Writer: Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln
Original Broadcast Date: 3 February 1968 - 9 March 1968
While last time I questioned the sanity of the man who decided to bring the Great Intelligence and their Yeti minions back for another episode; this time I'd question the sanity of the man who wouldn't want to bring them back, after this brilliant second outing, bringing out the best in the monsters.
40 years has passed since Professor Travers left Tibet, but to this day he has never spoken of what really happened. That is until his past comes back to haunt him, and three travelers he met all those years ago arrive, looking not a day older.
What makes me like The Web of Fear comes down to two major things, as what draws from it slightly are two major problems. Starting with what makes it great, the story reunites the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria with Professor Travers, now 40 years older, after his Tibetan expedition (see The Abominable Snowmen). Jack Watling portrays a brilliant yet very different man to the Travers we saw in Tibet, with age and the experience having taken his toll on him. But the great cast does not stop there: Tina Packer plays the intelligent Anne Travers, who would make a fantastic companion; Nicholas Courtney is memorable in his debut as the legendary Brigadier - although at the time, Colonel - Lethbrige-Stewart; and Derek Pollit makes a hilarious welsh army driver, who adds touch of lightness to this quite dark story.
The other thing that makes this story great is the atmosphere, which Doctor Who directing legend, Douglas Camfield captures brilliantly, utilizing the setting of the London underground to great effect. The Yetis, who I found to be pretty unspectacular in their debut, are much better in this story, and Camfield worked miracles on them, shooting them in brilliant angles to make them genuinely feel a threat.
Now onto the negatives of this story, the first being the setting. Yes!; what made the atmosphere also hindered my enjoyment somewhat, with most of the action taking place in far too similar looking corridors, simply because the story mostly took place in between tube stations. Very little progress felt like it was being made because of this, and lengthy scenes were made to feel a tad dull.
Towards the end of the six-parter the idea of a traitor was hinted at and - I shall not spoil it - a certain person was the perfect candidate for this role, and some scenes even pointed towards them. In fact, I was absolutely convinced this certain someone was in alliance with the Great Intelligence, except they weren't. No one was. There was no proper delivery on this idea at all, giving me a pang of anti-climacticy when the credits rolled up. I feel both the character and the story would have benefited from utilizing this character in the way I expected, but it opted for a plot twist, which felt more of a cop out than a game-changing u-turn.
The Web of Fear makes a much better job of the Great Intelligence, has a great setting, a wonderful cast, and an array of action sequences, making this one of the best base-under-siege stories so far.
8/10
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