This is going to be another brief one. My workout this morning was not exactly awesome, although better than a couple days ago. I stumbled my way through it, and that's the best I can say. Two months ago I felt like I was in a fruitless running battle to get below 270 and stay there; this month I feel like that battle has advanced ten notches to the 260 mark. Rationally, I know that the round numbers are more prone to fixate upon, and I also know that even if I never lost another pound I would be perfectly happy with how I look and feel as compared to seven months ago. But my competitive nature just isn't satisfied yet, more's the pity. In any case, I staggered my way through the first half of a new story.

Let's talk about that.

Planet of Evil - Parts 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

This story, visually at least, is very much inspired by Forbidden Planet (minus any females on the ships crew, and minus an iconic robot). There is a scientific expedition to a distant planet, and most of the scientists have died. There is a rescue mission to find out what happened to the scientists. There is an invisible monster that, when it finally becomes somewhat visible, is depicted in energy outlines as it menaces the ship. Even the color palate is very similar. I gather the story is also in some ways inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but that hasn't become very apparent thus far. I expect that aspect of the story to leap out tomorrow.

As is common with the Holmes/Hinchcliffe era, this is a very dark and scary story. The planet is covered in a dense and foreboding forest filled with aggressive plants, in many ways similar to the planet Kembel in Mission to the Unknown and The Daleks' Master Plan. When the realization comes at the story's midpoint that the planet is straddling the border between matter and anti-matter, it is quite chilling. If the story as a whole is not very memorable, that has less to do with the quality of the story itself and more to do with the monumental stories that have led up to it.

One other thing that might be impacting my perception of the story is that, frustratingly, this is one of the DVDs that went out of print before I could buy it. Fortunately the stories I am missing are available to stream on BritBox.com, but I am going to be hitting more and more of these in the coming months. Watching these ones streaming on my iPad is not quite as enjoyable as watching it on disc, but what can you do? 

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): Sarah Jane Smith
Episode(s): Planet of Evil - Parts 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 6,570 today, 1,394,497 total
Distance Walked: 3.21 miles today, 692.23 miles total
Weight: 260.12 lbs (five day moving average), net change -47.18 lbs