What is it about this story that makes it so great?
It has crummy CSO (just about any 'exterior' scene on Metelbelis...)
Hammy acting (John Dearth as Lupton is almost pure ham...)
Crappy acting (Joanna Munro as Neska is an expert at unbelievable delivery...)
Sh*t plotting (the 'chase' in p2 goes on for 14 minutes and could have been skipped if the Spider had mentioned to Lupton that we can teleported the fud outta here just a bit earlier.....)
The visual effects are iffy (especially the spiders), just like DW often is. The electronic effects (the hand sparks) still look ok in 2019.
Padding (the episodes reprises are lo-o-o-ng which is a sign the eps are under-running) again what does the 'chase' in p2 actually achieve apart from filling in most of p2?)
The story depends on psychometry and teleportation and psi-power which is clearly pseudoscientifc nonsense. From Professor 'clairvoyant' Clegg to increase your mental powers to infinity. It's all bullsh*t.
But it is all metaphor... (as all great SF is but this is a very important metaphor.)
Well...
It shows that even the most proud and even the most valorous and good can be wrong and not even realise it.
It shows that 'not all spiders sit on the back'. That 'his compassion protected him' and "as his innocence protected him". These little quotes only have context in the story but the meaning is clear and metaphorical.
The transformation of Tommy, Cho-Je's line about "when everything is new how can anything be a surprise", Tommy's answer to Sarah's question "you're just like everyone else?", "I sincerely hope not" and his heroism in the face of the gang: Keaver, Land, Barnes and Moss is a story strand that most reviewers seem to miss. But it's almost literary level characterisation.
It introduces regeneration (and finally names it).
It concludes a story arc that started three series before in The Daemons. (The crystal, Metebelis 3, the guru, the "magic" in the world.) The story arc concept became Bad Wolf, Saxon, etc etc.
The reprise scene in p6 with inserted extra bits is brainbending direction that works. Barry Letts is a master of this form. This, along with Carnival of Monsters ep2, is a magnificent segment of DW brilliance. It only works in DW. If you repeated bits of the story in ANY OTHER movie then it would be a mistake. Only in DW....
The plot in p6 turns on the DW accepting his responsibility. That is a new way to be a hero. To be honest with yourself when others are grasping greedy, hate filled wretches or misguided fools.
Cormack and Lindsay as the monks are pretty much faultless. Franklin and the coterie of Lett's players (Staines, Burgess, Lodge, Forgione) are believable. The Metebelis peasants are a mostly cliched lot but they are there to serve as plot fodder. Geoffrey Morris as Sabor steals a scene early in p5 with some looks.
The spiders are made by the voices. I wish I could tell which actor is which spider. Maureen Morris, Kismet Delgado, and Ysanne Churchman play the Queen, the spider agent from the end of p1 and the Great One with spine chilling, perfect scariness.
Pertwee and Sladen are just magnificent. They play their roles with conviction and believability. The bit where Sarah fights the Queen Spider and yells that 'she's frightened' is close to the best moment in the show. It's scary but the fight is internal, with herself and anyone, even kids can relate to it.
It is eclipsed minutes later by the confrontation of the Doctor and the Great One.
I don't know how to say it. The prefiguring in p5 is part of the setup, not a vital part but an added bonus.
The script is in iambic pentameter, the scene is filmed in hyper-real CSO, the spider is clearly a puppet. The music is Dudley's best work to date. Pertwee is at his most magnificent, appealing to the liberal, live and let live ethic. The Spider is casually dismissive of this in the most caustic and arrogant way. And then through the same arrogance she is destroyed. The Doctor escapes but pays for it with his life.
This is the top scene in DW history. It is the one that the modern show tries to recreate about once a season. Think the Doctor, Rose and the Daleks in Bad Wolf, think Amy's wedding in The Big Bang, think any speech in Heaven Sent...
- DOCTOR: I've brought you the crystal. Now why don't you just take it and leave the humans in peace - both here and on Earth?
- (The GREAT ONE gives a short shriek of insane laughter.)
- GREAT ONE: (Contemptuously.) You think I care for the puny plans of my subjects? Earth? One paltry planet among millions? (Shouts.) Give me the crystal! I thirst for it! I ache for it!
- DOCTOR: Well, why is it so important to you?
- GREAT ONE: You see this web of crystal above my head?
- (Above the GREAT ONE hangs a lattice of blue jewels. It resembles a glowing upturned mountain with a flat open top – the place waiting for the crystal.)
- GREAT ONE: It reproduces the pattern of my brain. One perfect crystal and it will be complete. That is the perfect crystal I need!
- DOCTOR: And then?
- GREAT ONE: My every thought will resonate within the web, and grow in power until...until...until...!
- (The enormous SPIDER'S chant dissolves into another mad laugh. The DOCTOR, breathing heavily as his body starts to die under the effect of the crystal in the cave, tries to reason with the insane giant.)
- DOCTOR: But you've built a positive feedback circuit! You're trying to increase your mental powers to infinity!
- GREAT ONE: Exactly! I shall be the ruler of the entire univerrrrsssseeee!
- DOCTOR: Now listen to me...listen. I haven't got much time left. What you're trying to do is impossible. If you complete that circuit, the energy will build up and up until it cannot be contained. You will destroy yourself!
- GREAT ONE: You waste the little time remaining to you! Even now the cave of crystal is destroying the cells of your body. I will grant you one last favour - you may watch the completion of my triumph before you diiieee!
- (The crystal is suddenly plucked by invisible forces from the DOCTOR'S hand. He watches helplessly as it floats upwards towards the webbed lattice. Pointed upwards, it easily slots into the socket at the base of the lattice. Triumphant, the GREAT ONE'S voice shrieks across the cave, almost not believing that its ambition has been fulfilled...)
- GREAT ONE: I...am...com...plete! Now I am...total power! (Shouts.) All praise to the Great One!
- DOCTOR: (Shouts.) Stop! Stop! Don't you see what's happening to you?!
- GREAT ONE: (Shouts.) All praise to the Great One! All praise to me! Bow down before me, planets! Bow down stars! Bow down o galaxies and worship the Great One! The me! The Great, all-powerful mmmeeee!
- (Suddenly, a red glow starts to emerge from the centre of the GREAT ONE'S body. The creature gives a cry of pure pain, its legs flailing about.)
- GREAT ONE: (Shouts.) I huuuurrrtttt! Help mmmeeee! I am burning! My brain is on firrreee!
- (Looking weak and terrified, the DOCTOR turns and starts to flee from the cave.)
- GREAT ONE: (Shouts.) Heeeellllppp mmmeeee!
- (The very cave is starting to shake as the DOCTOR stops momentarily to gain his bearings and then rushes on.)
New No.2
What sort of story will beat this one? What sort of story can beat this one?
Main phase of Doctor Who golden age commence...
ABM Rating 3.93/4.00
LJM Rating 4.35/5.00
SPJ Rating 9.40/10
No. 2 (out of 74)
Link to Cumulative Rankings
Rankings Scoreboard
Hey Quickfix, this was directed by Barry Letts! And the description reads like Terror of the Autons (1971) There are some people who say they like DW but then think this is silly. They're wrong. This is the way DW should be made IMHO. A classy, final bow performance from Pertwee, a bravura waltz through the "action hero" fun tropes of the 3rd Doctor era, incidental characters in the hands of great character actors (John Dearth, Kevin Lindsay, Gareth Hunt, John Kane) and an early example of the climax to a two series long story arc. (Something that the current series copies shamelessly.) The final confrontation between 'The Great One' (I won't spoil it) and the Doctor (who must face his greatest fear) is stunning. And it's delivered in iambic pentameter! Episode 6 of this story is the greatest end of Doctor episode easily (and it has **some** competition). If you don't get it then I can't help you.... but it's amazing when you do get it......
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