Doctor Who - The Television Stories

Doctor Who - The Stories

QuickNav to a Season:

QuickNav to a Story:

Planet of Giants

The Previous Story
(The Reign of Terror)

The Next Story
(The Dalek Invasion of Earth)

Season
Details

Synopsis

General
Information

The
Episodes

Audience
Appreciation

Archives

Notes

First and Last

Story Images

Quote of
the Story

Release
Information

In Print

Photo
Gallery

Synopsis

The Doctor and Susan

Whilst trying to return Ian and Barbara to the twentieth century, The Doctor attempts an unorthodox new technique, causing the TARDIS doors to open in mid-flight, setting alarms ringing inside the craft.

Arriving on Earth, the time-travellers discover that they have all been reduced in size - they are now minute people in a world of giant objects. The TARDIS has landed them between the cracks in a garden patio - a garden teeming with giant worms, ants and cats. All deadly hazards for the miniature travellers.

To make matters worse, the TARDIS crew are caught up in the trials of a deadly new insecticide - DN6. A chemical so deadly that all insect life is threatened - a chemical that is also lethal to minuscule time-travellers…

Source: BBC VHS Video

General Information

Season:

Two

Production Code:

Story Number:

Episode Numbers:

43 - 45

Number of Episodes:

Percentage of Episodes Held:

100%

Working Titles:

"The Miniscules" (whole story), "Death in the Afternoon" (episode 2)

Production Dates:

July - September 1964

Broadcast Started:

31 October 1964

Broadcast Finished:

14 November 1964

Colour Status:

B&W

Studio:

Ealing Television Film Studios and Lime Grove (Studio D)

Location:

None

Writer:

Louis Marks

Directors:

Douglas Camfield (Episode 3) and Mervyn Pinfield (Episodes 1-3)

Producer:

Verity Lambert

Associate Producer:

Mervyn Pinfield

Story Editor:

David Whitaker

Production Assistant:

Norman Stewart

Assistant Floor Managers:

Dawn Robertson and Val McCrimmon

Designer:

Raymond P Cusick

Costume Designer:

Daphne Dare

Make-Up Designers:

Jill Summers (Episode 1) and Sonia Markham (Episodes 2 & 3)

Lighting:

Howard King

Incidental Music:

Dudley Simpson

Special Sounds (SFX Editor):

Brian Hodgson

Studio Sounds:

Alan Fogg and Howard King

Title Sequence:

Bernard Lodge

Title Music:

Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Delia Derbyshire

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

William Hartnell (The First Doctor)

Number of Companions:

The Companions:

Carole Ann Ford (Susan), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright) and William Russell (Ian Chesterton)

Additional Cast:

Alan Tilvern (Forester), Frank Crawshaw (Farrow), Reginald Barratt (Smithers), Rosemary Johnson (Hilda), Fred Ferris (Bert).

Setting:

England (1960's)

Villain:

Forester

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
43	Planet of Giants	31 October 1964	23'15"	8.4	16mm telerecording
44	Dangerous Journey	07 November 1964	23'40"	8.4	16mm telerecording
45	Crisis	14 November 1964	26'35"	8.9	16mm telerecording

Total Duration

1 Hour 14 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

8.6

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)	58.84% (Position = 124 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)	58.17% (Position = 163 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)	57.61% (Position = 214 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023)	Position = 25 out of 29

Archives

All episodes exist as 16mm telerecordings. An Arabic print is also held.

Notes

This story was originally shot as four episodes, the third and fourth episodes were condensed into a single episode at the behest of BBC Head of Serials Donald Wilson just two weeks before it was transmitted. This decision though would have ramifications for this season when when the producers were left with a left-over episode block. Rather than producing a single-episode stand-alone story or extend any of the planned serials, "Mission to the Unknown" was commissioned to serve as a prelude to "The Daleks' Master Plan" without the participation of any of the regular cast.

This story was originally filmed as part of the first season bloc. Along with "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", these stories were held over to Season Two.

Fred Ferris, who played policeman Bert Rowse, was a popular Liverpudlian comedian.

This story is the debut of the most prolific of Doctor Who's incidental music composers, Dudley Simpson. He would continue to work on the show periodically until the end of the Season Seventeen in 1979.

Interestingly there is no noise either inside or outside the TARDIS as it arrives at the start of the story and leaves at the end.

This is the first time in the show that The Doctor is shrunk. He would be shrunk again in "Carnival of Monsters", "The Invisible Enemy" (although on this occasion it is merely a clone of himself and his current companion that is actually regressed in size), "The Armageddon Factor" and "Logopolis".

The Target Books novelisation of this story, written by Terrance Dicks and published in January 1990, was the final story of the First Doctor's era to be novelised. This novel also reinstated much of the material cut to make the televised story into three episodes.

This story was released on VHS in 2001; it was the first commercially-released story to receive the VidFIRE process.

This story was released on DVD in August 2012. Included with this release are full-length reconstructions of the original episodes three and four based on the original scripts before they were condensed into the single broadcasted episode.

First and Last

The Firsts:

The first story of Season Two (even though it was recorded as part of Season One but held back).

The first Doctor Who story to be reduced from four episodes to three. The last two episodes were condensed into a single episode.

The first time in the show that The Doctor is shrunk in size.

The first story other than the initial episode to be set in modern times.

The first Doctor Who story to be written by Louis Marks.

The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Douglas Camfield.

Dudley Simpson's first involvement in the show providing the incidental music.

The first Doctor Who story not to be recorded at Lime Grove.

The Target Books novelisation of this story, published in January 1990, was the final story of the First Doctor's era to be novelised.

The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

Jill Summers's last involvement in the show as Makeup Artist.

Story Images

Show Text

The Docor Is Worried

Ian, Susan and Barbara

Leaving the TARDIS

Barbara, The Doctor and Susan

Susan and Ian with a Giant Ant

Ian and Susan

Susan and Ian Find a Hiding Place

Mr Farrow and Forester

Barbara, The Doctor, Susan and Ian

Barbara and a Giant Fly

Forester

Smithers

Quote of the Story

'Do you know why I'm a success, Mr Farrow? Because I've never allowed the word "can't" to exist'

Forester

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
VHS	Planet of Giants	January 2002	BBCV 7263	Photo-montage	All 3 episodes were subjected to VidFIRE video motion remastering process before release
DVD	Planet of Giants	August 2012	BBCDVD 3479	Photo-montage
Blu-Ray	Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 2 (Limited Edition)	December 2022	BBCBD 0479	Lee Binding	Blu-Ray Limited Edition boxed set containing 9 specially restored stories
Blu-Ray	Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 2 (Standard Edition)	December 2024	BBCBD 0609	Lee Binding	Blu-Ray Standard Edition boxed set containing 9 specially restored stories

In Print

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Publisher	Author	Cover Art	Remarks
Novel	Planet of Giants	January 1990	Target No. 145	Terrance Dicks	Alister Pearson	ISBN: 0-426-20345-3
CD	Planet of Giants	May 2017	Target No. 145	Terrance Dicks	Alister Pearson	Audio version of the Target Novel read by Carole Ann Ford (Susan).

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time)	Issue 9
Doctor Who Weekly	Issue 11 (Released: December 1979)
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive	Issue 256 (Released: September 1997)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team	Issue 285 (Released: December 1999)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companions

The First Doctor

Susan

Barbara Wright

Ian Chesterton

On Release

VHS Video Cover

VIDEO

DVD Cover

VIDEO

The Collection Season 2 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover

VIDEO

The Collection Season 2 Standard Edition Blu-Ray Cover

VIDEO

In Print

Target Book Cover

NOVEL

Target Audio CD Cover

Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time): Issue 9

Doctor Who Weekly: Issue 11

Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 256

Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 285

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
First Doctor

Season 2

References

Doctor Who is the copyright of the British Broadcasting Corporation. No infringements intended. This site is not endorsed by the BBC or any representatives thereof.