Planet of the Spiders (TV story)

{{Infobox TV| story name= Planet of the Spiders| image= [[Image: Planetofthespiders_title.jpg |250px|The Doctor confronts the Great One| series=Doctor Who -
TV Stories | number= 74 | doctor=Third Doctor | companions= Sarah Jane Smith
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
Captain Mike Yates|

enemy=

• Great One
• Lupton
• Eight Legs
| year=
• Earth; UNIT Era
• Metebelis III
|

writer= Robert Sloman | director= Barry Letts | producer= Barry Letts | broadcast date= 4th May - 8th June 1974| format= 6 25-minute episodes | production code= ZZZ| previous story= The Monster of Peladon| next story= Robot }}




Synopsis

The blue crystal that the Doctor took from Metebelis III in The Green Death is desperately sought by the Eight Legs, a race of mutated spiders, as the final element in their plan for universal domination. With the help of a being from his past, the Doctor must make the ultimate sacrifice...

Plot

Part One

Mike Yates, discharged from UNIT and recuperating at a Tibetan meditation center in rural England, is concerned about a small group who meet secretly in the basement. Meanwhile, The Doctor is researching psychic energy and enlists the assistance of a clairvoyant, Professor Clegg. His experiments backfire when Clegg's fixation on the blue crystal from Metebelis III (which Jo Grant had recently returned to the Doctor) leads to his seeing giant spiders, and the psychic energy released kills him. Mike enlists the assistance of Sarah Jane. Sneaking into the basement they see the group, led by Lupton, summon a similar giant spider into existence.

Part Two

The giant spider melds with Lupton, and together they infiltrate UNIT and steal the blue crystal, leading to a lengthy chase involving the Whomobile, a small helicopter, a hovercraft, and a speedboat. The Doctor finally catches up to Lupton, but when he jumps on board, Lupton vanishes.

Part Three

Lupton re-appears at the meditation center, secretly observed by the simple-minded handyman Tommy, who later steals the crystal. The Doctor and Sarah Jane investigate the meditation center. Exploring the basement Sarah steps on Lupton's mandala and is transported to Metebelis III, where a small group of humans are held in bondage by the giant spiders. The humans are descendants of survivors of a crashed spaceship, and the spiders onboard were mutated by radiation from the blue crystals and became the Eight Legs. The Doctor follows in the TARDIS to rescue Sarah Jane, but is incapacitated by the Eight Legs' human guards.

Part Four

On Metebelis III, the Doctor lingers in a coma. Tommy's brain is healed when he looks deep into the crystal. Lupton becomes embroiled in a plot led by the Spider Queen against their matriarch, The Great One. The Doctor recovers, but is captured again by the spiders while attempting to rescue Sarah Jane.

Part Five

The Doctor comes to the mouth of the cave of the Great One, who warns him not to enter due to the lethal radiation within. She orders him to return the blue crystal that he stole, and humiliates him by forcing him to march in a circle like a tin soldier via her psychic power. The Doctor is too overcome by fear to face her, and escapes with Sarah Jane back to Earth in the TARDIS. They meet the leader of the meditation center, the Abbot K'anpo Rimpoche, and the Doctor is astounded to discover an old friend; K'anpo is his former mentor, the Time Lord hermit he described to Jo in The Time Monster, now enjoying peaceful exile on Earth. Sarah Jane is discovered to be under the control of the Queen, which explains how she and the Doctor escaped so easily. With the blue crystal, which Tommy had given to K'anpo, the Doctor is able to free her. Meanwhile Lupton's followers, possessed by the Eight Legs, attack our heroes to retrieve the crystal with only Tommy standing in their way.

Part Six

The attack is repulsed with the help of Tommy, but K'anpo is injured and forced to regenerate by merging with his assistant, Cho Je, who was a projection of K'anpo's conscience. The Doctor realizes his greed for knowledge and his theft of the crystal has set all these events into motion, and that he must face his fear and probable death by returning it. He pilots the TARDIS to Metebelis III and enters the cave to confront the Great One, an enormous spider, who desires the blue crystal to complete a crystalline web that will amplify her psychic power to infinity. However, once the crystal is in place, the web overloads and destroys both her and the Eight Legs. The Doctor receives a lethal dose of radiation from the cave, and barely manages to escape in the TARDIS. He eventually arrives at UNIT (some two months after his departure) and collapses on the floor. With a little "push" from Cho Je/K'anpo, the Doctor regenerates before the Brigadier and Sarah Jane's eyes...

Cast

• Third Doctor - Jon Pertwee
• Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
• Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
• Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Nicholas Courtney
• Mike Yates - Richard Franklin
• Sergeant Benton - John Levene
• Professor Clegg - Cyril Shaps
• Lupton - John Dearth
• Barnes - Christopher Burgess
• Moss - Terence Lodge
• Land - Carl Forgione
• Keaver - Andrew Staines
• Cho-je - Kevin Lindsay
• Tommy - John Kane
• Policeman - Chubby Oates
• Soldier - Pat Gorman
• Man with Boat - Terry Walsh
• Hopkins - Michael Pinder
• Tramp - Stuart Fell
• Spider Voices - Ysanne Churchman, Kismet Delgado, Maureen Morris
• Arak - Gareth Hunt
• Sabor - Geoffrey Morris
• Neska - Jenny Laird
• Rega - Joanna Munro
• Tuar - Ralph Arliss
• Guard Captains - Walter Randall, Max Faulkner
• K'anpo Rimpoche - George Cormack

Crew

• Assistant Floor Manager - Graeme Harper
• Costumes - L Rowland Warne
• Designer - Rochelle Selwyn
• Film Cameraman - Fred Hamilton
• Film Editor - Bob Rymer
• Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
• Make-Up - Deanne Turner
• Producer - Barry Letts
• Production Assistant - Marion McDougall
• Production Unit Manager - George Gallacio
• Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
• Special Sounds - Dick Mills
• Studio Lighting - Ralph Walton
• Studio Sound - John Holmes
• Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
• Title Music - Ron Grainer
• Visual Effects - Bernard Wilkie

References

• The Doctor receives a package from Jo Grant containing his blue crystal, which he picked up during during his previous visit to Metebelis III.
• Mike Yates refers to the last time he encountered Sarah "that business with the Dinosaurs".

Story Notes

• This is the first time the term Regeneration is mentioned on screen.
• This story features a large chase scene featuring: Bessie, the Doctor's car (known as the Whomobile), a police car, a gyrocopter, a hovercraft and a boat.
• Tom Baker is uncredited in the conclusion of Planet of the Spiders, when Jon Pertwee transforms into Tom Baker.

Myths

to be added

Filming Locations

to be added

Continuity

• Jo Grant send the Doctor a package containing a blue crystal (The Green Death), which makes Planet of the Spiders a sequel of sorts to The Green Death.
• Mike Yates refers to his last appearance in Invasion of the Dinosaurs.
• EDA: Interference: Book Two presents an alternate regeneration sequence.

DVD and Video Releases

to be added

Target Novelisations

to be added

External Links

• Outpost Gallifrey Planet of the Spiders page
• The Doctor Who Reference Guide detailed synopsis of Planet of the Spiders
• BBC Planet of the Spiders page
• A Brief History of Time (Travel) Guide to Planet of the Spiders