The Web Planet
by Bill Strutton
Story 13, 1965
Starring William Hartnell as The Doctor
William Russell as Ian
Jacqueline Hill as Barbara
Maureen O’Brien as Vickie
If Russell T. Davies dropped the script for the Web Planet down at the production table to be produced for the new series, I have no doubt that the effects people would quote him a figure so high as to make filming impossible on their budget.
And yet, in 1965 the Who production team managed to pull it off – mostly.
Plot
The TARDIS is pulled into a forced landing on the planet Vortis. Once outside, they are pulled into the various facets of a conflict between the Menoptera – rightful residents of the planet – and the Animus – a parasitic creature sucking the life from Vortis. The Animus has mental control over the Zarbi, a race of cattle-like animals that used to be harmless, peaceful creatures and now the Animus uses them to control the slave labor camps and keep order.
Sounds like a pretty typical Who story, right? Did I mention that the Menoptera are butterflies and the Zarbi are man-sized ants? In addition, the Zarbi have larvae gun creatures and the Menoptera have the Operera, grub-like descendants of their own people forced underground. The Animus is, or course, a spider, hence the name “Web Planet.”
Analysis
The Web Planet was really something of a grand scale for Doctor Who. The planet Vortis is a bizarre, low-altmosphere world of mica monoliths, acid pools and silica sands. Entirely studio-bound, they made an interesting attempt, even using vaseline smeared in front of the lens for produce a blurry effect for the “exterior” scenes.
The Menoptera costumes are beautifully detailed and complete with wings and the ability to fly. Unfortunately, there’s just no denying that they look like someone dressed up in an elaborate Halloween costume. Rather than looking like an attempt at really being a butterfly, the look like a person trying to convey the appearance of a butterfly.
The Zarbi, on the other hand, look nothing so much as like a one-person pantomime horse. I can almost imagine John Cleese’s voice-over saying, “Und here ve see the Pantomime Horse locked in a life and death struggle against a Pantomime Ant,” while the two run around in circle attempting to Benny Hill kick each other’s butts.
The story suffers a bit from six-episodeitis, in which the writers desperately try to fill out an extra episode or two. The initial landing, mysterious events in the TARDIS and subsequent exploration of the planet in episode 1 are largely superfluous to the overall story, which really doesn’t get going until episode 2.
As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve begun to think that the later classic Who stories were undermined by multiple plot lines. It was rightly pointed out to me that the earliest Who episodes always had multiple companions and multiple plots. Web Planet is a perfect example of this. There are three largely independent stories going on, one with the Doctor and Vickie in the Animus’ lair, another with Barbara, captured by the Zarbi and sent to work and a third with Ian helping the Menoptera advanced invasion force scouts.
Looked at clinically, only the Doctor’s story advances the plot much. Barbara and Ian are mostly wasting time, as they too work their way towards the conclusion of the story. Here in Web Planet, this works much better than in the later Who stories, and I think it’s primarily because the story is six parts long. The leisurely pace allows this to be viewed more as a serial rather than a tight, cohesive narrative. Many (if not most) of the pre-Pertwee, multi-companion stories were longer than 4 parts.
Another thing became obvious to me. Like Inferno, which I recently reviewed, these older episodes must not be watched in one sitting!
They were never meant to be watched all at once (and it was a crime when most of these shows were edited into “movie form” for airing in the US), and the format properly reflects that. Things that might have happened 3 or 4 weeks earlier need to be reinforced in the story. Viewed all at once, these scenes become repetitive and annoying.
Web Planet is considered a Who classic, and in many ways it is. It was by far the most ambitious story to date and it is entertaining. My main complaint is the scene where the Menoptera try to taunt a Zarbi. They use their arms and wings somewhat like a toreador’s cape while shouting “ZAAAAARRRRRBBBIIIIIII!” is a high pitched, shrill voice. It reduced everyone in my household into fits of laughter.
DVD Extras
In addition to the usual running commentaries, this DVD also features a “making of” documentary, and audio reading of “The Lair of the Zarbi Supremo” as well as others.
Quality of the transfer is quite good.
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