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Post by matthewsee on Dec 19, 2013 1:27:20 GMT -5
Episode 1:
Before the recent recovery of four of the other five episodes of this story, the opening episode of The Web of Fear was only one that had existed in the BBC Archives.
A rather quick resolution to the cliffhanger of The Enemy of the World.
Much of this episode took place in the London Underground. It is not real London Underground as permission to film there had been refused. However the reconstruction of the Underground for this story was so convincing that the administration of the real Underground complained to the Doctor Who production team thinking that they had film the real place without their permission. I wish I could see the reactions on their faces when told how mistaken they were in their presumptions.
Jack Watling, Deborah’s father returns here as Professor Travers whom the Doctor, Victoria and Jamie had previously met in The Abominable Snowmen.
Not only is Professor Travers back here but also the return of the Yeti and the ones that turned up in this episode do look terrifying.
Quite an eerie beginning to this story especially the presentation of the Underground.
Although there was no way of knowing the soldiers was going blow up the tunnel, I do ask whether it was a mistake for Jamie not to tell Staff Sergeant Arnold that the Doctor was with them.
Good cliffhanger with the Doctor caught in the impact of the explosion.
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Post by matthewsee on Dec 19, 2013 22:29:55 GMT -5
Episode 2:
Along with episodes 4, 5 and 6, episode 2 was recently recovered a couple of months ago.
Patrick Troughton as the Doctor only appears in the reprise of Episode 1 at the beginning and is not seen again for the rest of this episode. Looks like Troughton was on holiday when this was shot.
Nice interaction between Jack Watling’s (Professor Travers) real life daughter Deborah as Victoria and his fictional daughter here Anne played by Tina Packer.
Terrifying when the Yetis surrounded Jamie and the soldiers only for them to then walk away.
In this episode comes the soldier Evans and seems to be a fun sort of chap. Too bad it wasn’t for altruistic reason that he volunteer to accompany Jamie after parting ways with the other soldiers.
Also in this episode comes another soldier whose face isn’t seen here only his feet. Might as well say it now but that was the first ever appearance of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart. However it wasn’t Nicholas Courtney in that scene but that of Maurice Brooks.
As this episode was recently recovered episode it was quite eerie to finally see the fungus here making for a very good cliffhanger.
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Post by matthewsee on Dec 20, 2013 21:41:48 GMT -5
Episode 3:
The only episode of the story that is still missing and what I see instead is a reconstruction of it made up of telesnaps.
As it is still missing, it is unfortunate that this is the episode that Nick Courtney makes his debut as Lethbridge-Stewart and on his initial appearance it seems his trustworthiness is yet to be earned.
A scene of this episode that I would like to have seen is Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart trying to alleviate the problem that is Chorley by placing him in the Common Room as that was quite amusing.
Chorley shows what a coward by how quickly he runs off as soon as Victoria told him of the TARDIS even though he has no understanding of what it is.
Quite eerie when it is a reveal that a traitor is in the mist (no pun intended) and when the storeroom was covered by the fungus.
Terrifying cliffhanger when Professor Travers was surrounded by Yetis.
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Post by matthewsee on Dec 22, 2013 0:33:13 GMT -5
Episode 4:
Absolutely stunning the sight of the fungus presented right in the front of the screen.
Intense moment when the Doctor took a piece of the fungus.
Fantastic battle scenes between the soldiers and the Yetis. Too bad almost all the soldiers got killed.
Very saddened that even Captain Knight got killed in a separate scene.
Amazing that for the second time in a row the cliffhanger is marked by Professor Travers and the Yetis.
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Post by matthewsee on Dec 23, 2013 0:28:39 GMT -5
Episode 5:
Penultimate episode of the story.
Travers under the control of the Great Intelligence takes Victoria as their hostage. Apart from the two Yetis, it was quite hearwarming seeing Jack and Debbie Watling having some time together alone in this episode.
What a revelation that Arnold is still alive having thought to be dead in the previous episode.
Quite in the nick of time that the Doctor got control of that Yeti.
Spectacular cliffhanger with the fungus breaking into Goodge Street HQ.
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Post by matthewsee on Dec 23, 2013 21:19:49 GMT -5
Episode 6:
Excellent conclusion to the story.
When most of this story was still believed to be missing, the audio soundtrack of this story was released several years ago and unfortunately anyone who read the sleeve note before listening to the CD already got spoiled that Staff Arnold was the Intelligence.
Of course the revelation about Arnold was still not a surprise when finally seeing this episode but the revelation still felt creepy.
The final episode of this story was very good in maintaining the eerie atmosphere of the story and it was especially good when everyone was in the same place with the Yeti and the voice of the Intelligence including when the Doctor’s Yeti attacked its fellow Yetis.
The Doctor was rather livid when his friends saved him from the Intelligence saying that he had intended to drain the Intelligence not for it to be the other way around. Of course the return of the Intelligence was going to be open-ended.
It is too bad that Nick Courtney only passed away back in 2011 as it would have been interesting to have known his reaction on seeing again the bandanna cap that he was wearing in this story.
One of the Yeti was played by John Levene he would later has his face shown when he played Benton in the UNIT stories.
This episode is the last we see of Professor Travers and Anne in TV Doctor Who although Jack Watling did reprise the former in the video drama Downtime which also had daughter Debbie reprising her role as Victoria.
However the Doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart would have no idea just how much they would see of each other in the then future.
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Post by johnnybear on Sept 13, 2018 12:10:34 GMT -5
It was a total joy to see this one nearly returned to the archives and our shelves!
JB
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Post by matthewsee on Feb 14, 2022 9:43:18 GMT -5
On The Web of Fear Special Edition DVD saw Going Underground, the documentary on the making of The Web of Fear.
This had Ralph Watson commenting on him as Captain Knight being dead when he was killed by a Yeti and that he as Ralph Watson isn't there yet.
In the case of sad timing The Web of Fear Special Edition which includes Going Underground came on August 16 2021 almost two months after Watson had died on June 20.
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