The Web of Fear

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UK Viewers

7.2 million

Appreciation Index

54

Synopsis

The TARDIS becomes trapped in space before ending up in an underground station of a mysteriously deserted London.

Episode 2

First aired

Saturday, February 10, 1968

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6.8 million

Appreciation Index

53

Synopsis

Jamie and Victoria are reunited with Travers before Jamie joins the soldiers in attempting to find out what has happened to the Doctor.

Episode 3 Missing

First aired

Saturday, February 17, 1968

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7 million

Appreciation Index

51

Synopsis

The Doctor and Victoria are taken back to the Goodge Street base by Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart where the Doctor becomes convinced there is a traitor in their midst.

Episode 4

First aired

Saturday, February 24, 1968

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

8.4 million

Appreciation Index

53

Synopsis

With Travers having been captured by the Yeti, the Doctor attempts to find a way to gain control of the robots while Lethbridge-Stewart tries to recover the TARDIS.

Episode 5

First aired

Saturday, March 2, 1968

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

8 million

Appreciation Index

55

Synopsis

Victoria and Travers are held prisoner by the Great Intelligence, who is planning to drain the Doctor's mind.

Episode 6

First aired

Saturday, March 9, 1968

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

8.3 million

Appreciation Index

55

Synopsis

The Doctor and his friends are held prisoner by the Intelligence and their only hope lies with Jamie, Arnold and a reprogrammed Yeti.

Characters

Second Doctor

Patrick Troughton

Jamie McCrimmon

Frazer Hines

How to watch The Web of Fear:

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The Web of Fear

The Web of Fear

The Web of Fear [Steelbook]

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11 reviews

To me this story serves as a perfect example of how to do a Base Under Siege story and why Troughton's era does them much better than other eras. It uses it's long runtime and the fact that it's largely set in the same few rooms to create a really eery atmosphere and sense of claustrophobia. The London Underground setting really helps add to this as most of it is set in small corridors with dark lighting (which almost distracts you from how unthreatening the Yeti design is). The score is probably the thing that contributes the most to the atmosphere. It's so creepy and all of these elements work together very well.

Another thing I really like about this serial is the characters. The return of Travers is cool and creates a nice though line between this and abominable snowmen as well as the return of the great intelligence. He has a daughter who is wonderful in this story. She's a scientist and gets to work with the doctor a lot along with delivering a good feminist message for the time. I also enjoyed the sketchy journalist character and this marks the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney as Lethbridge-Stewart. It's easy to see why he became a main stay because he certainly makes a mark here, giving that sceptical yet still grounded approach that his character would later do so well in Pertwee's era.

Overall while this story is not perfect (it does suffer from some pacing issues) I think it's really well written and the perfect example of how to make a tense Base Under Siege story. (Also for this rewatch checking out the animation was definitely... an experience. Will be sticking to recons in future.)

Gibbypg

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Review last edited on 28-07-24

A fine little sequel. The story moves along at a decent pace, and there was enough going on to keep me engaged. The set design was on point, even if the same sets did get used a lot. The acting, especially of the extras, was very good.

The animation is terrible BTW. Looks like bad pre-vis motion capture footage.

ItsR0b0tNinja

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Review last edited on 8-09-24

This review contains spoilers!

The Abominable Snowmen had a huge amount of sequel potential - great monsters and a fantastic guest actor/character. The Web of Fear goes into very different territory and is definitely a more successful and complete story.

I think one of the main reasons that this has been held up as one of Doctor Who's best stories is that the first episode is absolutely outstanding. Its one of the best first episodes of anything I have ever seen; and for a very long time this was the only episode that existed. The fact that the rest of the story does not live up to this extremely high standard is okay - it is still a brilliant story.

The prelude scenes set in the London private collection have an excellent tension between the now elderly Professor Travers and the collector. The shock of the sphere ominously breaking through the window is very well realised.

This story comes hot off the heels of The Enemy of the World, with Jamie struggling to close the door of the TARDIS behind Salamander. This injects the beginning of this story with a bit of energy and more of an episodic feel.

On this subject (and I know it sounds like a churlish criticism) but I wish The Great Intelligence's fungus was consistently web like throughout the story, rather than being foamy in large parts. I wonder why this (vaguely) annoys me as I'm the first to jump to the defense of other aspects of the 1960s production qualities. What is above criticism is those gorgeous abandoned tube stations - they couldn't look more like the real thing!

One of the big firsts for this story is the use of the pro-UNIT army team, including the wonderful Lethbridge-Stewart's debut Doctor Who appearance. After the worldwide epic feel of Enemy, the army holding down an enemy in such claustrophobic settings is the perfect set up.

Anne Travers is a wonderful character, full of warm charm and real intelligence. It brings to mind the sort of thing we will come to expect from Zoe in a few stories time. The coward soldier, the older soldier and the journalist are great characters too. Its great to have several characters who could believably be in league with (or controlled by) the Intelligence, all introduced to the story at an early stage, adding a "who-dunnit" flavour.

The fact that Jamie ruins The Doctor's carefully laid out plans by saving him is an interesting and brave ending to the story. It shows The Doctor to have more control and cunning than we initially thought. It also has the effect of resolving the situation, but leaving The Great Intelligence with the capacity to return. Its a long wait!

Do I think this story is great? Yes. Is it as good as most people think? Probably not. I remember waiting up all night to watch this and Enemy of the World with a couple of friends when they were released on iTunes. I loved both stories but it was Enemy which came out on top for me.

15thDoctor

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Review last edited on 19-08-24

This is a really interesting episode. You have to love the early appearance of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart which would prove an incredible bit of continuity once he became a major part of the show's history. Troughton is a huge part of why the acting I like The Web of Fear here, and his take on the Doctor's cleverness is well done, but there's a lot of fun performances and characters throughout. I feel this story also achieves an excellent spooky atmosphere for the most part. It's easily one of my favourite base under siege episodes.

It can get a little boring and I definitely zoned out a couple of times though, which holds it back slightly. There's issues with the pacing, but it still is worth a watch and has great replayability in spite of its limitations.

dema1020

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Review last edited on 6-06-24

The Abominable Snowmen 2: Less Yellowface And More Guns

The Web of Fear is a mostly acceptable Doctor Who story that doesn't really do anything special. I like the atmosphere created, more or less - the museum at the start was nice if let down immediately by the antisemitism, and the paranoia created by not knowing who the traitor was is knocked a bit when you know that the Brig (sorry, Colonel) is going to be a major recurring character. Also, the fungus subplot is never really solved?

I did like how the story played with trust. Neither the audience nor the characters can trust what anyone says - we can't even trust the Doctor. The ending, when all the plans come out, was really fun

greenLetterT

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Review last edited on 12-03-25