2x5. The Web Planet
Writer: Bill Strutton
Director: Richard Martin
Script Editor: Dennis Spooner
Producer: Verity Lambert
Synopsis: The TARDIS is mysteriously trapped on
the
planet Vortis, where the Doctor and his companions become involved in a
war
between two native insectoid races, the Menoptera and the Zarbi. They
learn
that the formerly peaceful Zarbi are under the control of the Animus, a
spider-like
creature that is slowly spreading its web across the planet, and in the
end
they help the Menoptera and their subterranean relatives, the Optera,
to
defeat the Animus and reclaim Vortis.
Review: "The Web Planet" is high on atmosphere and concept and
low
on actual drama. It boasts what is arguably the most imaginative and
convincingly
alien landscape that the series had created to date with a surprising
minimum
of snicker-inducing sets and costumes. Unfortunately, what happens
there
is fairly routine stuff.
It would be fair to say, I think, that with the exception of the
Daleks, Doctor Who
had until this point been merely serviceable in its visual design of
other
planets and races. Skaro, Marinus, the Sense-Sphere, and Dido all
consisted
of recognizably Earth-like locations and structures, and most of the
aliens
we've seen were humanoid. Vortis, on the other hand, with the unusual
camera
work for the "surface" locations, the insectoid nature of its native
residents,
and the eternally dark and starry sky, is a very different kind
of place. The first episode, as is often the case in Hartnell serials,
consists
mostly of the TARDIS crew wandering around investigating, but the style
is
moody and mysterious enough to keep the proceedings reasonably engaging
even
though not much is going on. The combination of black-and-white film
and
the sometimes blurry picture actually work to the serial's advantage,
lending
the visuals a certain indistinctness that obscures what might look like
an
obviously phony set if shot on color video.
Writer Bill Strutton and the production team also deserve credit for
putting considerable care into the portrayal of the three alien races:
the
Zarbi (which resemble ants), the Menoptera (modeled loosely on
butterflies,
it would appear), and their underground cousins the Optera. I'm not
sure
how they managed to pull off so many scenes of people running around in
giant bug costumes without the whole thing becoming laughable, but
somehow they did. Only the "hopping" motion of the Optera and the
"larvae gun" creature
come off as obviously phony, and the somewhat ethereal voices and odd
verbal
expressions of the Menoptera along with the eerie monotone of the
Animus
further contribute to the sense that the TARDIS crew really are on
another
world. Strutton's script also supplies some history behind this
conflict: the Zarbi, once creatures of simple instinct, had lived in
peace with the Menoptera before they were taken over by the Animus,
while the Optera, long confined to the underground, have developed a
culture in which the Menoptera carry a mythical god-like status. The
Animus, meanwhile, plans to spread its
web over all of Vortis and then beyond, incorporating the
characteristics of everything it takes over in the process. (If you ask
the average sci-fi
fan to name a fictional alien intelligence that assimilates other life
forms
for its own purposes, he or she would probably reply, "The Borg," but Doctor
Who evidently got there more than twenty years before Star
Trek: The Next Generation.)
What's disappointing about "The Web Planet" is that it seems content to
play
out its premise mostly through very obvious and predictable plot
developments.
Once the groundwork is in place, it settles down into a standard "war
between
the aliens" story, at which point we see the TARDIS crew get separated,
face
danger from the Zarbi, run through caves, and so on until eventually
the
Menoptera, the white hats in this conflict, are victorious and the
Animus
is destroyed. Other serials, such as "The Daleks" and "The Sensorites,"
used
the setup of a confrontation with an alien race to examine issues like
the
extremes of aggression and pacifism and the hazardous path to peace for
two
groups with a history of misunderstandings, but "The Web Planet"
doesn't
seem interested in such notions.
The one unexpected twist is the Doctor proving surprisingly vulnerable
to
the Animus and its Zarbi servants: he seems genuinely frightened when
he
finds that the TARDIS has disappeared, he's coerced into revealing
information
about the Menoptera attack fleet, and at the end he and Vicki collapse
before
the Animus, leaving Ian and Barbara to save the day. In a way, his
(albeit
limited) betrayal of the Menoptera might be seen as a return to the
more
selfish side of him that we saw in the first season. Unfortunately, the
script
only gets limited mileage out of this angle: there are no permanent
consequences
to his actions, and we don't know if he behaves this way because Vicki
is
being threatened as well, because he's shaken at having almost lost the
TARDIS,
because he doesn't yet know that the Menoptera are the "good guys," or
for
some other reason entirely. Still, this helps to make the Animus at
least
a little more credible as a threat than it otherwise might be,
especially
since the "assimilation" aspect of its nature isn't fully revealed
until
near the end.
I'm not sure why "The Web Planet" is regarded as such a disaster in
some corners of Doctor Who
fandom (one poll ranks it as the third worst serial ever), but I also
can't
say I would fully recommend it. The mechanics of the plot are strictly
pedestrian,
and despite the ambitious style and the presence of a few interesting
ideas,
there just isn't quite enough here to sustain six episodes.
Other notes:
- Ian has a good scene when one of the Optera is killed and the others
quickly
accept it and keep on with what they're doing while he lingers behind,
clearly
disturbed at what has happened. The Optera have come to take their
dangerous
existence for granted, but Ian, despite all his perilous adventures
over
the past year, hasn't become desensitized to death, and it's nice to
see
that.
- Does it strike anyone else as kind of silly that, in one scene, the
Menoptera can scare off a Zarbi just by yelling at it? I mean, sure,
giant shrieking butterflies are scary, but still....
Rating: **1/2 (out of four)