5x5. The Web of Fear
Writer: Mervyn Haisman & Henry Lincoln
Director: Douglas Camfield
Script Editor: Derrick Sherwin
Producer: Peter Bryant
Synopsis: The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria
encounter the mysterious Intelligence and arrive in the subways of
London, where the British Army are struggling to keep the robotic Yeti
at bay.
Review: While "The Web of Fear" seems to
be hailed as a classic in some quarters, I'm curious to know how much
of its reputation was forged before this restoration - which I was able
to view on Britbox and consists of five complete episodes and a
telesnap reconstruction of episode three - became available in its
present form. Certainly there is no denying its place in Doctor Who history,
in that it introduced Colonel (and future Brigadier) Alistair Gordon
Lethbridge-Stewart and followed upon "The War Machines" in laying the
template for further serials taking place on present-day or near-future
Earth with the Doctor aiding British authorities. But past that and a
few nice touches of characterization - one of the soldiers, a driver,
is actually a bit of a coward, the potentially duplicitous journalist
is really just a man trying to do his job who got in over his head, and
Lethbridge-Stewart is something of a suspicious presence at first - I
found it to be mostly an average installment. As is sometimes the case
with these six-parters, it takes a little too long to do not quite
enough, and the Doctor's plan (unwittingly foiled by Jamie) to absorb
the Great Intelligence seems like it might paint him a slightly more
sinister cast than the script and the direction recognize.
Rating: **1/2 (out of four)
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