Review of the Complete Story:
CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS is a real mixed bag serial from Jon Pertwee's tenure as the Doctor. The narrative involves a dual storyline in which the Doctor and Jo end up on a 1920s-era cruise ship only to find themselves trapped in a time loop where events keep repeating themselves (as in the recent film TRIANGLE). Meanwhile, aliens on a distant planet find themselves at the mercy of a pair of entertainers who have a new type of 'carnival' on offer.
The initial storyline, with the Doctor and Jo on the ship, is a decent piece for Who. The special effects are cheap and cheerful, with a plethora of rubbery monsters wreaking havoc and some choice dialogue between the characters. Unfortunately it's the alien stuff where this falls apart, as it feels like a spoofy pantomime-level thing at best, similar to in the Sylvester McCoy-era story, THE GREATEST SHOW IN THE GALAXY.
The ubiquitous Leslie Dwyer makes an appearance as a flamboyant character but there are no others of note here and the grey-faced aliens are a real bore to boot. The whole miniaturised theme is rather silly with some LAND OF THE GIANTS-style special effects thrown in. Unfortunately it's not really all that successful, making this more of a curiosity piece than anything else, mildly entertaining at best.