So, on the face of it, with 50 years of hindsight, this is quite an obvious and formulaic story. Characters arrive on strange planet, wander around a bit thinking everything looks odd, notice things that look familiar (but massive) and then something hits them that makes them realize they’ve actually been shrunken down to the size of insects. But I guess if you haven’t seen “Honey, I shrunk the Kids” (and what a blissful time that must have been) the idea would have been quite novel.
This is, for the most part, a very enjoyable story. And there a quite a few science bits thrown in to keep the kids educated – the pitch of voices, the TARDIS view screen tube exploding due to size and the use of the sink as a sound box.
The story also has an interesting message on pesticides and morality. And the morality of shooting people to keep secrets, which I suspect was less of a grey area to begin with but maybe they turned some kids away from the idea.
The plot holds two parallel stories – of our tiny heroes and the full sized bad guys. It is a bit of a shame that there is little interaction between the two worlds until the very end but that does bring things together nicely.
Good cliffhangers, too. I can see now why a generation of people grew up hating cats.
Good pacing to this story as well. Three episodes is just the right length. It never drags and was an easy one-sitting watch.
The characters are well played, especially Barbara after she accidentally poisons herself. She has a nice sense of peril that she keeps hidden from the others and it’s a very good performance.
And, hurrah, we spot a policeman in episode 3! Everyone loves a policeman. And, happily, this one saves the day. Winner.
The only downside to the story is a bit of a weak ending… The Doctor does a thing to the TARDIS and all of a sudden everything’s better. Seemed a bit simple and was a bit of a shame.
But all in all, however, an enjoyable romp and only probably seems a little clichéd because a lot of other people did the same sort of thing in the years afterwards.
This is, for the most part, a very enjoyable story. And there a quite a few science bits thrown in to keep the kids educated – the pitch of voices, the TARDIS view screen tube exploding due to size and the use of the sink as a sound box.
The story also has an interesting message on pesticides and morality. And the morality of shooting people to keep secrets, which I suspect was less of a grey area to begin with but maybe they turned some kids away from the idea.
The plot holds two parallel stories – of our tiny heroes and the full sized bad guys. It is a bit of a shame that there is little interaction between the two worlds until the very end but that does bring things together nicely.
Good cliffhangers, too. I can see now why a generation of people grew up hating cats.
Good pacing to this story as well. Three episodes is just the right length. It never drags and was an easy one-sitting watch.
The characters are well played, especially Barbara after she accidentally poisons herself. She has a nice sense of peril that she keeps hidden from the others and it’s a very good performance.
And, hurrah, we spot a policeman in episode 3! Everyone loves a policeman. And, happily, this one saves the day. Winner.
The only downside to the story is a bit of a weak ending… The Doctor does a thing to the TARDIS and all of a sudden everything’s better. Seemed a bit simple and was a bit of a shame.
But all in all, however, an enjoyable romp and only probably seems a little clichéd because a lot of other people did the same sort of thing in the years afterwards.