TV Club: The Web Planet

Television TV Club
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My thoughts on Episode 2 - The Zarbi

Episode 2 of 6, so I steeled myself. Surely this had to be a boring episode dragging out the story? Luckily, not quite so.

The episode is slow, no doubt, but it has something very deliberate about it that makes it enjoyable nonetheless.

The first time I saw the Menoptera, I felt a strong association with ballet or some sort of more experimental theater performance. Watching through this lens, I noticed how deliberately choreographed the movement of the Menoptera is. They do not quite stand still, generating associations with flying moths, never quite standing still (I know, the synopsis says butterfly-like, but I got more moth vibes, sorry! :wink:).

The sound design was all right for me. Reading some of the other comments, I wonder if I wonder if I am just not able to hear some frequencies after partying too hard and dancing too near to giant speakers in clubs in my youth. Most of the time, I am very sensitive to sound design. But in this case, it just works.

My personal highlight was the scene in which Barbara talks to the Menoptera. No sign of fear or xenophobia. Just talking to other intelligent beings. Barbara is the best. :slightly_smiling_face:

P.S. I do think it was wise for me to wait until I had the muse to relax and enjoy the serial. A week or two back, with high stress at work, I would not have been able to enjoy it the same way.

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I think this always helps. Whether TV or audio, I like to create a Zen-like zone of calm in which I can truly immerse myself in Doctor Who. I watch new episodes with my wife but, other than that, prefer to be in my own Who-space.

Bliss!

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Barbara is extraordinary. Intelligent, non-judgemental for the most part (excepting poor Sandy), humane and often deeply courageous.

Yay for Barbara! :tada:

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I see you discovered “Insect Movement by Roslyn De Winter”.

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Many of my feelings towards this serial have been summed up by other people, so I am going to make a few random observations.

  • I thought it was interesting that Barbara and Vicki had a discussion about the previous serial. I’m curious when the show opted to transition from the flowy format of the early show into its more anthologized format.
  • The larvae guns are cute, and I think that I can see the potential for them as a merchandising opportunity. The only problem with them is that it took me several episodes before I realized that the larvae guns were the critters with the many legs The sound design made me think that the Zarbi were at an arcade. Perhaps they would play…
    CENTIPEDE?
  • I mourn for Ian Chesterton’s Coal Hill School tie. Is Ian always so formally dressed? He seemed overdressed in this serial.
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That flow is present right into the Troughton era. I’d say it only disappears in Pertwee’s time.

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My thoughts on Episode 3 - Escape to Danger:
Not an especially gripping episode, but it has some interesting aspects.

We get telepathic communication via a “hair dryer”. :wink:

The Doctor switches from just puffed-up acting to actually scheming. The way he tries to trick the Animus is not bad at all. He shows that underneath the impish old man exterior is someone to absolutely be reckoned with.

Ian gets to switch into his standard action hero routine, and the Doctor reassures the worried Vicki that Ian is good at it.

The Menoptera Vrestin mentioned the Zarbi being an important part of the ecosystem before the Animus took over. A sentence that, just from a pure story point of view, could have been cut, so I assume it was intentional.

It reminded me (switch to real life) that understanding the planet as a holistic system, something that lies at the core of modern-day climate activism, is a really old concept. This makes it all the more shameful that more has not been done to prevent current negative developments. The knowledge was always there.

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My thought on Episode 4 - Crater of Needles

More of nearly the same. Slowly, very slowly, we learn more about the context the Doctor and his companions were thrown into. But it’s just too slow.

Also, the Optera did just not work for me. The main reason being their costumes. With the Menoptera, I am able to suspend my disbelief, but the padded cloth costumes of the Optera took me out of the immersion immediately.

I was ready to call it the first real bad episode in the serial, but then came the fight at the end. Really beautifully made. This ending saves the episode for me. But I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t prefer there to be only one more episode instead of two. :wink:

Currently, I think the serial would work better if they had fully gone the “experimental theater” route. There are too many scenes that are half-measures in this regard but not really “traditional” scenes either. And that makes scenes just boring, compounding the impression of slowness.

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This is the truest fact about DW that there is. It can be good or bad, whatever, but it should never be boring

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My thoughts on the final two episodes and the serial as a whole

Episode 5 - Invasion

What a positive difference compared to the previous episode. There is movement in all three story threads, making it good, enjoyable science fiction.

Even though I find it hard to name anything that stood out, I’d say it’s not quite, but nearly as good as episode 1.

OK, one thing to mention: The death of the Optera who sacrificed herself to save the rest, showing the dangerous life the Optera are forced to lead. Not necessarily expected, but it gives the story of the Optera more depth.

Episode 6 - The Centre

Slightly worse than episode 5, but still good.

Most of the storming of the stronghold was just weird in a bad way. But even there were interesting moments, like when one of the Menoptera gets killed by a larvae gun. Still kind of weird, but because it was played straight, it was in a good way showing the strangeness of the aliens.

Liked the episode. A good ending for the story.

Overall impressions

A very good science fiction story, with many, many interesting details.

It was too slow in the middle part of the 6 episodes. But that’s a problem with many 6-parters, and not all have such a deep story like this one.

A realization with modern-day visual effects would be very interesting, especially the contrast between the barren surface flooded with light and the “ants’ nest,” dimly lit by fluorescent vines on the walls and the horror of the, I’d imagine, fungus-like Animus.

Come to think of it, all in all, many parts would be quite a horror show.

As a visually oriented person thought of it this way it further underscores my impression of a theater production that works with a minimalist stage set but is still able to create realistic images in my mind’s eye.

3.8/5

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You score this story higher than me, but in many points I absolutely agree. It’s certainly flawed, but a lot of those flaws are about execution and limitations of the time. Some of the script, however, I find frustrating in terms of exposition.

I am firmly in agreement that, with modern effects, it could be a disorienting, frightening and potentially even horrific story. It might well go down as a modern classic. It would, however, be expensive to make if it was to be done properly.

That said, I shall forever be glad that stories like ‘The Web Planet’ exist. I like my DW to push boundaries from time to time. I can’t watch ‘The Web Planet’ often, but I respect that it does much other serials wouldn’t dare to do.

Moreover, as I believe I commented upstream some way, one thing I really appreciate is that Strutton took time to craft a world with an actual ecology. That earns it a big gold star from me.

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I have not watched this but will eventually because I love watching bad stuff and just laughing at it and because the costumes of the menoptera make me laugh just by looking at them then it will probably be a good evening for me.

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I genuinely really enjoy this story, I love worldbuilding and weird alien stuff. All the different alien species are so cool—I remember on first watch being surprised by and immediately loving the Optera in particular—and the Animus is such an interesting villain!

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Finally time to put on my Atmospheric Density Jacket (ADJ), not forgetting the respiratory compensator, & get entangled in The Web Planet.

I guess you have to give credit for the ambition but it’s such a struggle to get through.

The story - boring.
The sound design - headache inducing.

Never again will I speak about this.

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3.+Web+Planet+copy
3.+Web+Planet+copy750×946 175 KB

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Liar liar pants on fire. A picture tells a thousand words.

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what else did I say about it? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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As I say, a picture tells a thousand words. So - a thousand words more is what you said…

:disguised_face:

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