C02S05 The web planet
Synopsis
A mysterious force pulls the TARDIS off course, stranding the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki on the mysterious alien world of Vortis. A fierce battle is raging between the moth-like Menoptra, and giant insects known as Zarbi. But what is the dark secret that hides at the centre of the Zarbi's lair...?
Cover notes
Although Doctor Who's first season had been well receieve by the viewing public, it was really only the iconic Daleks that had captured children's imaginations. For the show's second season, a rematch with the Daleks was planned early on, but still the production team hoped that they could achieve the same degree of popularity with other alien creatures. When writer Bill Strutton was a young child, he witnessed a fierce fight between rival factions of ants, only to be badly bitten by both protagonists when he tried to intervene. Inspired by this recollection, he suggested a story about battling instect factions to the Doctor Who production team, who straight away hoped that the idea might provide them with an alien race that could match the Daleks for popularity.
The Web Planet was a truly brave and bold move for the series. Strutton's story of a battle between insects on a far-off alien planet was an idea that less-confident production teams would have perhaps passed on, but the idea was approached with vigour and enthusiasm. For the first - and only - time in Doctor Who's history, the only 'human' characters in the story were the regular cast. Every other character seen on-screen was alien. And what a selection of aliens Strutton came up with! Zarbi, Menoptra, Optera, Venom Grubs and the mysterious Animus.
One of the main limiting factors for the story at the time was the requirement to record an episode a week, Sets and costumes which were new and shiny for the first week tended to quickly deteriorate after being taken down or put away, then reused and re-set a number of times. This became all too apparent with the Zarbi props, as they got more and more fragile and creakier as the weeks progressed. It also meant that when members of the regular cast were given time-off to go on holiday, their characters tended to vanish from the narrative for weeks at a time - as does Jacqueline Hill's Barbara in the third episode of this tale.
Cast
| The Doctor | William Hartnell | listed as Dr. Who |
| Ian Chesterton | William Russell | |
| Barbara Wright | Jacqueline Hill | |
| Vicki | Maureen O'Brien | |
| Zarbi operator | Robert Jewell | |
| Zarbi operator | Jack Pitt | |
| Zarbi operator | Gerald Taylor | |
| Zarbi operator | Hugh Lund | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Zarbi operator | Kevin Manser | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Zarbi operator | John Scott Martin | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Menoptra Vrestin | Roslyn de Winter | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Menoptra Hrostar | Arne Gordon | ep. 2,4,5,6 |
| Menopra Hrhoonda | Arthur Blake | ep. 2 |
| Animus voice | Catherine Fleming | ep. 2,3,4,6 |
| Menoptra Parpillus | Jolyon Booth | ep. 4,5,6 |
| Menoptra Hlynia | Jocelyn Birdsall | ep. 4,5,6 |
| Menoptra Hilio | Martin Jarvis | ep. 4,5,6 |
| Optera Hetra | Ian Thompson | ep. 4,5,6 |
| Optera Nemini | Barbara Joss | ep. 4,5 |
| Insect movement | Roslyn de Winter | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
Crew
| Written by | Bill Strutton | |
| Title music | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Costumes supervised by | Daphne Dare | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Make-up supervised by | Sonia Markham | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Lighting | Ralph Walton | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Sound | Ray Angel | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Film Cameraman | Peter Hamilton | ep. 1,4 |
| Film Editor | Gita Zadek | ep. 1,4 [ep. 4 listed as Gitta Zadek] |
| Story Editor | Dennis Spooner | |
| Designer | John Wood | |
| Producer | Verity Lambert | |
| Director | Richard Martin |
DVD Extras
| William Russell Verity Lambert Richard Martin Martin Jarvis |
commentary track | |
| Spanish soundtrack ep. 6 | Doctor Who was widely sold abroad in the 1960s - often dubbed into a foreign language. The final episode of this story is presented with an option to view it with a Spanish soundtrack. (with thanks to Colin Young) | |
| Give-a-Show slides: The Web Planet | A popular toy of the 1960s and 70s was the Chad Valley Give-a-Show Projector, where images from cartoon slides could be projected onto a wall or screen. A set of Doctor Who slides was released in 1965 based on The Web Planet, and are reproduced on this DVD. (with thanks to Colin Young) | |
| Tales of Isop | Many of the original cast and crew recall the making of this story, The web planet. | |
| The lair of Zarbi Supremo | William Russell reads the short story from the first Doctor Who Annual, which sees the Doctor return to face the Zarbi on Vortis. | |
| photo gallery | ||
| Doctor Who Annual 1965 |
Commentary
| serial code : | N |
| episode count : | 6 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1965-02-13 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |