Free to travel in Time and Space again, the Doctor promises Jo a trip to Metebelis 3, the famous blue planet of the Actian Group. But instead he materialises the TARDIS on a cargo ship crossing the Indian Ocean in 1926. Or is it? The Doctor discovers that not only are they an alien planet trapped in a time loop but they are captives of a showman, Vorg, and his Scope - a miniaturised peepshow of Galaxy life forms. The Doctor tries to escape by entering another section of the Scope - a swamp - where he is confronted by the Drashigs, huge underwater dragons. Finally the Doctor breaks out of the Scope and materialises to full size. He becomes involved in the intrigues of the two natives Kalik and Orum, who plan to overthrow their superior by allowing the Drashigs to escape. Vorg destroys the Drashigg and the Doctor breaks the time link by contriving to link the TARDIS to the Scope and returning the unwilling participants (Cybermen, Ogrons, etc) to their rightful times and places.
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The Doctor:  Jon Pertwee
Jo Grant: Katy Manning

Guest Appearances:
Functionary: Stuart Fell
Kalik: Michael Washer
Orum: Terence Lodge
Shirna: Cheryl Hall
Vorg: Leslie Dwyer
Major Daly: Tenniel Evans
Captain: Andrew Staines
Andrews: Ian Marter
Claire Daly: Jenny McCracken
Ptetrac: Peter Halliday
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Producer: Barry Letts.
Script Editor: Terrence Dicks.
Writer: Robert Holmes .
Director: Lennie Mayne.
Designer: Roger Liminton. 
Costume: James Acheson.
Make up: Angela Seyfang.
Visual Effects: John Horton
Music : Dudley Simpson.
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Novelised as "Doctor Who - The Carnival of Monsters" by Terrance Dicks (0 426 11025 4) first published by Tandem Wyndham Publications as Doctor Who and the Carnival of Monsters in 1977 with cover by Chris Achilleos. New edition in 1993 by Virgin Publishing Ltd with cover by Alister Pearson. Target library number 8.

DVD Release: The Ark In Space, episodic format, April 2002; Region 2 & 4 (BBCDVD catalogue # 1097) with photomontage cover.
Features:
• Commentary by Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, and producer
• Philip Hinchcliffe
• TV spot(s)
• Unused model footage
• Pop-up production notes
• Photo gallery
• Interviews with Tom Baker and designer Roger Murray-Leach
• New CGI model footage and 3-D Ark schematic
• Full-screen format

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a
Released in edited form as "Carnival of Monsters" in the UK March 1995 and in Australia & New Zealand (BBC catalogue #5556). Released in US & Canada 1996 (CBS/FOX catalogue #8336, reclassified as WHV #E1311) Cover art by Colin Howard

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The serial featured a guest appearance by Ian Marter, who had originally auditioned to play Captain Mike Yates, and would later join the program as the Doctor's companion Harry Sullivan.

All four episodes exist in color on PAL 2" color videotape, as held by the Film & Videotape Library when audited in 1978.

Studio recording, studio unknown. (19-20 June; 3-4 July 1972)
Tillingham Marshes, Howe Farm, Tillingham, Essex. (30 May 1972)
Cawoods Quarry, Asheldham, Essex. (31 May 1972)
'RFA Robert Dundas', Chatham Dockyard to Sheerness Docks, Kent. (1-2 June 1972)

Episode 1 - As Jo sneaks across the room to retrieve the "Illustrated London News" (while Major Daly is asleep), you can clearly hear the sound of a pen being dropped in the background.
Episode 1 - After the Doctor and Jo are locked up in the cabin, they notice a calendar for "June 1926", telling them that today is Tuesday 4th. Only problem is that 4th June 1926 was a Friday!
Episode 1 - When Shirna attempts to impress the officials with a little impromptu tapdance, a cable running from the Scope to the back of the set can be seen on the floor behind her. (It's also visible on a couple of later occasions.)
Episode 1, 2 - During the cliffhanger, the Doctor leaves the TARDIS door wide open when Jo screams for help, but an instant later, when Vorg's hand lifts the TARDIS out of the hold (and later when the TARDIS is taken out of the Scope entirely) the doors are firmly closed.
Episode 3 - Jo gets stuck in muddy water up to her waist in the marsh, but when they escape back into the Scope circuitry, her trousers are back to being dry and clean.
Episode 4 - The Doctor is specifically told that Vorg is in charge of the scope, but clearly wasn't paying attention, as he later asks if Vorg is in charge.