Episode #74 : Planet of the Spiders

"The old man must die, and the new man will discover to his

inexpressible joy that he has never existed."

Episode 74:   Planet of the Spiders.
Companions: 3rd Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith.
Air Date:       Six episodes. 4th May to 8th June 1974.

The blue crystal that the Doctor took from Metebelis III in a previous adventure is desperately sought by the Eight Legs, a race of mutated spiders, as the final element in their plan for universal domination. With help from an old mentor, the Doctor realises the only way to foil the plot is to make the ultimate sacrifice. The Doctor must risk death to return to the cave of the Great One and save the universe.

Planet of the Spiders is the final story in the Jon Pertwee era and while it has it's good and bad elements, it is a pretty good ending to one of the best Doctors (in my opinion) of the classic show. The story deals with a race of giant mutant spiders from Metebelis III who seek power to travel to Earth and enslave mankind. They need the crystal that the Doctor took from the planet a long time before their arrival to do so, and must use mantric time travel to achieve their aims.

Firstly, while the story is quite good, I am left with the feeling that the writer probably didn't watch the previous story where the Doctor picked the crystal up from Metebelis III. I say this because the planet as it appears in Planet of the Spiders in no way resembles the planet as it appeared in The Green Death. It now appears bright, earth-like and devoid of the giant monsters that the Doctor encountered before. Secondly, the one element that really lets the story down is the appearance of the giant spiders. I am sure that the BBC special effects department could have done a lot better even back then.

There is a lot of padding to this story and part of it comes from a lengthy James Bond-esqe chase involving cars, gyrocopters, speedboats and a hovercraft. Most of that episode was taken up with the chase and it all ends with a bit of a let down. Jon Pertwee may have liked his stunts and cars but it didn't need to find it's way into the story.

The story also sees the return of Mike Yates, who was discharged from UNIT following the events of Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Having retreated to meditation centre to contemplate what he had done, he becomes embroiled in the plot unfolding, and brings Sarah Jane and the Doctor into the story. Having really come to like the character over the last twenty-odd stories it was nice to give him a final send off.

At the end of the story after defeating the giant spiders, he regenerates into Tom Baker. Going through these stories in order I really do feel that I am going to miss Pertwee. His mannerisms and acting approach really have made him stand out far more than the two actors before him, and he has made his run the most enjoyable.

Episode #69 : The Green Death

"Stevens, listen to me. You've seen where this efficiency of yours leads. Wholesale pollution of the countryside. Devilish creatures spawned by the filthy by-products of your technology. Men... men walking around like brainless vegetables. Death. Disease. Destruction."

Episode 69:    The Green Death.
Companions:  3rd Doctor and Jo Grant.
Air Date:        Six episodes. 19th May to 23rd June 1973.

A death at an abandoned coal pit brings UNIT and the Doctor to the South Wales town of Llanfairfach when the body is found glowing bright green. Are pollutants from Global Chemicals responsible? Where are the giant maggots coming from? And who is the mysterious BOSS?

The Green Death is an excellent story that deals with issues just as relevant to us now in the 21st century as they were to us forty years ago; pollution and it's effects on the environment. In this story a mining company has closed down and started pumping vast amounts of chemical waste into the tunnels. The resulting mess has created a new form of life... giant, almost invulnerable, maggots that eventually transform into some monstrous fly-like insect. All of it orchestrated by the company's new machine BOSS - Biomorphic Organisational Systems Supervisor - which has achieved a form of sentience.

Throughout the current season of the show the Doctor has made a few references to wanting to visit Metebelis III, an apparently beautiful blue world famed for it's crystals. At long last we get a visit to that planet and it isn't anywhere near how he describes it. In fact it seems to be full of monsters, ranging from giant tentacles to enormous birds. We do come back to this planet in a few episodes time.

There is great chemistry between the characters in this story which has been lacking of late. Jo seems ever more ditzy than usual but it is endearing to see her fall in love with the local hippy scientist. Jo leaves the Doctor in this story to marry her new love and you get a real sense of conflicting happiness and sadness on the part of the Doctor. Even the Brigadier doesn't seem quite so trigger happy in this story.

The effects bring back a lot of memories of watching science fiction as a kid, and I really can't fault them in this story. The maggots seem a bit odd at times but they still give the creeps even now. The only element which I feel doesn't work is the giant fly. I mentioned this way back in the 1st Doctor story "Planet of the Giants". In that story there is a admittedly static model of a giant fly that looked awesome, but here we have something that truly does look like it was a rush job of paper-mache, bits and paint. When the BBC could do something that looked as good as it did in Planet of the Giants, it does beg the question why couldn't they do it here?

It is sad to see Jo leave the show and she is remembered with fondness by many fans. But it is time to get a stronger companion I think and we do that in the next story. Jo does make a re-appearance in the SJA adventure "Death of the Doctor" which I will cover later on.

I suggest The Green Death as one of the better Jon Pertwee era stories and well worth checking out if you haven't seen it.