The TARDIS becomes trapped in space before ending up in an underground station of a mysteriously deserted London.The TARDIS becomes trapped in space before ending up in an underground station of a mysteriously deserted London.The TARDIS becomes trapped in space before ending up in an underground station of a mysteriously deserted London.
- Soldier
- (uncredited)
- Dead Newspaper Seller
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe production team of the BBC was denied permission to film on the London Underground. Because of that, sets of the tunnels and the stations were built, which turned out so realistic that when the episodes were broadcast, London Transport accused the BBC of surreptitiously sneaking into a real station for the filming. Many of the cast and crew have fondly remembered this and jokingly said the set designer deserved a knighthood for his work.
- GoofsThe Doctor tells Victoria that underground trains are a little after her time; however, Victoria is from 1866, and the first underground railway between Bishop's Road (now Paddington) and Farringdon Street was opened three years earlier, on 10 January 1863.
- Quotes
[the TARDIS has landed, rather bumpily, in a London Underground railway tunnel]
Dr. Who: For the moment, we have eluded our captor. Look at the scanner, both of you.
Victoria: Well, where are we?
Dr. Who: I really don't know, Victoria. Shall we go out and have a look.
Victoria: Now? Is it safe?
Dr. Who: [mischievously and airily] Oh, I shouldn't think so for a moment! Jamie... I think we're going to need torches.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Doctor Who: The Troughton Years (1991)
There might be a downside to this . I did enjoy The Tomb Of The Cybermen another lost classic found and released in 1992 , but due to obvious hype that had built up around it the finished product didn't really meet expectations and how could it ? A story combining atmosphere , imagery and body horror is sometimes let down by uneven directing , wooden performances and dated attitudes to race . It was a very good story but not really as good as its reputation among fandom suggested . Would my most wanted story The Web Of Fear suffer from the same fate being seen in the very cold light of day ?
In my own critical opinion no it doesn't . It lives up to everything I expected from it . From the outset where Professor Travers confronts Juluis Silverstien in his house this is no holds barred horror territory very similar to QUATERMASS , though slightly more incident driven and slightly less cerebral which is not in anyway a criticism . Director Douglas Camfield makes sure the child audience will be watching this from behind the sofa . So many things are worthy praise such as the use of stock music which greatly lends to the on screen action especially in the climax to episode six . Perhaps the greatest praise goes to set designer David Myerscough-Jones for recreating the London Underground . The production team were refused permission to film there so built their own sets only to receive an angry letter during broadcast from London Transport wanting an apology for filming in the underground without permission or payment. Notice how the sound mix is tweaked for the Underground scenes so there's a slight hollow echo . You can understand how London Transport were fooled
The characters are very well drawn by Haisman and Lincoln's script . Soldiers in these type of stories are fairly non descript and the script probably tries a little too hard to make private Evans a little too colourful and cowardly not helped by a slightly over enthusiastic performance by Derek Pollitt but the rest of the guest cast are fine especially the smary and insincere journalist Chorley played by Jon Rollason . The story also sees the debut of the character of Lethbridge-Stewart who'd become such a mainstay in the show later on he'd be as much as part of the show as any of the Doctors . Courtney is absolutely fascinating to watch compared the caricature he'd later become and it's something of a shock to watch an air of defeat come from the character towards the end of episode four . Interesting too that he comes under suspicion as being the agent of The Great Intelligence which the last two episodes of the plotting concerns itself with . The climax is a bit too easily resolved but not enough to ruin the story in anyway
" So is there anything you actively disliked about this much wanted story Theo ? "
To be honest no there isn't . I read the novelisation as a child , knew how the story played out but I still constantly found myself being close to be shock as to how well everything was done . Even watching it in the context of Season five where the " base under siege " plot is in danger of being over used this is still the stand out story of its era and anyone with a passing interest in DOCTOR WHO or the horror genre will want to check out this story . As the 50th anniversary of the show counts down this fan will remember the return of The Web Of Fear as being their 50th anniversary highlight more than The Day Of The Doctor or the casting of Peter Capaldi . Thank you very much Philip Morris
- Theo Robertson
- Oct 11, 2013
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1