Directed by Douglas Camfield
Main Cast-
The Doctor - Patrick Troughton
Jamie - Frazer Hines
Victoria - Deborah Watling
Main Guest Cast-
Colonel Lethbridge Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
Professor Travers - Jack Watling
Anne Travers - Tina Packer
Staff Sgt. Arnold - Jack Woolgar
Capt. Knight - Ralph Watson
Synopsis-
The Tardis lands in the Covent Garden tube station in contemporary 1960's London. The station is completely deserted, which is very unusual. The Doctor and his companions see three soldiers laying cable inside the tube lines and split up to see what's going on. Jamie and Victoria follow the soldiers, while The Doctor follows the already laid cable.
The soldiers soon take Jamie and Victoria into custody and take them to their headquarters at Goodge Street tube station. The soldiers question Jamie and Victoria, asking if they were alone. Jamie and Victoria do not mention The Doctor, and the soldiers set off a bomb that was connected to the cable that they laid.
The Doctor survives the blast, thanks to the bomb being covered by a web-like substance sprayed on by the Yeti. The time travelers also meet up again with Professor Travers, and learn it is now thirty five years after their encounter with the Great Intelligence in Tibet. Travers is now assisted by his daughter Anne.
The Doctor and Travers team-up in an attempt to find a way to stop the Great Intelligence and the Yeti. The web-like substance is growing and soon surrounds them when it completely fill the Circle Line that surrounds Central London.
Captain Arnold is soon relieved of his command by the just arrived Colonel Lethbridge Stewart. Despite the arrival of the Colonel, the soldiers are losing their battle with the Yeti. The Yeti and the Great Intelligence seem to be aware of their actions. This is due to, as The Doctor surmises, that the Intelligence is controlling someone as the military headquarters. It's later revealed that Captain Arnold is the person who's been under the control of the Intelligence, but for quite a while everyone is being looked at with suspicion.
It's eventually revealed that the whole scheme is an elaborate trap by the Great Intelligence. The Great Intelligence hopes to drain The Doctor of his knowledge and use this knowledge to allow the Intelligence to take over the Earth. The Doctor and Anne are able to re-program one of the robot Yeti, which Jamie uses to destroy the machine that would be used to drain The Doctor of his intellect. The Doctor's protests this action, as he had been able to change the nature of the machine and it would have drained the Intelligence if Jamie and the Yeti had not intervened. The Intelligence is sent back out into space, and the web-like substance disappears from the Underground tube lines.
Review-
The Web of Fear sees the return of the Yeti and the Great Intelligence. In my opinion, the Intelligence makes a much better adversary here than it did in the Abominable Snowmen. The Yeti also seem much more threatening here than they did in the Abominable Snowmen.
Having Professor Travers return was a nice nod to continuity, and much appreciated. His daughter Anne proves quite useful as well. The cowardly Staff Sgt. Arnold provides some needed comic relief to ease the tension a bit.
I haven't talked much about the special effects on the show in my reviews, but I do think the web-like substance works rather well in this instance. Much better than the special effects in the next story, Fury from the Deep.
Of course, we can't talk about the Web of Fear without mentioning the first appearance of Lethbridge Stewart. In this story, he's just a colonel as he hasn't yet been promoted to Brigadier General. But already his character is well in place, the business-like and unflappable demeanor despite the unusual circumstances that would become a hallmark of his character in future stories. The Web of Fear, thanks to the appearance of Lethbridge Stewart, foreshadows all the future UNIT stories as it all started here.
The Web of Fear does see a return to the "monster of the week" format that dominates series/season five. Despite the formula, though, this is one hell of a good story and a great way to start off the eventual UNIT era. Only episode one still exists intact, which simply teases one's imagination. The Web of Fear is one of those stories that's well worth seeking out via the reconstruction/audio sountrack method and I highly recommend seeking it out.
