EPISODE: Planet of the Spiders: Part Six
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 381
STORY NUMBER: 074
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 08 June 1974
WRITER: Robert Sloman (and
Barry Letts un-credited)
DIRECTOR: Barry Letts
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 8.9 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD:
Doctor Who - Planet of the Spiders
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video
"All the cells of his body have been devastated by the Metebelis crystals, but you forget, he is a Time Lord. I will give the process a little push and the cells will regenerate. He will become a new man."
K'anpo reveals he has the crystal but Sarah, under the control of the spider queen, attacks him and the Doctor. The Doctor & K'anpo break the Spider's hold on Sarah using the crystal which kills the Queen. K'anpo makes the Doctor realise that his greed for knowledge dominates him. The Doctor realises that K'anpo was his mentor from his youth, who regenerated and came to Earth revealing that Cho-Je is a projection of himself. Cho-Je rescues Yates from the cellar. The Doctor agrees to return the crystal to the Great One on Metebelis 3. Barnes' group get past Tommy & Yates into the Abbot's room, fatally injuring the Abbot, but the Doctor uses the crystal to teleport to the cellar and takes the Tardis to Metebelis 3 meeting Arak & Tuar. They take him to the Spiders where he finds the attack failed. He demands to be taken to the great one but Lupton interferes and is slain by the spiders. Mike & Tommy have survived the attack but K'anpo weakens and regenerates into Cho-Je. The Doctor confronts the huge spider ruler, the Great One in her cave in the radioactive rock. Inserting the crystal into it's proper place in her web does not increase her powers to infinity as planned but creates a feedback loop that destroys her, and the other spiders, freeing the humans on Metebelis 3 and releasing Barnes' group from their control. The dying Doctor retreats to the Tardis setting the course for Earth. Weeks later the Tardis materialises in the UNIT lab, with the Doctor collapsing on the floor. K'anpo's new incarnation materialises and starts the Doctor's regeneration.
Lots of this episode work really well for me. Others however.....
SARAH: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Doctor.
DOCTOR: What have you got to be sorry about? You did very well. You should be proud of yourself.
SARAH: To let that creature take me over like that. I mean, I actually volunteered.
K'ANPO: We are all apt to surrender ourselves to domination. Even the strongest of us.
DOCTOR: Do you mean me?
K'ANPO: Not all spiders sit on the back.
SARAH: Oh, I don't understand. You're not saying they've taken over the Doctor, are you?
DOCTOR: Oh no, Sarah, no. No, he's talking about my greed.
SARAH: Greed? You?
DOCTOR: Yes, my greed for knowledge, for information. He's saying that all this is basically my fault. If I hadn't taken the crystal in the first place......
No. If the Doctor hadn't taken the crystal, then there's no reason why the spiders shouldn't have been dominating the universe by now!
The Doctor's train of thought is somewhat interrupted here by his realisation of who K'anpo is!
DOCTOR: I know who you are now!
K'ANPO: You were always a little slow on the uptake, my boy.
DOCTOR: It's been a long, long time.
SARAH: You know each other?
DOCTOR: Oh, yes. Yes, he was my teacher. My, my guru, if you like. In another time, another place.
K'ANPO: Another life.
Presumably this Guru is the same one mentioned in The Time Monster when The Doctor & Jo are stuck in the cell:
JO: Makes it seem so pointless really, doesn't it.
DOCTOR: I felt like that once when I was young. It was the blackest day of my life.
JO: Why?
DOCTOR: Ah, well, that's another story. I'll tell you about it one day. The point is, that day was not only my blackest, it was also my best.
JO: Well, what do you mean?
DOCTOR: Well, when I was a little boy, we used to live in a house that was perched halfway up the top of a mountain. And behind our house, there sat under a tree an old man, a hermit, a monk. He'd lived under this tree for half his lifetime, so they said, and he'd learned the secret of life. So, when my black day came, I went and asked him to help me.
JO: And he told you the secret? Well, what was it?
DOCTOR: Well, I'm coming to that, Jo, in my own time. Ah, I'll never forget what it was like up there. All bleak and cold, it was. A few bare rocks with some weeds sprouting from them and some pathetic little patches of sludgy snow. It was just grey. Grey, grey, grey. Well, the tree the old man sat under, that was ancient and twisted and the old man himself was, he was as brittle and as dry as a leaf in the autumn.
JO: But what did he say?
DOCTOR: Nothing, not a word. He just sat there, silently, expressionless, and he listened whilst I poured out my troubles to him. I was too unhappy even for tears, I remember. And when I'd finished, he lifted a skeletal hand and he pointed. Do you know what he pointed at?
JO: No.
DOCTOR: A flower. One of those little weeds. Just like a daisy, it was. Well, I looked at it for a moment and suddenly I saw it through his eyes. It was simply glowing with life, like a perfectly cut jewel. And the colours? Well, the colours were deeper and richer than you could possibly imagine. Yes, that was the daisiest daisy I'd ever seen.
JO: And that was the secret of life? A daisy? Honestly, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Yes, I laughed too when I first heard it. So, later, I got up and I ran down that mountain and I found that the rocks weren't grey at all, but they were red, brown and purple and gold. And those pathetic little patches of sludgy snow, they were shining white. Shining white in the sunlight. You still frightened, Jo?
JO: No, not as much as I was.
DOCTOR: That's good. I'm sorry I brought you to Atlantis.
JO: I'm not.
DOCTOR: Thank you.
Oddly The Time Monster is also the previous appearance of K'anpo's actor George Cormack in Doctor Who where he plays King Dalios.
There the follows a big a piece of Chekov's Gun as we've seen in all of Pertwee's reign as the Doctor as we're reminded of the key concept of Regeneration:
SARAH: Oh, no. Don't tell me you're a Time Lord too?
K'ANPO: I am. But the discipline they serve was not for me.
DOCTOR: No. Nor for me.
K'ANPO: I wouldn't have chosen your alternative. To borrow a Tardis was a little naughty, to say the least.
DOCTOR: Yes, well, I had to get away. I hadn't your power.
K'ANPO: Indeed. I regenerated and came to Earth, to Tibet.
SARAH: Regenerated?
DOCTOR: Yes. Yes, when a Time Lord's body wears out, he regenerates, becomes new.
K'ANPO: That is why we can live such a long time.
SARAH: I see. Well, what about Cho-Je? Is he a Time Lord, too?
K'ANPO: In a sense. In another sense, he doesn't exist.
SARAH: You've lost me.
DOCTOR: Me too, I'm afraid.
K'ANPO: Cho-Je is a projection of my own self.
The idea that Cho-Je is a part of K'anpo is a novel one, and one the production team return to seven years later as a future projection of the Doctor haunts the Fourth Doctor's final story.
We return to the Blue Crystal. K'anpo's opening remark is very interesting, almost like he's aware of what's about to happen to him.
K'ANPO: As I thought. The moment approaches.
SARAH: What moment?
K'ANPO: The moment I have been waiting for. The moment of truth, if you'll forgive a cliché. The moment of truth for us both. You know what you have to do?
DOCTOR: No, I
K'ANPO: I think you do, my son. What is it you most fear?
At this point the Doctor recalls his encounter with The Great One from the previous episode:
GREAT ONE: Is that fear I can feel in your mind? You are not accustomed to feeling frightened, are you, Doctor? You are very wise to be afraid of me.
Nothing wrong with being afraid. However....
DOCTOR: Is there no other way?
K'ANPO: None.
DOCTOR: Very well. Give me the crystal.
SARAH: What are you going to do?
DOCTOR: Take the crystal to the Great One.
SARAH: But you told me that if you went back there, the cave of crystal would destroy you.
DOCTOR: Nevertheless, I have to go.
So why is The Doctor going to take it back? At this point returning the Crystal will just allow The Spiders to complete their plan of universal domination, there's nothing there which indicates that taking the crystal back will do something to delay or even defeat them! The key motivation in this episode, that the Doctor's pride has got the better of him and he must atone for it, doesn't sit terribly well with me, and apparently doesn't with
Terrance Dicks either. Without buying into it the logic of the episode sadly falls completely apart.
So off the Doctor goes to Metebelis Three leaving Sarah behind the K'anpo, who is critically injured by the Spiders:
TOMMY: K'Anpo.
K'ANPO: I'm afraid this old body has had it, Miss Smith.
SARAH: No!
CHO-JE: Dear friends, please don't. Please don't....
SARAH: What's happening?
CHO-JE: Please don't. Please don't concern yourselves. I am not dying, merely regenerating.
TOMMY: Cho-Je.
CHO-JE: No, Tommy. I am K'Anpo. Will you put this in your magazine, Sarah Jane Smith?
Right, so we know Regeneration involved a Time Lord getting a new body, made that one clear, even if some of the details have been muddled by the addition of Cho-Je to the mix being a projection of the Abbot in the past and his future self.
So back to Metebelis Three
and finally the Great One is unveiled and she is HUGE!
Is having a Giant Foe in the final episode here really a good idea when that's the plan for the conclusion of the next story too?
GREAT ONE: Stop! Have you brought the crystal to me?
DOCTOR: Well if I had not, why should I have returned?
GREAT ONE: Very well. Very well, advance.
DOCTOR: I've brought you the crystal. Now why don't you just take it and leave the humans in peace, both here and on Earth?
GREAT ONE: You think I care for the puny plans of my subjects? Earth? One paltry planet among millions? Give me the crystal. I thirst for it! I ache for it!
DOCTOR: Well, why is it so important to you?
GREAT ONE: You see this web of crystal above my head? It reproduces the pattern of my brain. One perfect crystal and it will be complete. That is the perfect crystal I need.
DOCTOR: And then?
GREAT ONE: My every thought will resonate within the web, and grow in power until, until, until
DOCTOR: But you've built a positive feedback circuit. You're trying to increase your mental powers to infinity.
GREAT ONE: Exactly! I shall be the ruler of the entire universe!
DOCTOR: Now listen to me. Listen. I haven't got much time left. What you're trying to do is impossible. If you complete that circuit, the energy will build up and up until it cannot be contained. You will destroy yourself.
GREAT ONE: You waste the little time remaining to you. Even now the cave of crystal is destroying the cells of your body. I will grant you one last favour. You may watch the completion of my triumph before you die!
GREAT ONE: I am complete! Now I am total power! All praise to the Great One!
DOCTOR: Stop. Stop! Don't you see what's happened to you?
GREAT ONE: All praise to the Great One! All praise to me! Bow down before me, planets! Bow down, stars! Bow down, all galaxies and worship the Great One! The me! The Great, all-powerful me! Argh! I hurt! Help me! I am burning! My brain is on fire! Help me!
Hmmm. I'd have had the crystals glowing above the spider once the Doctor's crystal completed the system. Possible Alternate Effects job for the Restoration Team when this comes up for a Blu Ray release?
So, in terms of defeating the spiders, all's ended well as the crystal broke what it was meant to complete and killed the Great One operating it and with her gone the other Spiders have all died too but, to emphasise once again, the Doctor had no idea this was going to happen, for all he knew returning the crystal would have just allowed the Great One to complete her plan! He had no idea something would go wrong till he got there!
So what was he intending? "Here's your crystal back, I'm sorry for taking it, now please don't take over the universe?" as the above scene tends to suggest?
Deary me. Yeah I can see why Terrence wasn't too happy!
But the victory is not without it's cost. The Doctor is now fatally riddled with radiation from the cave and, having demonstrated regeneration with another Time Lord earlier in the episode, it's time to get on with it for real with The Doctor.
BRIGADIER: Hello, Miss Smith.
SARAH: Oh, hello, Brigadier. I just thought I'd pop in and. Well, to tell you the truth, I don't quite know why I did pop in, actually.
BRIGADIER: To see if there was any sign of the old fellow, eh?
SARAH: Yes. But there can't be, can there? I mean, he's been gone over three weeks now.
BRIGADIER: Oh, that's nothing. One time I didn't see him for months. And what's more, when he did turn up, he had a new face. Could have been a completely different man.
SARAH: No. he knew if he went back there he would destroy himself. We'll never see him again.
SARAH: Doctor!
DOCTOR: Hello, Sarah. I got lost in the time vortex. The Tardis brought me home.
And the Tardis has brought The Doctor back home, right back to the UNIT lab which it's lived in these last few years.
SARAH: Oh! Oh, Doctor, why did you have to go back?
DOCTOR: I had to face my fear, Sarah. I had to face my fear. That was more important than just going on living.
SARAH: Please, don't die.
DOCTOR: A tear, Sarah Jane? No, don't cry. While there's life there's...
SARAH: No.
At this point things take an interesting turn as the Abbot's new form Cho-Je materialises out of thin air!
CHO-JE: It's all right. He is not dead.
SARAH: Oh no. I don't think I can take much more.
CHO-JE: I am sorry to have startled you, my dear.
BRIGADIER: Won't you introduce me to your friend, Miss Smith?
SARAH: Oh, er, yes. This is the Abbot of. No, it's Cho-Je. I mean, it looks like Cho-Je but it is really K'Anpo Rimpoche. I think.
BRIGADIER: Thank you. That makes everything quite clear.
CHO-JE: The Doctor is alive.
SARAH: No, you're wrong. He's dead.
CHO-JE: All the cells of his body have been devastated by the Metebelis crystals, but you forget, he is a Time Lord. I will give the process a little push and the cells will regenerate. He will become a new man.
BRIGADIER: Literally?
CHO-JE: Of course, he will look quite different.
BRIGADIER: Not again.
CHO-JE: And it will shake up the brain cells a little. You may find his behaviour somewhat erratic.
SARAH: When will all this happen?
CHO-JE: Well there's no time like the present, is there.
CHO-JE: Goodbye. Look after him.
BRIGADIER: Now wait a moment.
SARAH: Look, Brigadier. Look. I think it's starting.
BRIGADIER: Well, here we go again.
But whatever you think of the rest of the episode, that last scene is terrific as the dying Doctor returns to his friends only to have his regeneration kick started. I'm told that the Brigadier's final line, "Here we go again" was an ad lib by Nicholas Courtney
As a whole story Planet of the Spiders divides into two segments: Earthbound material which, with the exception of *THAT* chase, I liked, and Metebelis 3 material which I didn't. A bit like the Time Monster then when the Earth bound first few episodes worked for me and then it fell apart. Metebelis was just too clean and the spiders base could have done with a lot more cobwebs. The Metebelis humans were without exception dire. But back on Earth I liked the presentation of Tommy, I liked the idea of redeeming Mike Yates (dirty stinking traitor) and having K'anpo regenerate neatly paves the way for what is about to happen to the Doctor.
There's a whole load of lasts in this episode: It's Jon Pertwee's last regular episode of Doctor Who. Afterwards he went on to host gameshow Whodunnit! and to star as Worzel Gummidge while maintaining a successful career on the stage. He returned to the title role of Doctor Who for 1983's The Five Doctors and for several radio stories in the 1990s. Jon Pertwee died on 20 May 1996.
It's also goodbye to Richard Franklin as Mike Yates, last seen recovering on the floor of K'Anpo's study. Franklin continued to act on the stage and in Emmerdale Farm before eventually attempting to enter politics. He too will, briefly, be seen in the Five Doctors. Franklin died on Christmas Day 2023.
This is the last episode written by Robert Sloman and, un-credited, Barry Letts. Between them they wrote The Daemons, as Guy Leopold, The Time Monster, The Green Death and Planet of the Spiders, the stories which closed the Third Doctor's second to fifth seasons.
This is also the last episode with Terrance Dicks credited as script editor but he'll be back immediately writing Robot having claimed to have invented the tradition of the departing Script Editor writing the next story. However examination of authors & script editors shows that David Whitaker, Dennis Spooner, Gerry Davis & Derrick Sherwin all accomplished this feat too.
This story marks the end of Season 11, and that's the last season with more than one six part story in.
So we get to the close of the Third Doctor Jon Pertwee era. Although he plays the role for five years, two longer than either of his predecessors William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton, his seasons were shorter so comparatively he's been in a similar number of episodes
| DOCTOR | STORIES | EPISODES |
| 1 | 29 | 134 |
| 2 | 21 | 119 |
| 3 | 24 | 128 |
So over the five years of Pertwee what were the bests and worsts? Top of the best is obviously Inferno, then Carnival of Monsters and Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Worst? Mutants, Time Monster and probably these last two stories Monster of Peladon & Planet of Spiders although neither was without it's good points. Most improved for me this time out & watching episodically were Colony in Space, Frontier in Space and (again) Monster of Peladon, which was really a game of two halves with the first three episodes being dire and the last three livened up by the Ice Warriors. Frontier in Space, meanwhile, was brought down by two dead episodes in the middle. Take them out and the other four are crackers.
Planet of the Spiders was novelised by Terrance Dicks in 1975. The adaptation of the following story, The Giant Robot, was the fist Doctor Who book I read and I can remember hunting this down immediately afterwards, so the chances are Planet of the Spiders was the second Doctor Who novel I ever read. And I enjoyed it a lot more than I did the television version.
Planet of the Spiders was released on Video in April 1991 so there's a pretty good chance I got it as an Eighteenth Birthday present. Planet of the Spiders was released on DVD twenty years later on April 18th 2011. At the point of release two of the commentary participants, Barry Letts & Nicholas Courtney had already died. The day after it's release a third participant, Elisabeth Sladen, succumbed to cancer.
Join us in a few months time as we find out about the new person lying on the floor, then a relatively unknown actor, and how Barry Letts & Terrance Dicks got an afternoon trip to the cinema out of the BBC!
