Planet of Giants
Encyclopedia
- An early draft of this story – by C.E. Webber and entitled The Giants – was originally meant to be the first story of the first season.
Episode 4
- This story was originally four episodes in length. Upon viewing Episodes 3 and 4, which focused more heavily on Hilda and Bert, Head of Drama Sydney NewmanSydney NewmanSydney Cecil Newman, OC was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s...
ordered them spliced together in order to form a faster-paced climax (Episode 3) focusing on the core characters of the series. Episode 4 was called "The Urge to Live" and directed by Douglas CamfieldDouglas CamfieldDouglas Gaston Sydney Camfield was an accomplished director for television from the 1960s to the 1980s. His programme credits include Z-Cars, Paul Temple, Van der Valk, The Sweeney, Shoestring, The Professionals, Out of the Unknown, The Nightmare Man, the BBC dramatisation of Beau Geste and...
(instead of Mervyn PinfieldMervyn PinfieldMervyn Pinfield was a British Television producer and director working for the BBC during the 1950s and 1960s. He is well known for being the associate producer on the BBC television series Doctor Who from the first episode of An Unearthly Child to The Romans, during Verity Lambert's tenure as...
, who directed Episodes 1-3). When Episodes 3 and 4 were edited together to make the new Episode 3, only Camfield was credited. - The decision to splice the last two episodes into one would have ramifications for the second production block of the series, when the producers were left with a one-episode space following Galaxy 4Galaxy 4Galaxy 4 is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 September to 2 October 1965.-Plot:...
. Rather than producing a single-episode stand-alone story or extend any of the planned serials, Mission to the UnknownMission to the Unknown"Mission to the Unknown", sometimes known as "Dalek Cutaway", is an episode in the television series Doctor Who. It is a standalone episode, serving as an introduction to the 12 part story The Daleks' Master Plan...
was commissioned to serve as a prelude to The Daleks' Master PlanThe Daleks' Master PlanThe Daleks' Master Plan is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The twelve episodes were aired from 13 November 1965 to 29 January 1966...
without the participation of any of the regular cast. This was produced in the same block as Galaxy 4, and both were held over to be the first two serials of Season 3.
In print
A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance DicksTerrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks is an English writer, best known for his work in television and for writing a large number of popular children's books during the 1970s and 80s.- Early career :...
, was published by Target Books
Target Books
Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became well known for their highly successful range of...
in January 1990. It was the final serial of the William Hartnell era to be novelised. The novel also reinstated much of the material cut to make the televised serial into three episodes.
VHS and DVD releases
- This serial was released on VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in 2002; it was the first commercially-released story to receive the VidFIREVidFIREVidFIRE is a restoration technique intended to restore the video-like motion of footage originally shot with television cameras now existing only in formats with telerecording as their basis...
process. - The serial is scheduled to be released on DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in 2012.
Reviews
- Planet of Giants reviews at Outpost GallifreyOutpost GallifreyOutpost Gallifrey was a fan website for the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was active as a complete fan site from 1995 until 2007, then existing solely as a portal to the still-active parts of the site, including its news page and forums Outpost Gallifrey was a fan website...