It's hard to write anything new about my opinion on this story as I consider it to be one of the worst stories in Doctor Who's history(but not the worst). I have stated many times about it's snail pace, dodgy production values and just the overall look of the story.

I realise that that at the time it was transmitted, it was probably seen as the best story the show had ever done and the most ambitious upto that point so to be be fair, it has to be seen in context of that. The problem is it's dated so badly. Most of the other stories from this period you can look past it's 60's roots and enjoy the story in itself. With The Web Planet, I just can't.

However, the only highlight of the story is Hartnell(again!). He just seems to be ever more eccentric in this one and if I could whittle down the story to Hartnell scenes only it would be far more enjoyable! That's nothing against the other regulars but the scenes they are in are not so enjoyable.

I'm sure others will disagree but that's how I see it.

I can enjoy it on the level of being a classic piece of Sixties surrealist theatre. Not that it was meant to be that, exactly.

And this is the one time I would agree that yes, Vicki is annoying.

How odd that the one time I decided not to mention Vicki, you did, but you're right, she does start getting annoying from this point onwards.

Was it supposed to be surreal? Not so sure, think they went out of the way to make it seem different and unusual, and that it definitely was. Just a shame after all that effort that they didn't pull it of, but as ever I speak from hindsight rather than the time it was transmitted.

i think it was sufficiently novel. giant insects taking over ....... a common enough sci fi theme concerning earth after nuclear war .....

...... peter glaze was one of the menoptra. he was a well known presenter on crackerjack.

i remember the dr removing tardis console, 1st time this happened .........

i also remember there was a good audience reaction at the time.

Haven't actually seen this one, I am aware it has a poor reputation backed up by the posts so far on this thread. I just look at the dodgy costumes of the Menoptra and I have seen a couple of clips and it just hasn't wetted my appetite for it yet. Shame on me I know.

Wait until you see the Mexican-Style Optera!

Prepare to cringe behind the nearest sofa!

I'm old enough to have seen it. But all I can remember is the big Zarbi beetle things - they scared me!
I remember the Tardis console spinning round (bit weird in itself)!
Hmmm - I don't think I liked it - and probably won't buy it either! I'd rather buy 'The Gunfighters' to be honest.

Bet you five grotzits you come out of this process with a newfound respect (or at least indifference) for Vicki.

Peter Glaze was a Sensorite, he wasn't in this.

It is better to read the novel. I enjoy both.

Thanks for the Grotzits CHJ, it so isn't going to happen, especially as the next few stories she gets even worse!

This is a strange one to watch. Obviously the production values are pretty shocking. However, they are saved by the fact it is in B&W. Can imagine how bad it would look in colour? It would be like watching HR Puff n' Stuff.

agreed, which is a shame because the 1st episode is actually quite good - but that's the only positive thing you can say for it . The rest is just mind numbing bordom.

The Doctor is quite irritating particulary in the first couple of episodes, and for the entire episode one he seems to do nothing but giggle sarcastically, say Hmm or dart about like an extrovert. Barbara and Ian get quite a bit to do, but Vicki is reduced to bit part and again find her odd and irritating. In particular when talking to Barbara about her education.
Apart from that it is quite a mysterious start, the acid bit is used well but the limitations of the Zarbi and Menoptra as serious aliens is somewhat diminished by their appearance. The best cliff-hanger is where Barbara is sleepwalking arm out towards the acid, and the Doctor finding he has lost his Tardis.
Unfortunately there is very little else I find to recommend this story. It for the most part is a dull six-part run around, with bizarre alien conflict of Moths, Larvae and lumbering ants. The “spearhead attack” by the Menoptra lift things briefly and the last episode with the Intelligence, which has a very spooky alien voice I think, is quite good. All in all a Hartnell I cannot believe I had the patience to sit through. This along with The Space Museum is my least favourite full existing stories from this era.
The TARDIS spinning around is as mentioned quite a memorable moment, and if that's all I remember from it as my memory of this adventure fades I would be quite happy.

That you made it through The Web Planet in full is to be congratulated. It sure is a struggle, don't know how you did it, but you did. Maybe next time drink some coffee to keep you awake!

Watched this story finally yesterday and this morning and doublefour you picked up on the lot of the things I wanted to mention. I like the sense of foreboding in the first episode, the exchange between Barbara and Vicki where Barbara cant control her arm and is mind controlled, Vicki sensing the Aminus. The first episode feels odd, very little incidental music and where sound is used to convey an alien and cold environment.

It is a long sit through you are right and occasionally you are rewarded. I like the battle at one point with the Menoptra flying off cliffs and some of the overhead shots.The Animus and the carcogin web are interesting ideas
The set design looks good and although the Menoptra and Zarbi are slightly comical because they move like humans given the money restraints they are quite elegant in their design. If I had been the director I probably would have used smoke a bit more to hide their movement from the waist down.
The Optra grubs are dreadful and cringey though . Its all studio bound which makes it hard to give a sense of realism although the Vaseline on the lens is effective to an extent I can see they were trying to be very ambitious. Its probably the 60's equivalent of the Happiness patrol and slightly out there.

As a plot I think if it had been shortened to four episodes we might all be kinder as it would jog along. You are right about Hartnell he just cackles and chuckles a lot in the first episode which comes across as very bizarre although he gets better as it goes on.


It is hard to give all the regulars enough to do in this one . Vicki plays second fiddle to the Doctor a lot. I like how Ian refers to her as ' that kid' though There is that nice exchange where Barbara and Vicki discuss education and medicine ( actually having a script which explores these differences which rarely happens these days).

Although its six episodes I didn't always know what was going on so its not on my rewatch soon list .There is a sense it was rushed a bit as they kept in the shot of the poor Zarbi going straight into the camera! ( made me laugh though ooops)
Ian becomes very friendly with the Menoptra suddenly and she/it calls him Heron. I thought where did that come from all of a sudden ?

Okay Question How did the Doctor use his ring to open the Tardis doors and is the ring ever referred to again.

He did use it again to open the TARDIS doors when the Monk locked him out in The Dalek Masterplan. And the only other scene I can think of it being explicitly in is when it dropped off the Second Doctor's hand just after his regeneration.

I didn't like the Heron thing, thought it was just a menoptra thing.

Vicki I can stand a lot more in this story.

I kind of like it, actually.

I like the atmosphere they created in the story, and of course the ambition.

I completely agree. I've always liked it. It's far from being one of the worst Doctor Who stories; on the contrary, it's always been one of my favourite Hartnell stories. I wouldn't say the production values are at all "shocking", as a previous poster put it. The director Richard Martin makes the surface of Vortis very atmospheric, an effect enhanced by Les Structures Sonores' incidental music. The Zarbi are well realised, if admittedly limited in their movements; the movements of the Menoptra, on the other hand, are actually quite beautifully choreographed and add to the alien nature of the planet.

Yes, it has its faults. The Animus prop isn't particuarly well done, while the Optera are one alien species too many for the story, coming across as a hasty (and, I'll admit, quite terrible) late addition.

The ambition of the story must indeed be lauded, however. It's easy to watch it through cynical modern-day eyes and write it off as bad sixties sci-fi. Doctor Who was certainly more than capable of producing bad sixties sci-fi (The Ark being an example) so I'm not just defending The Web Planet from a blinkered fanboy perspective. The intention would seem to have been to create a genuine alien quality for the planet and its inhabitants, while of course telling a good yarn at the same time, and for the majority of the six episodes it works.

I like it too actually although it's far too long at six parts.The execution feels rushed but the commentary says they were producing 48 weeks a year so I admire what they were trying.

I think the reason I like the first episode so much is it mainly just the regulars exploring and the Zarbi have no dialogue but use sound.
.It really feels alien proper sci fi before man went to the moon.
I liked the other themes of the planet being enveloped by a Web
and the treatment of the Menoptra having their wings clipped but actually being a civilised race with temples.

This story does have some issues, as people have pointed out, one being it is too long. But it has a good plot and is enjoyable and unique.

Sorry meant to say thanks for the info on the ring. Got a sense that it had power l ( sonic ring ?) but the Doctor was being deliberately vague with Ian.

Yeah, go along with that. It's not a story I would use to introduce a new viewer to the (many) delights of the Hartnell era, but as mentioned above by a FM, it certainly had ambition! Trying to do something different and maybe failing sometimes, in this case mainly because the budgetary limitations were too great (not for the first or last time in Who!) is still rather admirable.

I do like this. It is a guilty pleasure though. I like the fact that it isn't any well-worn trope or idea that has been presented. The idea of a planet with it's own sort of eco-system of insects is a brave one and very different. The fact that they decided to present this on Doctor Who's budget on 1960's TV is just staggering lunacy. That they managed to pull off even a small part of it - even with all it's faults - is just amazing.

As said before, you have to approach it kind of like The Happiness Patrol. If you treat it like a televised stage play and try and fill in the blanks in your imagination, it can work fairly well.

Yes, it goes on way too long, and the head moth is too RADA for his own good, but for a slice of history and insane ambition to push the boundaries of what is possible for the time - it's a treat.

Yes, I often think it as forerunner of the sonic screwdriver. There's no doubt if he'd had the screwdriver when the monk locked him out, it would have proved just the ideal tool to get back in!