The Web Planet

Directed by

UK Viewers

13.5 million

Appreciation Index

56

Synopsis

The TARDIS is drawn by a mysterious force and lands on the alien planet Vortis. There the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki find themselves caught up in a war between an evil force known as "The Animus", its ant-like Zarbi allies, and the butterfly-like Menoptra race and their allies the subterranean Optera.

The Zarbi

First aired

Saturday, February 20, 1965

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

12.5 million

Appreciation Index

53

Synopsis

The Doctor, Ian and Vicki are captured by the Zarbi while Barbara meets up with the butterfly-like Menoptera who are trying to reclaim the planet.

Escape to Danger

First aired

Saturday, February 27, 1965

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

12.5 million

Appreciation Index

53

Synopsis

The Doctor is forced to co-operate with the Animus but Ian uses the opportunity to make an escape attempt.

Crater of Needles

First aired

Saturday, March 6, 1965

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

13 million

Appreciation Index

49

Synopsis

Ian and Vrestin are captured by the subterranean Optera while Barbara and her Menoptera allies attempt to escape from the slave camp.

Invasion

First aired

Saturday, March 13, 1965

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

12 million

Appreciation Index

48

Synopsis

Barbara and the surviving Menoptera take refuge in the Temple of Light while the Doctor and Vicki attempt to escape by taking control of a Zarbi.

The Centre

First aired

Saturday, March 20, 1965

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

11.5 million

Appreciation Index

42

Synopsis

The Doctor and Vicki are taken before the Animus but the isoptope is left behind in the laboratory.The only hope of victory lies with Barbara and her Menoptera allies.

Characters

First Doctor

William Hartnell

Ian Chesterton

William Russell

How to watch The Web Planet:

Watch on iPlayer

Blu-Ray

The Collection – Season 2

DVD

The Web Planet

VHS

The Web Planet (VHS) (Part 1)

VHS

The Web Planet (VHS) (Part 2)

Reviews
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19 reviews

if i was the doctor i would’ve hit the zarbi with a rolled up newspaper i can tell you that much

abominablebas

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Review last edited on 29-05-25

I get it now. I completely understand why this is considered one of the worst, most boring Classic serials. This is the first time in my life where I've had to look up a Wikipedia summary of a story to understand what was going on, and it's the first time I've ever actively considered dropping a Doctor Who story in the middle.

I really wanted to like this serial. The first episode is actually quite good; the atmosphere is fantastic, the alien costumes and sets are all phenomenal in my opinion, and in general it seems like a great set-up for an intriguing story. In fact, I had fully expected to finish this serial saying it's no more slow than many 60's stories.

Somewhere around the third episode it starts to fall off for me. It's probably equally due to my subtitles not working as it is for the story itself, but I found myself bored and confused. I didn't try to binge it and instead spaced out the episodes as is recommended, but honestly I feel that only made it worse for my comprehension.

It reminds me a bit of The Daleks, in that it's a new concept with interesting aliens bogged down by spending far too much time on side quests while trying to make us care about identical lookingside characters, except the Daleks went on to become reoccurring villains while The Web Planet fell into obscurity. I think the Web Planet is more enjoyable for me purely on the lack of oversaturation.

The sound design for the Zarbi was interesting but quickly became grating. The way the Menoptra spoke was annoying, even more so because I struggled to understand them without subtitles. I like their ballet-like movements and poses, though.

The concept of the low-oxygen atmosphere bothers me. It's interesting on paper but is barely explored beyond the first episode, and directly clashes with the concept of giant, intelligent insects. Insects don't have a respiratory system like we do; they don't have lungs and they breathe through their skin. The oxygen flows through their body using the movement of their muscles rather than a central heart pump. To grow that big they would require extremely high levels of oxygen in the air. Yes, it's nitpicky - they're aliens! They probably don't have the same internal systems as Earth insects! But it's still enough to stretch my suspension of disbelief and take me out of the story a little, especially seeing how much thought was put into the alien insects with the costumes, movements and even death scenes.

uss-genderprise

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Review last edited on 23-05-25

I'm going to start by admitting that my review might be slightly heightened just by how much this serial exceeded my expectations. All I heard for years about The Web Planet was that it was overambitious, with sets and costumes too elaborate to be realized. And that is more or less true! However, the actors really sold this one, especially the main TARDIS crew. The side characters do also deserve recognition for how well they managed to play their role through the rather ridiculous costumes (which, truth be told, I didn't think were that bad. It's obviously people in suits, but it was incredible how intricate they were.)

I can understand the critique that it really could've been tightened down to four episodes, but I was impressed by how much each of the TARDIS crew had to do in this one; I don't think anyone's part got shorted, which is quite impressive for a four-person team. I also didn't think it was especially padded out -- everything seemed to advance the plot.

I will, however, criticize the sound design on this one. The Zarbi noises were... excessive, to say the least.

6-and-7

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Review last edited on 19-05-25

feels like an absolute fever dream. a brave dive into the world of absurdism resulting in a full on psychedelic trip

kawaii2234

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Review last edited on 3-05-25

It's not as bad as people make out. Yes, the Zarbi and Menoptra are a bit silly looking, but it's nice to see something so different and alien. Would have been better as 4 episodes, though.

Scottybguud

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Review last edited on 20-03-25