The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is the fourth and final serial of the 25th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 14 December 1988 to 4 January 1989.

Aside from others who have been invited, the Circus is surprisingly empty; a few entertainers and stagehands are present alongside the Ringmaster and Morgana, the ticket seller and fortune teller; the only audience is a stoic family of three: a father, mother, and daughter.

He recognises Flower Child's earring; although his memories were scrambled when he was captured, he tells Ace he remembers there being more people at the circus.

They find a well, with a glowing energy source at the bottom, featuring an eye symbol similar to that on the Chief Clown's kites and Morgana's crystal ball.

The Chief Clown locates the three in the caravan, and Bellboy, feeling unable to move on after Flower Child's death, kills himself to let the Doctor and Ace escape.

Kingpin helps defeat the Chief Clown and his robots before they return to the circus, only to find the Doctor has again been called to entertain the family.

[2] Owing to the discovery of asbestos at the BBC, which led to the temporary closure of various television studios, this story nearly met the same fate as that of the uncompleted Shada - that of being cancelled after the location work had been completed.

However, a tent was erected in the car park of BBC Elstree Centre, where the crew completed all sequences previously scheduled for the studio.

[citation needed] Model shots were originally created for this story to be used during Part 1 for when the Doctor's TARDIS is infiltrated by the advertising drone.

Jessica Martin, who plays Mags in this episode, briefly returns in "Voyage of the Damned" (2007) voicing Queen Elizabeth II.

Part 4 received the highest viewing figure of Sylvester McCoy's time in Doctor Who - 6.6 million against Coronation Street.

"[5] In The Discontinuity Guide, Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping said: "The ideas in this, one of the most iconic stories, are very imaginative and the direction is psychedelic.

But it's undergirded by some scary set pieces to make it tense, brilliant direction by Alan Wareing, some thoughtful moments and a stunning performance by Ian Reddington as the Chief Clown.

[10][11][12] All tracks are written by Mark Ayres, except where notedAn edited suite of music from the story was also released on the series 50th Anniversary album from Silva Screen.