Past Seasons: "The Web Of Fear"

[Lantern7]

I hope it's okay to post about old school stories. I just saw one of the recently recovered stories on DVD.

 

"The Web Of Fear" was okay . . . a bit long at six episodes, especially with one of them (no. 3) being a photo/soundtrack compilation. And if you hate subway systems, you are going to loathe all the underground action. You have to come in with an appreciation for such things as the Yeti, tertiary characters that need to be smacked (especially Driver Evans), and the general uselessness of Victoria. Also: Jamie in a kilt. Did he ever wear pants while traveling through time and space with the Doctor?

 

On the bright side, you have the debut of Colonial Lethbridge-Stewart, before "The Invasion" and his promotion to Brigadier. John Levene puts on a Yeti get-up before creating his niche as UNIT's Sgt. Benton. There's Patrick Troughton doing some bang-up work as the Doctor. And the Great Intelligence is menacing enough even with lumbering henchmen in the Yeti. The ending left a return open, but he/it didn't return until "The Snowmen" in 2012. Word of warning: the DVD is bare bones . . . no commentary, no extras, and a trailer for the preceding "lost" story, "The Enemy Of The World."

 

Anybody else watch "TWoF"?

[Llywela]

I've seen it - absolutely loved it, didn't find it overlong at all. But then again, I can happily sit through all 12 episodes of The War Games and not find it too long, so...

 

The '60s black-and-whites are an acquired taste. They are structurally and narratively so far removed from how telly is made today that it can be jarring to watch. The trick is to watch them on their own terms, though, and in context, instead of holding them up against modern shows, against which they were never intended to compete.

 

I don't find Victoria useless at all, although she is underused by the writers - her character always makes perfect sense to me and I love her relationship with Jamie. As for Jamie, no, he rarely takes off the kilt - pretty much only when he dons a wetsuit in Underwater Menace. That was an active choice made by Frazer Hines, that Jamie should always wear the kilt, sporran and dirk as a connection to his homeland and a reminder of who he is and where he comes from.

 

I'm an old enough fan that I grew up with the novelisation of this story and the knowledge that I'd never get to see it - so to actually have the story back is still pretty much a miracle to me!

Edited May 25, 2014 by Llywela