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| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Thursday 22 June 2006 |
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| Rating: |   7 |
Galaxy Four has several interesting ideas to keep it going. One is that a society run by women will in the end not automatically be more loving and virtuous than one run by men. Another is that outward appearance bears no correspondence to personal virtue. In other words, Galaxy Four is effective in conveying its anti-prejudice theme by showing that prejudices run in several directions, not just the usual brands of racism and sexism. Its defects are that the situation of the story makes it difficult to sustain for four parts, so that we get a drawn out hostage scenario merely by changing hostages midway through.
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 | Somehow rather confused.... |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Sunday 3 October 2010 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
The main problem with Galxy Four is the Chumblies portrayed in the way they are. If they are supposedly servants of the peaceful Rills, then why do they act so uncharitable to the crew of the TARDIS, and why try to blow up the TARDIS in episode two? I really dont get the point of this if the Rills are the peaceful race they claim to be. If it werent for this woeful portrayal that contradicts the Rills pleas of pacifism, then this would have been a far far better story. They could have just ordered the chumblies to bring the crew to their shipw without the threat of firepower.
For on the other hand, the characterisation of the drahvins is spot on. Maaga is as good a female baddie as the series ever put out. Her treatment of her test tube underlings is brash and callous and nasty. Her character is well thought out and approached with relish by the actress.
And also, the TARDIS crew are all on top form. William Hartnell gives his usual abrasive but charming portrayal of the central character. Peter Purves is excellent, and is really gelling with Maureen O'Brien. They bounce off each other so very well indeed. And the Chumblie and Rill design is excellent too. Just such a shame about the woeful contradiction inherent in this story. Otherwise this would have been another 10 out of 10. Sad.
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| Quietly chumbling along... |
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| By: | Huw Davies, Taunton, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 21 April 2011 |
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| Rating: | 6 |
I don't really mind 'Galaxy 4'. The hatred it has been given by many fans is pretty unfair, because there is nothing glaringly wrong with it. My main problem is that its story is far too run-of-the-mill, and as a result it does suffer.
The idea isn't a bad one: two races trying to get off an exploding planet, with the Doctor and his companions caught in the middle. It's very simple, but 1960s 'Who' was simple so that's not a problem. However it just seems a very lazy plot; the characters simply walk back and forth from each ship effectively playing Chinese whispers, and the plot goes nowhere fast. The 'beauty is skin deep' idea is nice too, but is again not really that integral to the plot as it is quickly obvious that the beautiful Drahvins are the enemies.
From reading the CD information booklet, it appears to have been a lazy production too, with both sides reusing sets from past 'Doctor Who' stories for their own benefit. From publicity stills also the look of the Chumblies is clearly rubbish, at least on the CD cover they managed to 'zhuzh' it up a bit.
So if you're looking for a deep, complex story that's a great example of black-and-white 'Who', miss this out. But it's simple and although not a great example, it's not too bad, and here's the proof. Stuck in a traffic jam on the way to Cornwall once, my mum asked if I had any CDs in the car to while away the time. The only one I had was 'Galaxy 4'. We listened to it all the way through, even after the jam was clear - and she didn't complain once. In fact, she rather enjoyed the whole thing.
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| An absolutely underrated story. |
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| By: | Sofia Fox, Hale, United States |
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| Date: | Monday 11 March 2019 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
An absolutely underrated story.
