The Web of Fear

“Volunteer ? That’s a dirty word, that is.”

J’adore, mais j’ai des sentiments assez partagés. 

Même si c’est au final un épisode assez cliché (et problématique), la réal’ de Camfield fait du métro londonien un espace insondable et flippant, et le voir envahi de toiles d’araignée et de grosses peluches est vraiment magique même des décennies après.

Mais ce qui frappe en plus c’est son ton assez désespéré :  tout le monde est coincé face à une situation vraiment étrange et impossible. 

Mais du coup c’est tout le temps hyper tendu, et je peux carrément oublier les limites évidentes de l’exercice. 

Often a Classic Doctor Who story can make a bit of a hash of moving the characters around to where it needs them to be at a given time, but this story does so flawlessly. It's well-written, fun, light and uses the Yetis and The Great Intelligence better than The Abominable Snowmen.
A problem I get with Classic stories once I watch too many of them is the exact problem The Doctor laments in The Pirate Planet, that wherever they go, no matter what, they immediately get put in prison as the sole suspects of the trouble going on. This story toys with the idea of The Doctor and companions being suspicious, in a - I find - very natural way, without ever storing the gang away in a cell for 2 parts 'cause that's the only way the story can actually work. No, the suspicion levied at The Doctor and co. is used throughout the story to create a prevailing sense of paranoia, without anyone ever feeling paranoid, naturally created by being met by an enemy of unknown origin and motive.
The episode 3 twist set-up works really well, just before it happened I thought about the possibility of it happening and how his previous actions could make sense as a deliberately bumbling distraction from the real danger. Sadly it's turns out to be a fake-out to show how much of a self-serving sleazeball the reporter is, which is a bit disappointing. But, I guess necessary in a mystery, red herrings and all that, however, as red herrings go, I don't thing it's that good as the actions don't really make sense once you know he isn't being controlled by the Intelligence.
Notably this is the story known for introducing Nicolas Courtney as The Brigadier, though this wasn't Nic first story (that's Mission To the Unknown) and he's not a Brigadier, which I just think is fun.

All-together it is a fun little story, that decently written with a good sense of paranoia throughout, but it just lacks that special something for me to give it more than a...

7.5/10

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.

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.

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.)

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 is rated so well 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 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.

Wow I ummm I’ve completely flipped on this story I’m now an abominable snowman Stan