038 The Abominable Snowmen

Started 10-Oct

This is notable for its stark lack of incidental music.

And it works so well.

We're transported to a quiet and lonely desolate high mountain top. There's no traffic, no work, no industry. You're just your lonely self against the bare and savage landscape but close your eyes and you realise that you're up against your own thoughts, attitudes and feelings just as much.

Politically this is probably a little prescient for late 1967. The rise of transcendental meditation and eastern philosophy in western pop culture was topical at the time. Think of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and The Beatles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_Mahesh_Yogi#Association_with_the_Beatles

The Abominable Snowmen/The Yeti/Great Intelligence is, at core, a what-if horror story about this idea gone way too many steps too far. That makes a thoughtful (sort of) sci-fi story.


A silly criticism that is often trotted out is the Yeti look too big and 'cuddly'. I'd say fierce, imposing, menacing is a better choice of description. Framed by the large boulders and steep mountain-sides their size makes them stand out. Inside the Monastery they just look huge. There's one melee scene late in ep 2 which is notable for its jostling camera shots but I imagine the little monks with sticks versus the great big Yeti is a good image on screen.


There is a probable 'yellowface' issue with this show. If it were remade in 2018 there is no way you would cast white blokes as Tibetan monks. There's also a distinct lack of female roles.

But that point may be unfair to the show given this was made 51 years ago.


Padmasambhava's creepy disembodied voice appears in ep2. It is a wowee moment. Realistically this story is 2 eps too long. The show loses focus in ep4 and 5.

Luckily ep6 is exciting. The Doctor might be said to be too willing to sacrifice Padmasambhava's life since he is almost a sympathetic villain/victim of the Great Intelligence but suitable options did not appear at the time.


This is a(nother) landmark DW serial and archetypal for Patrick Troughton. (His costume in this is the one that appears in the The Five Doctors.) The direction in this by Gerald Blake is very thoughtful and some effort has gone into telling a visual story. Consequently it suffers greatly from missing episodes which effectively suppresses many of the story's finest moments.


Meditative Sidebar about 6 parters

"om mane 6 parter om"

The Abominable Snowmen is the first in the longest consecutive run of 6 parters in DW history.

The 6 parter is both odd and seemingly ubiqitous. Either derided for being too long/boring/padded (Dinosaur Invasion/Sensorites?) or 'two stories welded together' (Invasion of Time/Seeds of Doom anyone?) or lauded for being involved and deep and considered (Planet of the Spiders/Genesis of the Daleks?)

10 out of Troughton's 21 serials are 6 parters. So are 11 out of Pertwee's 24. Just 6 of Hartnell's 29 serials and only 5 of Tom's 41.

They died out in the late 70's.

The longest run of serials without one is 13 (Time Meddler to the Tenth Planet) or maybe 55 (Destiny of the Daleks to Survival... or maybe now?)

The last one is either Armageddon Factor, Shada or maybe Two Doctors (but that argument requires some stretching of facts.. I'll ignore it.) Possibly there hasn't been a new 6 parter since 1979? (Nearly 40 years!)

So this is an imprecise and ragged analysis.



ABM Rating 3.50/4.00 
LJM Rating 3.75/5.00
SPJ Rating 7.20/10.00

No. 7 (out of 38)

Link to Cumulative Rankings


Rankings Scoreboard