Liar liar pants on fire. A picture tells a thousand words.
what else did I say about it? 
As I say, a picture tells a thousand words. So - a thousand words more is what you said…
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!
My first encounter with this story was with the Target book as a child in the 1970’s - and I absolutely loved it and reread it often. The prose and illustrations combined to fire my imagination so that I had a very vivid mental picture of what it should have looked like.
And then the VHS came out - and shattered all my illusions in a few hours.
The vast alien landscape was replaced by a small and dodgy set. The elegant and graceful Menoptera spoke and moved jerkily & waved their arms about bizarrely. The ant-like Zarbi were too obviously just “people-in-suits” as were the underground-dwelling Optera who inexplicably jumped around like they were children participating in a sack race. And worst of all, the vast web with the distant glowing Animus in the centre became a small room covered with a few tentacles.
I have to say it has taken me weeks to force myself to rewatch this story that invoked such a huge sense of betrayal in me as a child, but I have finally bitten the bullet. All the above flaws were very much still there, as were other things that had passed me by at the time (the Vaseline - I had just put that down to poor-quality film prints - was it simply an attempt to disguise the fact that we were in a small studio? Hartnell’s line-fluffs, some very jarring. And just what exactly were those lava-grubs doing at the end? They looked like they were using a litter-tray - is that how they were meant to be “improving the soil”? I also hadn’t realised until that point that they were meant to be ZARBI larvae.)
Yes there were some good points - Ian, Barbara and especially Vicki who is really coming into her own now. But overall this was a story that was trying to bite off far more than it could chew and failed miserably. It should have remained as a novel and let us do all the imagining.
This is the wildest take that I have ever seen!
This is the first story in my rewatch that I really don’t like. It has some nice things in it but it is slow. And the noice the creatures make is terrible.
The noise the creatures make gave my wife a migraine.
Also hearing the floor creak when they move about on it.
So sue me. I just love the ambition of The Web Planet and a bit like the caveman dialogue, find the dialogue of the Menoptera and Optera to be rather poetic. I love the effort made to properly create an alien world with tiny details like the Menopters corrupting Ian and Barbara’s names. The Animus is ethereal and intriguing. The noises have never bothered me.
Those are the bits that make this a 2/5 and not lower to me. But I respect your opinion even if it is wrong 
This explains why you are the way you are! /j
People who hate on The Web Planet, have a special corner of Hell reserved for them. Constant insect noises and your vision is permanently smeared with vaseline.
Before I watched The Web Planet years ago now I was inundated with Doctor Who fans who had told me it’s utterly terrible this that and the other but when I did watch it I’d describe the experience as “not as bad as I thought”.
Like with many classic stories the length can be it’s downfall, I enjoy the premise and the story of this one but the execution unfortunately lets it down for me.
Everyone knows and has already mentioned the Vaseline lens and strange but interesting Menoptra acting, it’s got a certain special charm that’s for sure.
This was my first ever rewatch and when rewatching it really did drag for me I’ll give it a 4/10 while not hating this story it does upset me slightly that this story was never realised the way it could of been but most importantly I still strongly advocate for the TARDIS to land back on Vortis because I’d adore to see this environment through the modern lens (preferably without the Vaseline)
EDIT: I forgot to say about the fact that this is the story that made William Russell (Ian) want to part ways with the show, while of course not entirely this stories fault that does always bother me slightly. He of course were always gonna go but it was during the filming of The Web Planet he stated his “enthusiasm for the show had waned”
I had the urge to clean my smudgy glasses this entire episode, which isn’t a very nice urge when it’s actually part of the episode.
I do think the bugs with the wings are pretty cute, but this could’ve been shorter and more fun.
The only story that put me to sleep. I admire its creativity and ambition, but blimey.
Can they do a cutdown coloured in version of this, please? Preferably one that lasts 10 minutes?
(I jest, but I did see a fan-edit on Twitter once where the TARDIS landed, the TARDIS team looked at the scanner, and then instantly dematerialised and buggered off again, cue credits. I wish I’d downloaded it.)
The work of the hilarious Pip Madeley:
Oh my goodness - thank you! Been looking for that for ages 
It brings me so much joy.
Every time this thread gets a bump, I feel the urge to rewatch the story and mount a proper defence - I really do like it. I got the Season 2 bluray recently so it seems like the time might be ripe for me to show everyone the error of their ways… ;)
You’re speaking my language now!
The funny thing is, I suggested an edit pretty much exactly like this some time ago in another thread, and I wasn’t aware of the fan edit 
Please do, so that we can all see how bad your taste is ;)