Planet of the Spiders is a fantastic finale to this era, as well as a deserving sendoff to Jon Pertwee's Doctor. Those scenes in the cave during the final 2 episodes where he acts off against the Great One are brilliant, and this line from the Giant spider herself is fantastic:

'Is that fear I can feel in your mind? You are not accustomed to feeling frightened, are you, Doctor? You are very wise to be afraid of me. '

Mike Yates also makes his return here, and acts well in his final performance, playing off alongside Sarah Jane. Unfortunately this story suffers from a few things that stop it from being perfect:

• The shoddy green screen on Metebelis Three (last year it was a beautiful blue crystal planet now it looks really bad and desert-like)
• The lack of UNIT regulars (Brigadier and Benton are in Parts 1 & 2 but go missing for the rest of the story, which for Pertwee's final story, is a crying shame)
• The chase which takes up half of Part 2. Why didn't the spider just teleport him back to the monastery immediately?
• And unfortunately the regeneration sequence itself. Bear with me.

The regeneration itself is a shame because Pertwee is barely intergal to it and not the main focus. You get the fact that he's dying, but the arrival of Kan'po really throws the balance and the tone right off. Overall, Planet of the Spiders is good but let down in certain areas. 8/10 - 4/5 stars.