6Q3 - Planet of Fire 3

Planet of Fire has been one one of toughest stories I think I've ever had to review during this whole marathon (as I'm sure you can tell by the massive gulf between entries on the blog these past weeks, although other, outside factors are contributing heavily to these delays and are also pretty much thwarting my intended goal of finishing the entire run of Doctor Who by March 26, 2010).

I am thoroughly enjoying the story, much more so than I thought I would, actually. But I can't put my finger on why I enjoy it so much. There are little elements - the location footage, Peter Wyngarde, Nicola Bryant's cleavage - that are fantastic on their own, but can such small mercies add up to make an enjoyable story on their own? Possibly...

I'll add to the list Peter Howell's splendid music score as one of my many favourite things of this story. Howell, who is in my mind the best composer from the 1980-85 Radiophonic Workshop era, comes up with a score for Planet of Fire that sounds ethnic, but not tied to a specific recognizable culture. Actually, strike that - the music does sound like that of a specific culture: that of the people of Sarn. Howell's score is unique and gorgeous, with enough futuristic elements to steer it away from predictability. Best bit: the idiosyncratic chase music during Peri's brief flight from The Master in Episode Three. Bizarre, but lovely.