Classic Who "The Pirate Planet" Parts 1&2 Reaction

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[@TheElderBlotch]

It's great how this story goes in full-throttle with Douglas Adams humour, jelly baby antics and Romana upstaging the Doctor but the fun gradually peels away to reveal a deceptively dark plot about mass murder on a planetary scale. There's so many cracking sci-fi ideas at play and the Doctor's grave realisation of the depravity he and his friends are up against is chillingly done.

[@andrewcormack-foster3790]

The Captain = Prostenic Vogon Jek.

[@frankshailes3205]

The script editor did a great job through many iterations to harness Adams' humour and ideas without it becoming a sprawling mess - he even met the deadlines!

[@andrewcormack-foster3790]

@@frankshailes3205 Mr. Fiburly = Constant Moan, The Doctor = Dirk Gently, The Mentiads = The Ghosts.

[@Jaketherobonrd]

Douglas Adam’s first contribution to the show. Oh and Bruce Purchase as the pirate captain is so hilarious in this story!! 😂😂

[@Redfern42]

When I first saw this serial in the 80s on PBS, I thought Mr. Purchase looked rather like George Wendt, best known as "Norm" from the sitcom "Cheers". Not that I thought they were on and the same, just that they both had similar features and tightly curled hair.

[@ryanpollard1166]

Douglas Adams is an iconic master of writing sci-fi comedy and The Pirate Planet is the perfect example of that. This is quite possibly my personal favourite of this season. Great villains, very inventive plot, incredibly quotable and the main TARDIS trio at the top of their game.

[@DoctorWhoBookClub]

At 4:09 - the reason Tom Baker has a wound on his lip during this story (that fades over the next story or two) is because, after location filming one evening, he was drinking in a pub and someone had a small dog at the bar. He bent down to give it a nose rub and the dog bit him on the lip!! 🐶

[@frankshailes3205]

The dog belonged to Paul Seed who played the Graff Vynda-K in the previous story. Its party trick was to jump up and snatch a sausage from the actor's mouth. Tom tried the same thing and got caught by the dog's tooth.

[@stuartwho]

Let’s hope Jess knows who Douglas Adams is. Creator of Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, he wrote Pirate Planet just as the first radio series of Hitchhikers was commissioned.

[@dupersuper1938]

If she doesn't maybe she could react to the BBC Hitchhiker series...

[@Alexandrashepiro]

@@dupersuper1938 OH GODS YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@DarknessLovesAll]

MR FIBULIIIIIIIIII, love this story and the captain, always shout that line. Classic

[@Adeodatus100]

By the curlèd horns of the Sky Demon, this is a great story!

[@tombaxter6228]

"BY THE HORNED SKY-DEMON, 'TIS THE PIRATE PLANET!!!" Bruce Purchase is having a blast as the Captain..

[@johnyesjustjohn]

"I'll never be cruel to an atom in a particle accelerator again!" If you didn't know this was a Douglas Adams script, you knew right then. 😆

[@cje499]

The Pirate Captain is so much fun!!!

[@cameronmonaghan6883]

Great story by the great Douglas Adams has so many creative twists. The Captain is one of the best over the top villains. Along with Mr Fibblery

[@Daelyas]

Always love the episodes where the creativity reaches 11/10. The last one that went "this out there" for me was "The Mind Robber". Add on some delicious hammy acting from the captain and what else can I say? A must watch imo

[@UncleMilo]

I am wording this as carefully as I know how, but in one of the future episodes of this story is one of my all time favorite moments for the 4th Doctor.

[@frankshailes3205]

I think I may know the scene you mean!

[@dngillikin]

Whenever old-school superfan Ian Levine used to go on one of his bombastic online rants about the series, I used to punctuate them by shouting "MISTER FIBULIIIIIIII!!!!" at my screen.

[@Wannabe_Baby]

Glad you're finding the Captain so much fun. I think he's one of the standouts of this story. I'll always remember the name "Mr Fibuli" just because of the way he bellows it. Very happy you're liking Romana so far too! She's one of my favourites. It's true that she breaks the mold; we've had other smart companions (Zoe, Liz) and ones with sass but none with the same back-and-forth. I saw someone else describe it as Romana's book smarts vs. the Doctor's street smarts.

[@frankshailes3205]

They do complement each other really well.

[@srmcd1]

I highly recommend getting the novelization of this serial by James Goss. It’s amazing, using almost every draft of the script

[@frankshailes3205]

I've got the cut-down Target version and the long one. I really ought to read the long one!

[@BryanTidwell-k7q]

Douglas Adams wrote this when he was writing Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy... so there are a lot of similar references in this story to hitchhikers

[@arthurcamargo8416]

Ah... the Jelly Belly jelly bean. I think the President, Reagan, used to eat them too. I don't know if he would have been so public about it, except for that The Doctor was also very open about the Jelly Belly jelly beans! And he always has more for each episode without (seemingly, at least) refilling it! It leads me to believe that the bag is a lot like the TARDIS in that it is smaller on the outside! Romana and Leela were my favorite 2 companions because they were both courageous and had their own skill sets that contributed to the story! Looking forward to the next episode.

[@neilmcdonald9164]

Bruce Purchase was Brian Blessed's spiritual brother lol😂🎩

[@ftumschk]

I've just imagined a Classic Who spin-off called "The Adventures of Yrcanos and the Pirate Captain". I would sooooo buy that box-set :)

[@dancingmonkey08]

​@@ftumschkthere's a missed opportunity in the early days of Big Finish, would have been amazing

[@Alexandrashepiro]

gotta wonder who has the louder boisterous voice!! LOL!!!!!!

[@frankshailes3205]

@@ftumschk By the Great Parrot of Hades, so would I!

[@bananasaregood8655]

Easily my favorite story in this season! Love the pirate captain he’s so ott in the best way!! Tom baker had been bitten on the lip by a dog, so they had the doctor bang his lip on the tardis console to explain it

[@keithsolley]

the actor playing Kimus would later play a Policeman in the Tenth Doctor episode Army Of Ghosts

[@dancingmonkey08]

Haha we are in sync, just finished my rewatch of Pirate Planet on Wednesday. Such a fun story, good villain and the Doctor and Romana are fantastic together

[@fatwolf]

Mary Tamm and Tom Baker knew and performed together before Dr Who which is why their dynamic together is amazing. K9 gets to shoot alot. I like how they have to double check K9 didn't kill them, but stunned them indefinitely. K9 is king.

[@robalexander8065]

Can't find any evidence that Baker and Tamm worked together before Who. Mary Tamm was in the same class at RADA as Louise Jameson though.

[@neptune04]

@@robalexander8065 Either way Tom and Mary had good chemistry.

[@frankshailes3205]

Yes I read that she came and sat on his lap at her first casting call with him! Or it might've been the other way round. They got on extremely well as she has a very earthy sense of humour. A very sassy Estonian lady from Yorkshire (she's putting on a posh accent as Romana :))

[@robalexander8065]

@@frankshailes3205 She was asked to by George Spenton-Foster, the Director but in the event she bottled it and didn't.

[@wispa1a]

Only Adams could stun someone indefinitely instead of killing them.... Whatever the difference is...?

[@Skeezer66]

This is one of my 2 favorite stories from this season! The pirate captain goes Over The Top, but he does have a robot parrot!! This story is pure FUN!! As for Romana, if you don't love her now, wait for Romana!! Douglas Adams, who wrote this, has a few other classic stories to tell, and he was one of my favorite writers ever (Dirk Gently and Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy series)!!

[@Alexandrashepiro]

Great story written by The Great Douglas Adams!!!!!! The Pirate Captain is Deff one of the over the top Villains in Doctor Who! Him and his Polyphase Avatron parrot! Mr. Fibuli!!!

[@hornorsilk2901]

I think all of the Fourth Doctor's companions are great. Romana is iconic. Leela is iconic. Sarah is iconic. K9 is iconic.

[@geoffbrundell4685]

Harry to is iconic 😊

[@hornorsilk2901]

@@geoffbrundell4685 he's an imbecile, so I'm told .... ;)

[@JulioLeonFandinho]

I never liked K9 at all

[@hamanu666]

Adric was crap.

[@hornorsilk2901]

@@hamanu666 some people are not mentioning future companions for a reason -- you might want to delete that comment

[@chrisbrooker7260]

Such a fun story, as usual with Douglas Adams content. So full of interesting, often bonkers ideas, as usual with Douglas Adams content. Basically if you’ve read/seen anything by Douglas Adams, you can make the connections pretty quickly. Great stuff. And the Captain is a total blast

[@Problembeing]

One of my ALL time favourites. I've been looking forward to this one. I know you're going to love it even before you've started watching it!

[@Redfern42]

I didn't know until years later, but the candy morsels from Tom's paper sack were not jelly babies, but rather Licorice AllSorts. Even recorded with the hardware of the latter 70s and played upon analog CRT based TVs, the closeups of the sweets scattered upon the ground revealed what they really were. I can only assume the production was not able to procure genuine jelly babies for the recording session and opted for AllSorts. The other claim I've read was that Tom did not like jelly babies but was more accepting of AllSorts. (I've tried both and I, personally, definitely like jelly babies far, far more.)

[@gluuuuue]

If you've ever read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you've a pretty good idea what to expect. The Pirate Captain's robot parrot (the Polyphase Avatron) is one of my favorite props from Classic era after K-9. It's so appropriately befitting the absurdity of the Captain's character and performance.

[@mmattson8947]

I had forgotten the Pirate's appearance. When I see him now, I keep expecting him to calm down and say, "I am Locutus of Borg."

[@dancingmonkey08]

K-9 carrying him in his mouth after destroying him always kills me haha

[@frankshailes3205]

@@dancingmonkey08 "Spoilers, sweetie!"

[@gluuuuue]

​@@frankshailes3205 They would be if Jess didn't tend to film these in advance with a delay time for us non-patreon viewers. She's probably actually done with the third serial of the season. (Like the old days of writing checks for amounts not in one's acct and trying to put it in later using the float.) It's probably not a good habit though..

[@GeordieJoe1892]

The captain looks like a Star Trek admiral who was half assimilated by the Borg

[@ropecrewman36]

Hooray! My favorite 4th Doctor story!

[@gestaltdude]

I'm old enough to remember when this was first shown on Australian TV. Unfortunately, due to the lack of data technology available at the time, we had to wait for the tapes to be shipped to the broadcaster, which mean Australia was a year or three behind the UK. By the time this was release, Star Wars had been and gone from the cinemas and the lack of accuracy on the part of the storm troopers aim had already become a laughing stock in the playground (no internet back then to spread the memes). When first saw how badly the guards were shooting in this, my first thought was that they must have been Empire rejects hired out cheaply to other would be dictators. :D One of my favourite lines from the classic series is coming up in the next two episode. I won't spoil the details, but it may make you think about gravity in a different way. :D I've always loved these stories so obviously influenced by Adams, his humour is on another level.

[@moviesrocks2]

there is a line in one of the next episodes for some reason is one of all time faves. just one simple line. i found it hilarious. be interesting to see how you react to it. can't wait for next week. great reaction as usual

[@liamkc1998]

I just love Romana! 💙

[@stevetheduck1425]

The Cyborg Pirate Captain and his Robot Parrot PolyAvatron are SO ridiculous, that there's actually a reason, which will become clear later.

[@joshuajoshua2732]

Love this story it's a little fun adventure. Tom's funny as always Romana I is sweet and intelligent and another one of my favourite companions of Tom's as well as Leela and K-9 😊. The Captain is as mad as a hatter but awesome villain you don't get villains like this in modern tv these days because of the over sensitive climate we live in.

[@Alexandrashepiro]

yeah ,we all Miss Leela. She is such a great companion! MIOght I suggest if you want more Leela, get into the Big finish Audios! She is featured in quite a bit. in FOurth Doctor Adventures, Some of her Adventures on Gallifrey post "Invasion of time" and even with Jago and Litefoot!

[@richwagener]

She’s been gifted a lot of them and I seem to recall tried to react to a Big Finish audio at one point (not from the main range). I mean one person sent her a ridiculous amount of BF CDs. I think she’s waiting to complete classic who first. I hope she listens. I know fellow fans who don’t get into the audios due to the format and it makes me sad for them.

[@ezragoldstein1870]

Moons Of Madness!!!!

[@bletheringfool]

Douglas Adams at his best. The Captain is so OTT it's amazing

[@stormhawk3319]

The pirate captain’s a bit of a Tom Baker doppelgänger.

[@hamanu666]

Romana I reminds me of hermoine from Harry Potter . Book smart but inexperienced. Loved both versions.

[@jimcat6795]

I miss Leela too I was 💔 when she stayed on Gallifrey. But Romana is 💯

[@billthewhovian]

The Pirate Captain is very campy but I really enjoy Bruce Purchase's performance and find that it adds to the story, it fits in well with the style of Douglas Adams as well as not feeling out of place and the mix of seriousness and not so serious parts really helps the story move along. Can't wait to see you react to the rest of it.

[@kevinwright5129]

Mr Fibuli ! 😂😂

[@MJE-riffs]

Time to watch The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy? I hope so!

[@kemmdog4444]

Welcome to Douglas Adams. Hope you survive the fantastic experience.😊

[@alexfletcher5192]

The head of department was NOT happy with this script and thought it was ridiculous, but later issued an apology to Graham Williams, in acknowledgement that it had worked better on screen than hoped. And what more could you ask of the irrepressible imagination of Douglas Adams. If he was still around in the 2010's, Moffat would have crawled over broken glass to have him write an episode.

[@karlmortoniv2951]

...and Moff would still be trying to get drafts out of him. 😃

[@robertsteele-is4ug]

Pirate Planet is my favorite

[@geoffmason7215]

Great first guess on the 2nd segment

[@djco5782]

Mr. Fibuli could be Chris Addison's dad.

[@timidwolf]

15:39 A rare occasion of someone using the correct term for 1,000,000,000 (an actual billion is suppose to have 12 zeroes).

[@stickytapenrust6869]

I think this was before the UK adopted the short scale. Neither the long scale or short scale are “correct”, they’re just two different systems.

[@frankshailes3205]

@@stickytapenrust6869 Douglas Adams was a fan of the old British system hence the Milliard Gargantubrain in Hitchhikers (milliard being the old name for 1000-million).

[@jonathanmurphy3141]

location filmed in Wales! 😊

[@joeregan3322]

Douglas Adams was just meant for Doctor Who.

[@papalaz4444244]

Note Romana is a Time Lord.

[@mauriceedwards9588]

This story is a full on from the start just be ready for a big twist no spoilers enjoy.

[@thomasstevens2746]

I got my Romana cosplay today 😁😁

[@stevemorganexperience7833]

This just reminds me of star wars 😊

[@whobp8]

A lot of witty dialogue in this one, I wonder who could possibly have written it? Maybe one of the other commenters will know and mention it. 😂 Although Leela isn't in this story, Louise Jameson did visit the set during recording, as she was a friend of Mary Tamm and David Warwick (Kimus).

[@frankshailes3205]

Oh yes I think she and David were at drama school together. I was at a convention in Barking about 20 years ago and they were both there together, it was lovely. Their friendship was still very strong.

[@Jamestopboy]

The most important question here is this: just *how* do you bleach someone's bones?

[@UnleashtheFiore]

Unrelated to the story but I swear you get more beautiful every video

[@alicehodges9964]

This Episode Is Awesome I Love It ❤

[@wispa1a]

Stuned indefinitely must be better than death I guess...

[@kant12]

Love it.

[@johntomlinson6849]

This is a story that although not universally lauded, is wanked over by fans as Douglas Adams wrote it. I like it a lot, but still prefer Robert Holmes material.

[@Adrik-v7i]

The character of the Pirate Captain, and the design of the costume, is the only redeeming quality of this story!!☹️

[@MrTheevilmage]

I fucking love this story