Episode #41 : The Web of Fear

Episode 41:   The Web of Fear.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield.
Air Date:        Six episodes. 3rd February to 9th March 1968.

The TARDIS narrowly avoids becoming engulfed in a cobwebby substance in space. It arrives in the London Underground railway system, the tunnels of which are being overrun by the web and by the Great Intelligence's robot Yeti.

At the close of The Enemy of the World, a special trailer was played to prepare viewers for the terrors that were to come with The Web of Fear. The audio remains and has been turned into an animated feature here:

 

 

The Web of Fear is a sequel of sorts to The Abominable Snowmen and continues the machinations of the Great Intelligence as it seeks physical form or whatever it's ultimate goal is at this time. This story also introduces one of the most loved characters in the show, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (though he is Colonel at the time of this story). It can well be argued that the events of this story would perhaps be the reason for the founding of U.N.I.T. later on.

 

The sets were so well done that during the showing of this story the BBC received complaints from the London Underground claiming that they had filmed down there without permission.

 

This would be the last time that we see the Great Intelligence in the classic run of the show. It does return much later on for the eleventh Doctor where we also learn how it knew to use the London Underground for its invasion.