Why The Greatest Show in the Galaxy Aged Better Than Most of McCoy
The Gods of Ragnarok aren't the coolest villains, but they take on new meaning in the age of toxic fandom.
Plot Summary
The Doctor and Ace visit the once-legendary Psychic Circus only to find a trio of toxic fans have turned it into a quirky nightmare.
Notable for:
Originally planned as a three-parter before the producers asked for it to be expanded to four episodes.
BBC asbestos problems shut down studios, so the serial was rescued by filming the circus tent material in a real tent set up at BBC Elstree, after location work at Warmwell Quarry in Dorset.
Whizz Kid was a deliberate spoof of obsessive Doctor Who fans, including his complaint that the Psychic Circus “isn’t what it used to be,” which was a pointed joke about fandom moaning that the show had declined.
Ian Reddington invented many of the Chief Clown’s mannerisms himself, and the robot clowns’ masks were based on a cast of his face.
Sophie Aldred really was afraid of clowns.
This was intended to be Season 25’s second serial, but the season was rearranged so Silver Nemesis could air on Doctor Who’s exact 25th anniversary.
It contains the only appearance of the TARDIS interior in Season 25, and it is also the last televised story where the Seventh Doctor wears the lighter cream coat.
The rap number in the Psychic Circus was the first original song commissioned for Doctor Who since The King’s Demons in 1983.
Part Four pulled 6.6 million viewers, the highest audience of Sylvester McCoy’s TV era.
Jessica Martin’s Mags became popular enough to come back in later audio stories, and Martin later returned to televised Doctor Who in Voyage of the Damned, voicing Queen Elizabeth II.
Pete commentary:
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is an interesting story. For all the characters and mystery within it, it’s actually very simple: The once-great Psychic Circus is on its last legs because it’s been hijacked by powerful gods who demand to be entertained, murdering anyone who displeases them.
The metaphor is apt, and clearly intentional to some degree: A legendary piece of IP is coasting on its reputation, but the fundamental problem is that it’s been captured by its most toxic (and frankly stupid) fans, so it dwindles in output and creativity until it eats itself.
While that’s not a perfect metaphor for Doctor Who itself, it’s probably more relevant today for many franchises, especially Star Wars.
Because of that continued relevance and the punch-above-its-weight production design, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy has definitely improved with age. The Blu-ray has some improved effects (the robot chasing the TARDIS, better lasers, etc.), but they’re hardly necessary.
When something penetrates the TARDIS to kick off an adventure, it’s particularly interesting. It’s inherently more violative of the Doctor’s sanctuary, so you feel more of an impact. There’s a danger of overdoing this—they definitely did it too often in Whittkaer’s era—but here it’s a nice foreshadowing (hopefully intentional) of the power level they’re dealing with, which is paid off with the reveal of the gods in episode four.
I like that the Doctor is enthusiastically diving in, while Ace is reluctant, which is a nice reversal of their personalities. I think the Doctor: 1) likes circuses, and 2) clearly understands there’s a huge problem to solve with the Psychic Circus.
This story has a ton of characters, and virtually all of them are introduced in episode 1: The Chief Clown, the Ringmaster, Nord, the Stallslady, Flowerchild, Bellboy the Captain and Mags, Whizz Kid, etc. Luckily, they’re all very distinct, but it’s asking a lot of the viewer early on.
The location work was predictably done in a quarry, though I’m not sure if it was the best choice. I think the bleakness of the terrain adds to the idea that this is a franchise on its last legs, but it’s almost too desolate: It feels like the circus hasn’t been attracting crowds for a while. While that’s sort of the point, given how demanding the Gods of Ragnarok are, you have to assume there has been a steady stream of individuals up until this point, and this is literally the last of them.
The simplicity of the gods’ “evil plot” is actually kind of refreshing: “Dance, people! Entertain us!” The fact that they do it in an ultimately terrible and self-destructive way (who’s going to entertain you if you kill the Ringmaster and the fortune teller/Morgana?) underscores the evils of addiction, not to mention boredom: You know its bad for you, but you keep doing it anyway. Witness doomscrolling, TikTok—this will always be relevant/true.
Ultimately, it’s probably best to not get too bogged down into the details of who the Gods of Ragnarok are, their motives, and the mechanics or history of the circus itself. This one is really more about the vibes and the metaphor, and those work wonderfully.
Deadbeat is an interesting choice of hero. He’s kind of a non-presence until he “comes around,” but after that he and Ace make a pretty good team, blowing up stuff to save the day.
Production values of this one were pretty damn good.
It’s hard to believe they filmed a lot of this in a literal tent, but that actually turned out to be visually great.
The robot conductor looks very cool, the Chief Clown’s makeup is excellent, the acrobatics, etc.—all top marks.
Nord’s bike is, indeed, wicked.
The explosions are some of the best in Classic Who—the conductor robot is absolutely atomized, and Sylvester McCoy walking away from a very real explosion is perfect (despite it being much larger than they planned).
The miniature work they did with the Big Top is really convincing.
Love watching the Doctor swing around the Big Top in episode 4. This is the “Chekhov’s gun” payoff of having a circus as your primary set piece—you have to pay off with high-flying action.
Whizz Kid is great. Here’s a super-early version of meta commentary on Doctor Who as a franchise with fans, and scrutinizing that relationship. Smart and astronomically more relevant today.
The villains in this are really good: The Captain might be the best performance. The way he twists his nonchalance into evil indifference is great, and his perspective—that what he’s doing is supremely logical since it’s very clear what happens to performers in the Psychic Circus—isn’t just understandable, it’s arguably justified. Witness Rose in Bad Wolf: “OK, I’ll play to win.”
Ian Reddington as the Chief Clown is outstanding. His gestures, eyes, the way he speaks, everything. You can see why he was voted top villain of the season in DWM.
What did Pete’s family think?
Grace adored this episode. With all the colorful characters and budding mystery, she declared “I love this already,” about 10 minutes into episode 1. She thought it was super interesting, and she loved all the characters (or loved being creeped out by them, in the case of the Chief Clown). She called it her favorite Classic Who story, at least until episode 4, which I think she felt was a bit disappointing.
Four Questions to Doomsday - Pete
Why did the Randomizer take us here? Obviously answering Chris’ request. More importantly, it shows just how much the McCoy era, and his Doctor, improves over the course of 2 seasons.
The Highlanders had the companions wanting to explore while the Doctor wanted to leave. This is the reverse.
Not as much quarry as Time and the Rani, but still plenty of quarry.
What if the evil plot had succeeded? So they don’t get the medallion to the Doctor, and gods kill him. Ace and Mags try their hand at the Dark Circus, entertaining the gods and then reflecting their power back on them. With the Doctor dead, though, Ace ends up joining Kingpin’s circus.
Where’s the Clara splinter? She’s the Stallslady, waving away the locals, making the circus seem uncool to them, preserving the planet’s indigenous population as best she can.
Dalek, Ogron, Professor Hayter, Viscount Banger, Fixed Point in Time, Lady Cassandra, or Zarbi? Punches way above its weight for the McCoy era. There’s a little too much going on early on, and the central premise (an interstellar circus that lures people to their deaths) requires a good deal of headcanon, but it’s a super fun watch that’s gotten more relevant with age. Dalek-Banger hybrid.
Chris commentary:
I would really, dearly love to be one of the “Cartmel kids” who think this story is cool overall because the Doctor fights gods in it. I would! I wanna believe! But I can’t! The story’s just too naff! It’s too on the (clown) nose, in every way possible, until that bafflingly un-earned reveal with the gods …
That said, it’s fun to go back to the beginning and consider the meaning of the Doctor learning juggling BEFORE the Circus invitation arrives. But …
The problems are baked into the script from the start, and I think it’s a result of too many cooks in the kitchen – or rather the same cook going back too many times.
For instance, the original version of Whizz Kid – where he’s a computer games genius and turns into a ghostly scoreboard when he dies – would have been amazing! And then you wouldn’t have to turn him into an on-the-nose parody of fandom! Which Wyatt admitted he did. Which given he’s not a sci fi fan himself, rankles more.
Though overedited, the script manages to look so jumbled it’s like it wasn’t edited at all. There’s an example that gets me right at the start, in the TARDIS. “How extraordinary,” says the Doctor of the junk mail. Then one line later: “just the kind of thing you’d expect to see in this part of the galaxy.” Well, which is it? It can’t be both extraordinary and mundane in these parts? And that’s on page 1! Many such examples … this one is solved by the novel.
The last time we see the round things. Pour one out for the round things …
Even the TARDIS is getting smaller. The door to quarters etc. now just seems to be a closet.
Headcanon: the Psychic Circus is where he gets the psychic paper? (Because there has to be something psychic about it, we don’t really see much in the way of psychics …)
Yeah, ok, the sheets were nicer than they would have been in the studio.
Much of this was shot in the car park for East Enders. I hate that for Who … but it’s very telling, and it’s why much of Greatest Show leaves me with a sour taste. So much of it seems so cheap and so tired. Again, it’s like a show that wants to go.
Except for the Chief Clown, of course, who almost single handedly saves this thing from Ogron oblivion. And that’s 1000% Ian Reddington.
I cannot take any scene on that rundown hippy bus seriously. Or any of the hippy characters, tbh. And it’s because Stephen Wyatt hated hippies, which made them an odd choice for his heroes. Write what you know! And don’t come for the hippies before you understand San Francisco …
For example, the doctor and ace are eating fruit to prove they’re not hippies. This is ass backwards. Remember noted fruitarian and hippy Steve Jobs?
I mean the Doctor IS a hippy, for crying out loud. Just ask his wife. But even before she said that, just look at what he does … An itinerant adventurer who pleasure jaunts around, picking up strays in his bigger on the inside hippy bus; he’s very forgetful, turns into a social justice warrior when he feels like it, has a loose relationship with time, can’t hold down a job … I mean, even Hartnell – the long hair and a fondness for far-out Edwardian garb … need we say more?
If you know it’s going to look cheap, acknowledge that in the script. Maybe this is too New Who a thing to hope for, but so much of this could have been great if they’d simply had the characters remark that this is … well, a pathetic excuse for a circus, and for an audience of 3? This isn’t what they’d been led to believe in the brochures, etc. etc. the Doctor does a bit of that when he gets to the planet, why drop it?
Otherwise it just doesn’t pass the smell test. We can’t suspend disbelief that much. We’re not Nord. What was it that Whizz Kid was a fan of here, exactly?
Captain Cook was supposed to die at the end of episode 1, but the writer liked him too much. Love the actor, but about one episode is all I could stand of the character – himself more an apparent parody of the Doctor than of Indiana Jones, the intention.
This is the second time Who has been too clever by half about its own decline and fall, with terrible on-the-nose metaphors (this and Trial of a Time Lord) that only make the case for cancellation stronger …
And so little of it was actually intended by Wyatt. Just read into it. Which is telling.
As is the fact that Wyatt loved what was on screen! Like George Lucas loved Phantom Menace …
From Kingpin to Deadbeat? Srsly?
Is there ANY character who’s not a cliche? Peggy Mount playing a Peggy Mount cliche. Nord as a biker cliche. Whizz kid. Captain Crunch. (why steal Captain Cook’s name?) Mags …
Ok, Mags is pretty cool, even if she does look like she stepped out of a Bonnie Tyler video. But her name appears to be taken from the werewolf girl in “The Circus of Dr Lao,” 1935, which bears a lot of similarity …
Cliffhanger at the end of ep 1 was supposed to be the clown beckoning them in, which would have been FAR better.
“All’s fares in love and war” – ugh, no wonder McCoy ad-libbed “just the ticket.”
Four-ish Questions to Doomsday - Chris
Why did the Randomizer take us here? McCoy original sin, McCoy second sin … Chris Jury (Deadbeat) was the other guy I didn’t mention who could have been Seven … episode 4 was the most watched, reverse of Time and the Rani …
Where’s the Clara splinter? She’s created this whole “gods of Ragnorak” side quest for the Doctor … that is in fact the illusion (this should be obvious, because look at them), because her real purpose is to DESTROY AND DEFEAT CLOWNS back in the real world, on Segonax itself. Why? Because the Doctor has come dangerously close to being a creepy clown HIMSELF at times. Especially in the last incarnation, with that coat. And even the seventh, with those spoons (or more accurately, sporks), and all the terrible tricks he thinks are great … let’s be honest, the Doctor’s inner clown is never very far from the surface. And if he’d encountered these clowns without thinking they were hiding something evil underneath, maybe he’d join their cult, or start a whole new one? Bringing the greatest clowns in history to the Greatest Show in the Galaxy, using the TARDIS as a taxi service? And then several regenerations down the line awaits … the Valeyard Clown …
Dalek, Ogron, Professor Hayter, Viscount Banger, Fixed Point in Time, Lady Cassandra, or Zarbi? Fixed Professor in Time.