The Web Planet

There really is something utterly magical about the first couple of years of the Hartnell era, from the music to the man himself.

Lightning in a bottle so powerful it's lasted 50 years and still counting. 

Get them in their Roman gear... 

The ship's more out of control than usual!  

MAW Holmes@MAW_H It actually gets rather sinister later on when Vicki's left alone, I recall...  

The TARDIS is being held there by some unknown force, much to the Doctor's annoyance. 

It's giving Vicki a headache. 

Love the look of Vortis - it's lens flare 50 years before JJ! 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Whoops! Where did that go? "Dickie, I've got Vaseline on the lens again!" "Just rub it in, luv..." 

Richard Grant@richyg360 some great art work there such a great tv event is Dr Who 

Some giant ants arrive to burble at them, and give the TARDIS a shove. 

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker the Zarbi are giving me a headache already! 

William Russell is an absolute tower of power; so good, so reliable, so quick to paper over the cracks! 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Without whom... He SO should have popped up in "The Caretaker" 

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker Definitely. Or in the Day of the Doctor. Or both! He was always brilliant. 

atruedrwhofan@atruedrwhofan  Agreed. He should have been in both. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Interested to note that the headmaster in Remembrance of the Daleks thinks he's come about the caretaker job... 

The Doctor gives Ian a spiffy new jacket with a built in respirator. 

The Doctor has a magic ring he can rub to open the door... 

Vicki compares Paracetamol to leeches. Obviously never had leeches. 

Those odd beds in the TARDIS, first seen in The Edge of Destruction. 

Vicki compares Paracetamol to leeches. Obviously never had leeches. 

The learning machines Vicki descibes sound like the ones in the Krotons. 

Funny that both sets of characters had completely independent adventures in the Romans and only catch up now.

Hartnell looks great in the white get up. 

Ian's gold pen flies out of his hand and the Doctor thinks it's a conjuring trick. 

Not a lot has happened yet, I'll give you that, but what a luxury to spend more time with our TARDIS crew. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Don't you just love the fact that the original series stories have time to breathe and build up the characters? 

I love the feeling of being drawn in, and sharing their experiences rather than having stuff sort of happen *at* you. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H It really is that "unfolding adventure" thing that you get, pretty much until Ian and Barbara leave.  

The Pyramid is great. 

Barbara starts to feel that strange tingle in the gold bracelet Nero gave her again. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Always a dark horse, our Babs... ;-)

The Doctor dissolves the school tie Ian was using as a belt (don't ask) in a pool of acid. 

Okay, Ian might still be alive but now his troosers might fall down. Swings and roundabouts. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H "Got dressed in a hurry this morning, eh, Cheddarton?" Twinkled the Doctor, archly... 

Barbara is dragged out of the TARDIS by the radiophonic workshop... 

atruedrwhofan@atruedrwhofan this always freaked me out. A Paranormal Activity moment in the TARDIS. I do love how the console spins by its self 

I miss those chunky inner doors.  

Vicki awakens to find she's been left home alone. 

Barbara seems hypnotized - and she's headed straight for that acid pool that dissolved Ian's school tie! 

Ian is trapped in a web. Fancy one of them being on the Web Planet! 

Now the TARDIS is dragged away. It's all go now! 

Racing back to the TARDIS for help, the Doctor finds it's gone! 

Hartnell doesn't just look concerned he looks really upset - great stuff. 

Everything about this story is so ambitious, so pioneering. To watch it on any other terms misses the point. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H To be fair, Bill Strutton's book is so vivid & was 1st experience of it for many, that some disappointment was inevitable.

Good point this; I think I still haven't read the book so maybe that helped in my case!

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Seen on its own terms, it's really not as bad as "received wisdom" might like you to believe. 

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker often the case with those early stories if first encountered in book form - imagination often better re: effects. it's likeable enough, just a tad slow at times.

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Those original three novelisations are pretty fantastic, though...

Martin Robertson@m_robertson_UK I found the novel utterly entrancing, back in medieval times. A truly alien world :)

Kosmic Kris@KosmicKris Am I right in saying that the novel was called Dr Who and the Zarbi?

Yes it was :-)

Ian's having a lie-down, having escaped from the web. 

Vicki wobbles as the TARDIS is dragged away. 

atruedrwhofan@atruedrwhofan love the TARDIS being dragged away by the Zarbi & its roof light flashes as though in protest. As though the TARDIS is alive. 

Barbara is diverted from her zombie walk by a group of humanoid butterflies... 

The costume design & choreography of the Menoptera is wonderful. 

The Doctor and Ian have acclimatized, so ditch their jackets. 

The Menoptera are not optimistic about Vicki's chances of survival so Barbara takes off. 

The Doctor and Ian are surrounded by the burbling Zarbi. The sound they make is very memorable. 

Vicki strays out into "Zarbi HQ", a webby nerve centre, where she's soon captured. 

Neat little effect of the pulsing bit of web growing by Ian and the Doctor. 

That poor Zarbi can't get its head round the TARDIS being bigger on the inside! 

Love the Menoptera's crystal set! 

The strange accent of the Menoptera is musical without ever getting annoying. Brilliant work from the actors. 

The Zarbi have brought a woodlouse looking creature that has a sort of laser nose. As you do. 

The Zarbi have enslaved Barbara with a collar made of Gold but the Menoptera are able to set her free from their influence by removing it. 

The Zarbi ripping off Hrostar's wings is actually pretty horrific, even if it does happen off screen. 

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker Barbara sells it. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Setting aside the fact that you know it's a costume, the idea of a flying creature being so deprived does kind of haunt you.

Hartnell's hand gestures here translate roughly as "get the hell away from my TARDIS you pesky sods!" 

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker just want him to give the middle finger at this point! 

Tim@parks8472 Hartnell's gestures could amount to pages of dialogue; the man could say a lot with simple flick of the wrist 

A creepy voice and Hartnell's having his wig hoovered! 

The Animus voice is great, really creepy. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Sixties Who did creepy voices really well... I think it may have been down to strong links with BBC radio drama. 

Ian's first thought is for Barbara's safety, of course. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Quite right too... :-) 

The Animus wants to recruit the Doctor to repel the Menoptera; he bluffs his way into the TARDIS... 

...but Vicki is kept outside as a hostage. 

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker The Zarbi head butting the camera is one of my favourite moments! 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H "So close you can feel their chirruping..."

Ian talks of the Zarbi more like termites than ants. 

The Doctor has convinced the Animus he can use his astral map device to detect any invaders from space. 

Once outside, Ian makes a break for it. 

The Menoptera invasion fleet start to come over the wireless. 

Great exotic place names... the crater of needles and all that. 

Ian wrestles an ant to the ground. More impressive than it sounds. 

The Zarbi pursue Ian with a trigger happy venom grub as Menoptera reinforcements fly in. 

Now Vicki is under Zarbi control. Don't think the Animus' affinity for gold is ever really explained is it? 

The Zarbi are afraid of the Doctor's joke "spider in a glass". 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H I often wonder what the joke shop on Gallifrey was like... 

The Menoptera reveal the truth to "Herron": Vortis is their planet; they were driven from it by the Animus. 

Ivan Kirby@hellothisisivan Did you spot the fab bit with Ian and Vrestin sat waiting for their cue for a good few seconds?

Ha! Yes! William's Russell's glances give the game away! 

Ivan Kirby@hellothisisivan I think it looks like an awkward date where they're struggling to find things to say to each other. 

Ivan Kirby@hellothisisivan Still, it's nice that Ian's got an alien girlfriend for once. 

Maybe that's why it's so awkward; he usually only has eyes for Barbara, so this is a bit too Brief Encounter for comfort! 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H "There's ssssomething in ssseveral of my eyesssss"

Ian and Vrestin resolve to go to the Crater of Needles to rescue their friends but they've rested here too long... 

...and are surrounded by Zarbi!  

They're forced to hide in a crack in the rock face. But what's on the other side..? 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Here they come... although I am rather fond of the Optera despite their, er, shortcomings... 

"Everything seems to flare when I look at it!" Barbara's just seen Into Darkness.  

The wingless Menoptera being put to work look like cartoon prisoners in black and white striped prison uniforms.  

Vicki is too slow with the joke Spider & the Zarbi put the control collar on her.  

The Doctor's back at the hairdressers. 

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker  he'll come out with a blue rinse. 

People should remember this when they're about their colourising efforts! 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H "Hmmm... Now, if I happen to slip into a coma, don't you dare try making this into a bouffant...!"

The Optera are interesting characters too. I love the way there are several different species on Vortis; rare for Doctor Who. 

The Optera are afraid of the light, but they were once Menoptera; they've evolved down a different path. 

"Is it the Invasion?"
"Not yet, we haven't even met the Cybermen yet!" 

Ever the agitator, Barbara organizes a prison break, flipping a venom grub for good measure. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Babs kicks ass... (but then, she always did)

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker makes me laugh how it's splattered against a wall! 

The Doctor uses his astral map device to forge a control collar he can use on the Zarbi... 

...but accidentally gives away the Menoptera invasion plans to the Animus. 

The flying Menoptera look fantastic but they're rubbish at landing. 

Here's the rather sniffy Captain Hilio, played by Martin Jarvis.  

The arriving forces are struck down by the waiting Zarbi and their venom grubs. 

As the Menoptera are slaughtered... 

...Barbara is cornered by one of the Zarbi! 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H This really is a war film played out with moths and ants, isn't it...? 

Yes, I think that's lost on people - they see the obvious wartime parallels in the Dalek Invasion of Earth but miss this echoing the liberation of France. 

Vicki comes around to find that the Doctor's wrangled himself a pet Zarbi. 

Barbara and Prapillus find themselves in a temple of light, where they're met by Spearhead Leader Hilio. 

These Menoptera are quite a defeatist bunch, when they're not moping for the good old days. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H The VIP party with their warcry of "Bloody immigrants..."

Nick Mellish@nickmellish Have you never been on Gallifrey Base? Much the same.

Lol. Maybe why it's a generally unpopular story - too uncomfortably close to home!

"A silent wall. We must make mouths in it so it will speak more light." Brilliant stuff. Genuinely alien. Ingenious. 

The Menoptera draw up their battle plans, but get quite the surprise when the Doctor bursts in with his pet Zarbi. 

Unexpectedly touching stuff as Nemini sacrifices herself to plug up an acid leak, saving the others. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H It's okay to weep at a "gloriously futile gesture" in some films, but, for a girl dressed in a cheap bug costume, less so.  

As much as I do love it, I will concede that like the majority of 6 parters it's probably one episode too long. 

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker yeah I don't usually watch more than 4 parters in one go as I lose interest.

I think Hinchcliffe's idea of a big shift in location making a sort of 2/4 structure works well (e.g. Seeds of Doom).

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker yeah of it's going to be a 6 parter something like that is necessary. I'd prob say Hinchcliffe era is my favourite.

The Menoptera ready their doomsday device - the isotope. 

The Doctor begrudgingly parts with his ring to allow them to control his Zarbi. 

The plan is for the Doctor and Vicki to allow themselves to be captured so they can use the isotope. 

Sure enough they're captured by Zarbi and returned to Web HQ. 

That webbing they get covered in looks pretty horrible. 

"Insect Movement By..." You just don't get these whacked-out credits any more. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Mr Baker's wardrobe by [name withheld for reasons of taste]

I particularly like "Dalek Machines Operated by..." in early Hartnells.

MAW Holmes@MAW_H "Mr Pertwee's coma choreographer..."

"Mr. Baker's Eye Wrangler"; "Mr. McCoy's R's pre-rolled by...", "Mr. Davison's pleasant face opened by..." WHAT HAVE YOU STARTED! 

The Animus prepares to absorb the Doctor's intelligence so Vicki stashes the isotape inside the Astral Map. 

Zaaaaaaaarbiii! iii! Zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrbiiii! iiii! iiii! 

Hrostar falls in battle. Never more a butterfly... 

Hilio cold-heartedly steps over the body. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H  Sixteen years later, Kerr Avon would do precisely the same thing... (and roll end credits...) 

Can't quite picture Martin Jarvis as Avon. Or, indeed, anyone other than Darrow, obviously! 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H No, but it takes class to do it whilst dressed as a well-armed butterfly... 

I'll give him that! 

Barbara & the Butterflies (how's THAT for a band name!) make it to Zarbi HQ.  

Barbara finds the isotope with zero fuss. 

Ian and the Optera (not such a great band name) will attack the Animus from below.

As the Menoptera try to deploy their WMD, we finally get the moths being drawn to the light payoff. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H ...and so the three strands of the storyline finally intertwine. I do like that set, even though, again, it doesn't quite match up with the description in the novelisation. 

As usual, everyone except Barbara is useless; it's she that finally gets the Isotope in position to kill the Animus. 

MAW Holmes@MAW_H 

 Go, Babs, go! Rose Tyler...? Pah! Babs was doing that stuff before you were even a twinkle... 

I do like that we get a bit of time to enjoy life returning to normal on Vortis. 

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker I missed something - was it explained where the animus came from? 

I don't think they knew where it came from, did they?

MAW Holmes@MAW_H It appeared, like a cancer...

Mark Walker@Mark_Walker a cancer that can do a blue rinse and blow dry.

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Apparently so...

Prapillus was totally going to nick the Doctor's ring then. 

Ian's still banging on about his tie. You were going to drink acid, you ungrateful berk! 

As the TARDIS leaves for adventures new, the Menoptera and Zarbi go about rebuilding their world. 

"We shall weave songs to praise the gods of light and thank them for sending the Earth people to save us..." 

I still love it. The regulars all shine and there's such imagination & ambition in the whole thing. 

Lee Mahon@Lee_JM75 I can't join in today but just wanted to say that I love The Web Planet unreservedly. Chock full of imagination & wonder.

Simon Pittman@LibraryPlayer I've never seen it! Another one for my "to watch" list. :-)

atruedrwhofan@atruedrwhofan I adore The Web Planet. Bring back the Zarbi! They get mocked alot but are effective at times.

John Mark Frankland@JMFrankland When I first saw The Web Planet aged 10 I was mesmerised by it. It was just so 'out there', I'd seen nothing like it before.

Very fond of it, just can't find it in me to look at it through cynical eyes. A folly, perhaps, but a glorious, pioneering one!

John Mark Frankland@JMFrankland I'm aware of all its faults now, but in way that doesn't matter. It wasn't made for the 34 year olds of 2015.

Matt Badham@mahdaBttaM I've never seen The Web Planet. I should correct that.

MAW Holmes@MAW_H Definitely... and well worth the reappraisal... Enjoyed that...! :-) Zzzzar-beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :-)

It seems to be quite a marmite story & I think how much you enjoy it depends on how you cope with slow-paced stories where plot takes a bit of a backseat to world-building and atmosphere.

John Mark Frankland@JMFrankland The real problem is the direction. If Camfield had been assigned, it would probably regarded as a bona fide classic.

KrynoidPodCast@KrynoidPodCast Yes the ideas are wonderful but yet another script poorly served by Richard Martin. Still love it though

Kosmic Kris@KosmicKris I couldn’t join in but I’ve really enjoyed catching up with the tweets :)

Cheers!

TTFN! K.
Coming Soon... The Aztecs