Doctor Who: Planet of Giants

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Planet of Giants is the first serial of the second season of the classic Doctor Who television series. It was first broadcast on BBC1 in three weekly parts from 31 October to 14 November 1964. It was written by Louis Marks. Directors were Mervyn Pinfield (Episodes 1–2) and Douglas Camfield (Episode 3). It stars William Hartnell as the Doctor, Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman, William Russell as Ian Chesterton, and Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright.

This serial opens the second season with a fresh idea: the TARDIS lands in contemporary England, but the travellers are only an inch tall. The production uses giant sets, sinks, plug chains, matchboxes, telephones, and garden plants, to turn an ordinary house and back garden into a landscape of danger.

Behind the adventure sits a clear theme: a new insecticide, DN6, promises profit and convenience, but it kills indiscriminately and could ruin the balance of nature. A crooked entrepreneur and a nervous chemist attempt to rush DN6 to market, while a government inspector tries to stop them.

The travellers, too small to be seen, must survive floods from taps, attacks by insects, and the careless actions of the full-sized villains, and still find a way to raise the alarm.

Episode 1: Planet of Giants

The TARDIS lands with a jolt and something strange happens. The doors open during flight and a safety system fails. When the travellers step outside, the world looks normal at first, but everything is huge. A worm is as long as a train. A dead ant lies like a black boulder. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan realise they have been shrunk to the size of insects.

They explore a neat English garden beside a modern house. Giant seeds spill from a packet marked DN6. The Doctor studies the lettering and guesses it is a new insecticide. Barbara brushes powder from a seed and hides that her hand feels numb. A cat prowls near them like a monster. The group uses roots, stones, and a matchbox for cover and moves toward the house to learn what happened.

Inside, a government inspector named Farrow argues with the businessman Forester about DN6. Farrow says the chemical kills too much and must be banned. Forester refuses to accept this. He needs the profit and the license. As the tiny travellers reach the patio, a gunshot cracks the air. Farrow falls dead. Forester drags the body away. The friends know they are in deadly danger, and still only an inch tall.

Episode 2: Dangerous Journey

The travellers are still only an inch tall and must reach the house to learn the truth about the new insecticide, DN6. Forester and the chemist Smithers hide the murder of Inspector Farrow and plan to force approval for DN6. Outside, the garden is a giant maze. Barbara secretly feels weak from the DN6 powder she touched, but says nothing.

The group splits. The Doctor and Ian head for a waste pipe to find a way inside. Susan and Barbara climb onto the kitchen window ledge and drop into a metal sink. A hand turns the tap. Water thunders down like a waterfall. The plug is in. The basin fills fast.

Susan spots a floating cork. They scramble onto it and use a hairpin like a pole to push toward the overflow grille. The water rises to their knees, then their waists. At the last moment the cork bumps the grille and squeezes through. The current carries them into the dark drain, where they cling to the cork until the flow eases.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Ian reach the pipe from outside and hear the rush of water. They follow the tunnel marks and call out. The four reunite, soaked but alive, and set their sights on the laboratory and the secrets of DN6.

Episode 3: Crisis

Forester and the chemist Smithers plan to push the deadly insecticide DN6 through, even after killing Inspector Farrow. The travellers, still only an inch tall, decide they must warn the outside world. Barbara grows weaker from the DN6 she touched, but the Doctor reassures her it was a trace and will pass. They head for the study to reach the telephone.

On the desk, the Doctor and Ian rig the huge handset and wires to make a call. The switchboard operator, Hilda, hears odd clicks and a strange voice as Forester fakes being Farrow. Suspicious, she alerts her friend, Constable Bert, and they drive to the house.

Meanwhile, Susan and Barbara prepare a bigger signal. In the lab they arrange paper and a burner, then use an aerosol to blow flame across the bench. A flash fire bursts up, forcing Smithers to see how dangerous DN6 truly is. He turns on Forester, who pulls a gun.

Bert arrives. Forester tries to bluff, then run, but is tackled and disarmed. The crime is exposed, and DN6 will be stopped. With the danger over, the travellers return to the garden and the TARDIS. The Doctor fixes the fault, they grow to normal size, and slip away to their next adventure.

Themes

Barbara’s quiet bravery is a thread through the adventure. She is the first to sense the cost of DN6 and the last to admit how badly it has affected her. Ian serves as the practical problem-solver, hauling chains, testing routes, and taking calculated risks. Susan’s curiosity and nerve help in tight places.

The Doctor relishes the scientific puzzle and the moral point: DN6 does not choose its targets, so it threatens the natural world that humans rely on. The serial’s short, three-episode length keeps the pace brisk. There is no time for detours; each cliffhanger emerges from the hazards of scale or from the criminals’ cover-up.

As television, Planet of Giants is a compact, inventive opener for Season 2. It is not as iconic as The Daleks or as morally rich as The Aztecs, but many viewers rate it above a routine adventure because of its scale tricks, its crisp pacing, and its clear environmental theme.

The giant sets are memorable, the sound design sells the peril, and the cast plays the premise straight, which keeps the fantasy grounded. It is a story that children can follow easily while adults catch the pointed argument about shortcuts and public safety.

It also threads the programme’s past and future. Coming after the dangers of the French Revolution, it returns the team to contemporary Earth but shows that “ordinary” places can be as deadly as alien worlds. The theme of responsibility (science used without care) echoes ahead to later tales where industry or invention threatens life.

And for the TARDIS crew, this is a last outing before a major change: their next stop is London again, where the Daleks return and Susan’s story reaches a turning point. The wheeze-groan fades, and the doors open once more, this time at full size, but with dangers scaled up to match.

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This is a chapter from Craig Hill’s book “Doctor Who – The First Doctor”, chronicling every episode featuring the First Doctor. It is available on Amazon.

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To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

Doctor Who Episode Guides for Sale on Amazon

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