Day Sixty-Four: The Web Planet (The Web Planet, Episode One)

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...

Day Sixty-Four: The Web Planet (The Web Planet, Episode One)

Dear diary,

Something I've noticed more and more through this second season, but never quite so much as here, if how much Hartnell's 'giddy' performance reminds me of Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor. I've never noticed it before, but there's something in the tone, and in the way things are said that feel very common between both incarnations. The cliffhanger close-up on Hartnell here sees his sporting an expression that I'm sure I've seen on Baker's face, too, at some point. It's strange, but I rather like it, I think.

While I'm on the subject of the First Doctor being a bit giddy… is there something in the air on Vortis? While we're inside the ship, and there's a mystery to be solved about the lack of power, the Doctor is his usual reserved self. Once we're outside, however… It's been happening more and more as the show goes on. The Doctor has taken to giggling far more than he used to. Looking at the First Doctor as a whole, the giggles have always been a part of the character for me - I've just never realised how suddenly they come about, or how strong.

We saw it in The Romans, when he tittered his way through a fight early on, and it's back with a vengeance here. He's almost like a hyperactive child when he's realised there's something real to explore on this planet, rushing off, giggling, while telling Ian to 'Come along! Come along!'.

It is nice to see him back into the explorer mode that we saw way back during the second episode of An Unearthly Child. When we join him outside the TARDIS, he's examining some rocks and taking mental notes about them. I still think it suits this Doctor to be one who travels to learn, as opposed to just because that's what the Doctor does.

I made a note during that scene to mention the slight echo effect on the voice, and then they went and made a big point about the echoes in the air. It really works for me, and I think it helps to make this planet seem a bit different and a bit alien. Following on from some very plush sets for the last story, with lots of drapes and pillows, it's nice to see Vortis as a cold, harsh landscape.

I've seen the look of this story come under fire more times than I can count over the years, but actually I think it works rather well. The design of the world is certainly striking and different to anything we've had before, and despite what people keep telling me, I think it looks good. Even the Zarbi are quite a nice idea, even if the initial shots of them creeping out from behind rocks gives the impression of that old favourite stereotype of classic Doctor Who being a bit creaky…

A constant surprise to me is just how late into the programme's run we're still getting episodes that are entirely carried by the four regulars. Sure, we've got a handful of Zarbi on hand to menace them from behind the rocks, but they don't actually interact with each other - there's just the odd glimpse here and there. It's another chance for our regulars to shine, and for this still comparatively new team to shine.

Next Episode: The Zarbi