6 episodes
Aired between 13th February 1965 and 20th March 1965
Written by Bill Strutton
Produced by Verity Lambert
Directed by Richard Martin
Synopsis
The Doctor is puzzled by the strange force that's pulled the TARDIS out of flight and down to a strange planet. The TARDIS has enough power, but isn't able to dematerialise.
Barbara and Vicki return from changing out of their Roman clothes, (and Vicki seems to have found time for a haircut too), As they are filled in on the dilemma, and the Doctor tries to take off again, Vicki begins to clutch her head and says that there are strange noises in her mind. The TARDIS is drained of power, leaving only the life support and scanner operational.
Outside the TARDIS, two huge ant creatures appear and start making noises like a car alarm (it's the sound that Vicki can hear in her head, and I must say, I sympathise with her). The ants are joined by a stunted grub like creature with a long metal gun for a nose.
The creatures begin to attack the TARDIS, forcing it to rock from side to side, but doing little else.
The shaking eventually stops, and Barbara takes Vicki to lie down. Ian and the Doctor decide to go out and explore the planet they're on. The Doctor brings out some atmospheric density jackets and the pair use the Doctor's ring as a remote control to open the doors and leave the TARDIS.
Barbara helps Vicki with some asprin, but Vicki turns her nose up at it, calling the tablets medieval. She explains that she was taught physics, medicine, and other subjects for an hour a week, thanks to the help of computer terminals. The young companion spots the bracelet Nero gave to Barbara and is dubious when Barbara tells her that she traveled to Rome.
On the outside, Ian and the Doctor find a dead, deserted planet. The Doctor forgets about the attacks on the TARDIS and the alien force and begins looking at rocks. He asks for Ian's gold pen (presumably to poke around a bit), but when he takes it out of his pocket, it disappears. Ian is angry about this and shouts, causing echoes that seem to go on forever and slightly differ in tone. He tells the Doctor that he feels like he's being watched. The Doctor doesn't have that feeling, but is happy to explore further to make sure that the force that's taken the pen is the same as what's affecting the TARDIS.
Back in the TARDIS, Barbara's also forgotten about the attacks too, and decides to spring clean. As she does, her arm mysteriously begins to drag her away to the door.
She regains control of it, and goes to sit with Vicki. Barbara is obviously disturbed and ends up telling Vicki what's happened. Vicki in turn laughs in her face, thinking it's a joke. Barbara leaves more disturbed than when she went in.
Exploring further, the Doctor and Ian come across an ancient pyramid. Nearby to this, they find a pool that Ian is about to wash his hands in. The Doctor stops him and demonstrates that the pool is made of acid by dipping Ian's old school tie in it.
Ian is furious at all his stuff disappearing. They start back to the TARDIS, but Ian is shocked to see light in the water. He calls the Doctor back, but the old man doesn't believe him. All around them, the car alarm noise begins again.
Barbara can hear the noise too, and it causes her arm to get away from her again, but this time other strange stuff happens like the console spinning around and the doors opening by themselves. Barbara enters into a trance and goes outside to the sound of the ants. Vicki hears the noise and goes into the console room to find Barbara gone.
Vicki yells for Barbara. Ian and the Doctor hear her voice echo and run back towards the TARDIS. Ian is inextricably gets caught in a net of webs and tells the Doctor to leave him and go back to the ship. The Doctor agrees but promises to come back with something to help.
The TARDIS begins to rock and sway once more,
The Doctor arrives back at the site, but finds the TARDIS gone. He's forced to return to Ian, who he finds on the floor unconscious. He asks him what happened, but Ian doesn't know. They both set off to find the TARDIS together. As they travel, they spot a mummified chrysalis on the ground. The Doctor deduces that it is from a creature called a Menoptra and therefore they must be on the planet Vortis. It's a planet he's heard of in the Isop galaxy, but he's never visited.
Barbara continues to walk across the strange planet in a trance until a humanoid moth creature drags her into a nearby cave and takes off the bracelet. Barbara returns to normal and is startled to see the creatures. These creatures are revealed to be the Menoptra, and are obviously suspicious of Barbara, choosing to hold her prisoner.
Some of them want to kill her, stating that the Zarbi will suck out her brain and discover the location of their base. Hearing this, Barbara manages to get one of the Maenoptra weapons and escapes from the cave, straight into the arms of the ant creatures known as the Zarbi.
As Ian and the Doctor continue their pursuit of the TARDIS, they are also accosted by the Zarbi, whom the Doctor says he's never encountered before. The Zarbi take them to a giant organic construct known as the Carcinome. It is at least a hundred years old by the Doctor's reckoning. There they are reunited with the TARDIS and Vicki. As Vicki emerges from the TARDIS, one of the Zarbi attempts to go inside, but is sent haywire. The Doctor proudly states that the TARDIS is off limits to them.
The Menoptra begin to panic after Barbara's escape and decide to risk being detected by sending a signal to their obiting fleet, informing them that the Zarbi and an entity known as the Animus are still on the planet. As they communicate this, the Zarbi attack, pulling Barbara in with them to witness the ant creatures pulling the wings of the helpless moths.
Back at the Carcinome, a strange clear tube descends from the roof until it's suspended over the Doctor's head and a soft female voice speaks in his mind.
Despite its soft tone, the female voice is aggressive, accusing the group of being sent by the Menoptra. It decides to show a glimpse of its power by destroying the TARDIS. Luckily, Vicki had been wildly pressing buttons when the ship began to move on its own, and had accidentally realigned the fluid link, thereby restoring power and bringing up the shields to cope with the attack. Again, the Doctor proudly announces that they cannot touch the TARDIS.
Using his wits, the Doctor manages to convince the voice that they are not Menoptra, and they could assist in gathering information on them. The voice agrees. He also asks it where Barbara is, and the voice tells him that she has been sent to the crater of needles.
The Zarbi allow Ian and the Doctor to enter the ship to bring out some important equipment. Whilst inside, they come up with a plan to free Ian so he can go and find Barbara. They take the equipment outside and the Doctor bluffs that they need the voice to stop draining power from the area so his equipment will work. The voice is suspicious, but agrees, stopping the power drain in the area, which also conveniently makes the Zarbi docile.
Ian seizes his chance and tries to escape, tackling a Zarbi in the process which triggers an alarm. The voice sends more Zarbi's after him and a larvae gun. Ian gets stuck in the organic web of the Carcinome, but as the larvae gun fires at him, it hits the web, allowing him to break free and escape. As he runs, he is captured again, this time by one of the surviving Menoptra who helps him hide.
The Doctor manages to find out that the Menoptra fleet is in orbit around the crater of needles, but decides to keep this information to himself. The voice is angry at his betrayal but allows him to continue his work. He sends Vicki into the TARDIS for some equipment, but she returns with the wrong box that instead contains an alien spider specimen that the Zarbi are terrified of.
Ian learns all about the Menoptra from his saviour: Vrestin. She explains that the Menoptra used to live on Vortis alongside the cattle like Zarbi, but a dark force called the Animus grew out of the wilderness. It built a palace for itself called the Carcinome and turned the Zarbi into its slaves. The Menoptra's ancestors were forced to flee the planet, and now they've returned to take it back.
Vrestin agrees to take Ian to the crater of needles, but whist they go there, they are found by the Zarbi and in trying to escape are buried by a cave in. Luckily for them, the floor gives way and they fall into a deep underground chamber. As they dust themselves off, they are surrounded once more, this time by humanoid looking woodlice.
At the crater of needles, Barbara struggles under the workload, along with her now wingless Menoptra friends. She is told by the Menoptra that they are forced to feed plant life into the acid pools which lead to the Carcinome. In turn, that feeds the animus and the Carcinome grows.
Back at TARDIS, the voice (surely enough, the voice of the Animus) grows impatient. It orders the Zarbi to place a mind control harness on Vicki and demands that the Doctor tell it all the information he's gathered. He gives them a scrap of information and says that he can get more if they release Vicki. The Animus agrees to release her, but makes it clear that if they don't give up some information soon, they will kill the girl.
Out across the planet, the Animus summons the Zarbi to help protect Vortis against the Menoptra. The prisoners are herded to cells where they discuss with Barbara the fact that her friends must have found out and told the Animus about the Menoptra attack. Barbara doesn't think they would, but decides to help the Menoptra in escaping and warning the fleet.
Inside the underground cavern, Ian and Vrestin have their hands bound in glue and are told that only evil things come from above ground. The woodlice creatures, called Optera, agree to consult the chasm of lights to see if the intruders should live or die.
Back at the Carcinome, the Doctor ponders the thought that gold is used to control the Zarbi and others. The mind control harnesses are made of gold, and Ian's gold pen shot out of his hand when they were exploring. The Doctor jury rigs his equipment to try and overpower the mind control signal, but in doing so he blows up his equipment.
The Zarbi come over and put a harness on Vicki whilst the Doctor is forced to talk to the Animus. It suspects the Doctor of stalling, and sure enough manages to extract a signal from the Doctor's circuits that inform it of the immanent Menoptra attack at the crater of needles. The Animus is angry and puts a harness on the Doctor too, stating that they will be killed when the Menoptra invasion is quelled.
It turns out that the cavern of lights hates Ian as the Optera proclaim they are to be killed. Ian tries to convince the Optera that they are an offshoot of the moth like Menoptra. Vrestin agrees and says that if they help her to defeat the Animus, they too will grow big and strong. The Optera marvel at Vrestin, realising she is one of the Menoptra whom the grub like creatures worship as Gods, but know only through their primitive cave paintings.
Barbara and her Menoptra friends manage to reach the top of the crater, just in time for the spearhead of the Menoptra invasion force to land. They try to warn their friends and tell them to call the attack off because the Animus is ready for them, but it's too late. The Menoptra land and find their weapons are useless against the Zarbi, who begin to slaughter them.
Barbara and her fellow Menoptra prisoners retreat but are cornered by the Zarbi. As they are forced with their backs to the wall, the wall opens up into a crevice that they escape in, along with one of the surviving spearhead members. The wall closes behind shutting the Zarbi out.
Barbara and the Menoptra explore their surroundings, discovering that they've stumbled upon an ancient temple of light. The Menoptra are worried that their attack has failed and they have no knowledge of warfare to continue the fight. Barbara asks them what the plan would have been, and they tell her they planned to use a special device known as the Isop-tope to kill the Animus. In lieu of a better idea, she starts to come up with a plan to use the Isop-tope.
Back in the Carcinome, it turns out that Vicki was given the harness that the Doctor used in his experiment, and thus it has been rendered harmless.
She frees the Doctor, and they use the harness to capture one of the Zarbi, which the Doctor can then use his ring to control. They use the Zarbi to fool the guards into thinking they are being led somewhere, and they escape onto the surface of Vortis.
Acknowledging Vrestin as one of their gods, the Optera agree to lead her and Ian to the centre of the Animus.
As they go along, the Optera break through many tunnel walls, and on one occasion, release a bout of acid into the room. one of the Optera females saves everyone by sticking her head into the hole to plug it. The Optera consider this quite a normal procedure and carry on, leaving the corpse with its head stuck in a hole.
Barbara finally comes up with a plan that involves a diversionary attack, so that a second group can enter the Carcinome with their Isop-tope device. The survivor from the vanguard: Prince Helios is skeptical of this plan, and whilst they are debating it, the Doctor turns up with the docile Zarbi and Vicki in tow.
The Doctor wastes no time in getting in on the discussions and finds out off the Menoptra that the Animus is drawing power from the magnetic pole.
He theorises that this, magnetic force pulled the moons to Vortis, and the TARDIS as well. He volunteers to take the Isop-tope back with him to the Carcinome and try to destroy the Animus from inside. The Menoptra agree and trade him the device in return for his ring and subsequent use of the docile Zarbi.
The Doctor convinces Vicki to go back to the Carcinome with him, where they are immediately captured again by the Zarbi and an immobilizing cobweb is fired over them by a tentacle from the wall. Once they have been subdued, the Animus speaks to the Doctor, telling him that they will be taken to it, and their brains absorbed. The Zarbi begin to lead the Doctor and Vicki onwards to the centre of the Carcinome. The Doctor asks Vicki for the Isop-tope, but she says that she stowed it in the TARDIS equipment just before they were shot with webs.
Outside the organic structure, Barbara and the Menoptra use the docile Zarbi to create confusion in their enemies, adding to the chaos with weird shouts of "Zaaaaarrbi-i-i-i" The ant like creatures get fed up of chasing their enemies around and go off to get reinforcements, allowing the group to enter the Carcinome.
Meanwhile, underground, the Optera finally discover a passage to the surface, along with pockets of water siphoned underground. The woodlice are fearful to carry on, but their leader agrees to go with Ian and Vrestin.
The Doctor and Vicki are taken to the centre of the Carcinome, which houses the true form of the Animus: a hideous alien giant spider.
The spider is suspended above a blinding hypnotic light that incapacitates the Doctor and Vicki. The spiders tentacled legs wrap around them and begin to drain their knowledge. The Animus explains that it will use the knowledge to go to earth and take over that planet too.
Barbara and the Menoptra find the TARDIS, and try to signal the invasion force, thus discovering the Isop-tope inside the TARDIS equipment. Prince Helios takes the device and leads them on towards the centre of the Carcinome. They arrive there, but the hypnotic light is too much for them and they begin to succumb to it too.
Ian, Vrestin and the Optera turn up at that moment, and prove to be the vital distraction needed to weaken the Animus' power just enough for Barbara to activate the Isop-tope. The light dies and the Animus along with it.
Things quickly return to normal on the planet. The acid rivers are now fresh water, and the Zarbi and larvae guns have returned to their previous cattle like state.
The Menoptra explain to the Optera that they are allowed to live above ground once more, and that even though they will not fly, their children might. The Menoptra who took control of the Doctor's ring returns it with thanks and the group fly off in the TARDIS.
The Menoptra gather together and vow to sing songs of the earth creatures who came to save them.
Trivia
- The first episode of the Web Planet earned 13.5 million viewers. This was the highest viewing figure of all the Doctor Who stories shown in the 1960's. The skeptical have noted that this was probably because the BBC made a big show of the upcoming story in the adverts that gave away most of the story
- The sharp eyed of you will have noticed that the Menoptra heads somehow change between the shots of them flying down to the planet, and their talking parts. This is because the aerial antics were filmed beforehand, and the costumes were modified to be a bit more comfortable and practical.
- Believe it or not, the ant-like Zarbi were purposefully designed to be the next big sensation, just like the Voord (see the Keys of Marinus). They were meant to be just as appealing as the Daleks to young children. Somehow, that plan didn't work out and the Daleks remained as the number one bad guys for many stories to come.
What worked
- A lot of people hate the Vaseline on the lens bit, but I think it does add a bit of other wordliness to the story
- The Menoptra outfits are beautiful and quite novel when you find out that their colour really WAS black and white, and not black and yellow. They were butterflies, not wasps.
- Some of the sounds were good. Although it's a dead giveaway, I like the noise of the venom grubs gun.
- Although the Menoptra invasion sequences were a bit too "Peter Pan", they do have a certain grace about them which looks nice on film,
- Although it didn't serve much purpose, the bit where the Doctor and Vicki were zapped by the web gun looked pretty scary actually.
What didn't work
- Christ, the Doctor's off with his "ha ha, he he, ho ho" again. At least it's only for one episode
- Those blummin' Zarbi sirens
- Some of the shots, although taken from interesting camera angles, just help show the inadequacy of the props. Look at the bit just after Ian and the Doctor encounter the acid lake and you'll see wooden brackets just behind the two dimensional rocks.
- The webs of the Carcinome were like screen walls. It was done so that the sets could be put back in the same way, but still, it just makes it look beyond crap.
- It could be me, but I'm sure the doors of the TARDIS have shifted around. The Doctor must have done some redecorating
- Vicki asks Ian what the Doctor is saying when he's talking to the Animus, but you can clearly see and her the Doctor talking. Why didn't they just do a voice over if they wanted to make it telepathy?
Overall Feelings
From the very outset of this story, it's hard to argue that the production team didn't remove all the stops to push the limit of what they could do. The concept of this story is great and you'll struggle to find another Doctor Who story that's got as much of an alien feel to it. It's a shame then that this very need to experiment is the downfall of the story.
Although their sass is to be applauded, the production team knew going into this that they didn't have a Hollywood budget that this sort of thing would need. Nor did they have the studio space. The result is just a boatload of ineffectual props and cumbersome ants (that you can clearly see the operator inside on episode 2-3). The acting is also substandard, with lots of missed cue's and hard words for Harnell to memorize, resulting in more than one line fluff. The whole thing adds up to show the worst bits of Doctor Who that people come to associate with the 1960's episodes.
If you've been following these posts, you'll remember that I waxed lyrical about the Dalek homeworld of Skaro having a rich history, and nation delivering just what we didn't expect. And from that point of view, the planet of Vortis delivers in spades. It really does. However, Nation restrained the history of the planet to a brief scene of the petrified jungle before throwing us headlong into the alien city where all the action is. The Web Planet has all the history there (and more) but lingers for 50 minutes on ants that can't talk, and actors that have been given nothing better to do than wobble around the sets like they're on Star Trek.
Rating
5 out of 10
Amazing concept but poorly executed and realised. What little music there is, is quite an ok touch, but its all ruined with that infernal sound of the Zarbi
Rewatchability Factor
4 out of 10
I've watched this story twice now, and I feel that's probably enough for my lifetime. I recommend you watch it at least once, if only to appreciate how experimental the show was trying to be. Once you've done that, turn away and don't look back, there are many more stories delivered better than this.
Watch this if you liked...
- The Twin Dilemma
Consulting the Matrix
What would you have done to make the Zarbi as popular as the Daleks?
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