”, Alan Barnes’s script explores a lot of interesting ideas in terms of science-fiction. In fact, the explanation for what the “witches” really are is a simple yet perfectly fitting one.
Featuring strong characters, multiple villains and a lot of ideas, The Planet of Witches is another release that’s easy to recommend from the ninth series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures.
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What classic monsters would you like to see explored in the Doctor Who universe? What do you think could be given a fresh spin? Let us know in the comments below.