"Roll up, roll up and see the monster show!"

The 2nd story from the 10th season is probably one of the best of the Pertwee years. It combines a series of monsters, both up-front and cameo, with both seriousness and tongue-in-cheek insight.

Dr. Who and Jo land on what the Doctor believes is Metabelis-3, the famed blue planet. Jo, however, believes that they are on a ship in the Indian Ocean in 1926, based on evidence of a newspaper and the ship's cargohold. Unfortunately, they are both wrong. The TARDIS has landed in a Mini-Scope, which is being viewed both by the government officials and visitors (two show people who have brought the Mini-Scope) to Inter-Minor. The Mini-Scope contains such specimans as Ogrons, Cybermen, the people on the ship, and the dreaded Drashigs.

I won't go on and spoil the story, but honestly the ending of Part 2 is probably the best cliffhanger of the Pertwee (and perhaps others) years.

The DVD picture is much sharper than the video, and comes with fun extras such as watching Vorg warming up for the camera ("Roll up, roll up and see the Monster show"), alternative electronic credits, a 1981 BBC promo for THE FIVE FACES OF DR WHO, and others.

"Our purpose is to entertain...nothing political!"

It must be tough being a Star Trek fan. While they are given boxed set releases with meager extras, fans of the ever popular Doctor are treated to these marvelous single episode releases that feature intricate remastering and loads of bonus material. Carnival of Monsters, a popular story from the Third Doctor's era, lives up to the high standards set by previous releases both in terms of quality and value for money. The story itself is vastly entertaining, with an even paced plot that hinges on unfolding drama and great performances from all of the principal cast. It may be a little boring for the action minded types, but there's enough sharp dialogue and sci-fi mystery to keep the discriminating viewers thoroughly entertained. Surprisingly, the special effects also hold up well - though they're no comparison to the eye candy of modern CGI images of course. The mono sound is crisp and the remastered image is so rich and sharp you'd never know this was broadcast 30 years ago. If you need more than that, there's a wealth of DVD extras including an excellent commentary, a behind the scenes film, deleted and extended scenes, an alternate ending, promo materials, and more.

A highly recommended release.

Carnival gets a first-class release

Hoo-boy!-another Doctor Who DVD release....As far as Dvds go, this one is loaded with some pretty decent extras. There are at least four deleted, extended and changed scenes. There is an alternate opening sequence that sounds as if Keith Emerson may have had more of a hand in composing than the BBC workshop. There are commentary tracks, but for some reason, my player wouldn't work in that mode. The DVD transfer is of above average quality, but somehow the deleted scenes looked better. Go figure. The audio quality is also above average. I had no trouble understanding any of the spoken dialogue. The photo gallery is nice; I was really surprised to see the way Katy Manning hadn't aged one iota--she truly is a beautiful woman. There is also a small behind the scenes clip that shows just how much work went into the production of just one scene from the series, another reason we fans should be grateful to the creative architects who helmed the series over the years. There are even a couple of hidden features that showcase an extneded opening sequence and some guy counting backwards from 30. As for the story itself, Carnival was never one of my favorites from the Pertwee era, which is why the four stars instead of five. I would have rather seen Inferno or another Master episode released. It's way overhyped. Granted, the writing is very clever, but the action and plot are real yawners. Still any Who you can see is good who.