The Web Planet

(Series 2, Episodes 16-21)

Summary: The TARDIS lands on a planet where everything is a trifle smeary and very echoey.  Barbara, because it’s the 1960s and she’s a woman, tidies the TARDIS, and Ian mourns the demise of his tie.  The winged Menoptra are trying to reclaim their planet from the warbling Zarbis, who are being controlled by the Animus, a mutant spider that communicates with the Doctor via a hairdryer.  Vicki thinks it’s all terribly good fun; Barbara coordinates the invasion force and defeats the Animus single-handedly as everyone else has passed out.

Watch it because: Roslyn de Winter – Insect Movement.

Original Air Date: 13 February – 20 March 1965.

Doctor: William Hartnell.

Companions: Ian Chesterton (William Russell), Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) and Vicki (Maureen O’Brien).

Writer: Bill Strutton.

Director: Richard Martin.

Producer: Verity Lambert.

Available on DVD? Yes.