The web of fear (1968)

Review
More about Doctor Who
More about this serial

Review

This was a six-part serial, first broadcast between 3rd February 1968 - 9th March 1968. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: the Tardis gets caught in a web, and ends up in the London underground. Which is haunted by yetis. Web-making yetis.

What I've seen:

Part one. The other five episodes are lost.

Let's start with the not-so-good news:

• the sheer incongruity of the story. The serial appears to bring back elements from earlier Doctor Who (the contemporary setting from 'The faceless ones', the webbing from 'The web planet' and the yetis from 'The abominable snowmen') for no other reason than that they all seemed to work pretty well the first time around

Now, let's continue with some good news:

• even in this odd mix, these elements still work pretty well
• the one surviving episode is well-directed and well-paced
• this is an important story because it introduces UNIT and Lethbridge-Stewart, though unfortunately all of this happens in episodes that haven't survived

My verdict:

Seen on its own, the one surviving episode is fairly forgettable fun.

More about Doctor Who

An introduction:
Doctor Who reviews: introduction

More "quite good, actually" Doctor Who:
Doctor Who reviews: quite good, actually

More from the Patrick Troughton years:
Doctor Who reviews: 1966 - 1969

Similar stories:
Doctor Who reviews: alien invasion

Original version of this review:
06/12/08

More about this serial

Episode guides:
BBC Cult

Serial reviews:
Behind the sofa
Outpost Gallifrey

DVD reviews (of the 'Lost in time' boxed set):
Outpost Gallifrey

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