Planet of the Spiders 1429629 225905709 2008-07-15T23:17:49Z J Greb 1806135 Update {{Doctorwhobox| |number=074 |image=[[Image:Planet of the Spiders.jpg|275px]] |caption=A Giant Spider of Metebelis Three |serial_name= Planet of the Spiders |show=DW |type=serial |doctor=[[Jon Pertwee]] ([[Third Doctor]])<br>[[Tom Baker]] ([[Fourth Doctor]]) (uncredited) |companion=[[Elisabeth Sladen]] ([[Sarah Jane Smith]]) |guests=*[[Nicholas Courtney]] — [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] *[[Richard Franklin]] — [[Captain Mike Yates]] *[[John Levene]] — [[Sergeant Benton]] *John Dearth — Lupton *[[Carl Forgione]] — Land *Andrew Staines — Keaver *Terence Lodge — Moss *Christopher Burgess — Barnes *[[John Kane (writer)|John Kane]] — Tommy *[[Kevin Lindsay]] — Cho-Je *George Cormack — K'Anpo *[[Cyril Shaps]] — Professor Clegg *[[Chubby Oates]] — Policeman *Pat Gorman — Soldier *[[Terry Walsh (actor)|Terry Walsh]]— Man with Boat *Michael Pinder — Hopkins *[[Stuart Fell]] — Tramp *Geoffrey Morris — Sabor *[[Ralph Arliss]] — Tuar *[[Gareth Hunt]] — Arak *Jenny Laird — Nesta *[[Joanna Munro]] — Rega *[[Walter Randall]], Max Faulkner — Guard Captains *[[Ysanne Churchman]], Kismet Delgado, [[Maureen Morris]] — Spider Voices |writer=[[Robert Sloman]]<br>[[Barry Letts]] (uncredited) |director=Barry Letts |script_editor=[[Terrance Dicks]] |producer=Barry Letts (uncredited) |executive_producer=None |production_code=ZZZ |series=[[List of Doctor Who serials#Season 11 (1973-74)|Season 11]] |length=6 episodes, 25 minutes each |date=[[May 4]]&ndash;[[June 8]] [[1974]] |preceding=''[[The Monster of Peladon]]'' |following=''[[Robot (Doctor Who)|Robot]]'' |}} '''''Planet of the Spiders''''' is a [[list of Doctor Who serials|serial]] in the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from [[May 4]] to [[June 8]] [[1974]]. It was [[Jon Pertwee]]'s last serial as [[Doctor (Doctor Who)|the Doctor]] and marks the first, uncredited appearance of [[Tom Baker]] in the role. ==Synopsis== Mysterious goings-on at a meditation retreat run by [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] monks are linked to the blue planet [[List of Doctor Who planets#M|Metebelis III]], and a colony of monstrous, evolved spiders. The Doctor must reflect on his past and reconcile with his present to defeat a deadly and possibly fatal challenge... ==Plot== Following the events of ''[[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]]'', [[Captain Mike Yates]] was discharged from [[United Nations Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]] and is now attending a Tibetan meditation centre in rural [[England]]. He is visited by [[Sarah Jane Smith]] and they witness some curious happenings at the centre, seemingly organised by a resident called Lupton, a middle aged former salesman, and his cronies. Mike and Sarah stumble across Lupton performing an incantation which conjures up a giant spider into the middle of the basement room. It jumps on Lupton’s back and then disappears. The spider manifests itself in Lupton’s head, telling him to seek out and locate a certain blue crystal. The [[Third Doctor]] has developed an interest in psychic ability, but his testing of a clairvoyant called Professor Clegg backfires when his subject has a heart attack. It is triggered when Clegg comes into contact with a blue crystal from Metebelis Three (sent back from the Amazon by [[Jo Grant]]), which caused him to see the image of deadly spiders. Sarah returns from the retreat, having left Mike to watch things there, and she and the Doctor swap spider tales. Meanwhile Lupton has also arrived at UNIT HQ and steals the crystal from the Doctor’s laboratory. A multi-vehicle chase ensues which Lupton escapes by teleporting himself back to the monastery. Once there, the spider reveals that it is plotting against some of its sisters back on Metebelis Three. The spiders and the crystal originate from the same blue planet in the Acteon Galaxy which was none too hospitable to the Doctor the last time he visited (during ''[[The Green Death]]''). The Doctor and Sarah now make for the monastery and tell the deputy abbot, Cho-Je, that something is very amiss. The crystal now strays again when it is taken by Tommy, the simple-minded handyman of the retreat, whose mind is opened and improved by the power of the crystal. Lupton is teleported to Metebelis Three, unconsciously allowing Sarah to follow him. She soon meets the human slave inhabitants of the planet, a generally dispirited bunch, other than the rebellious Arak, who flees to the mountains. The planet is ruled by the Eight-Legs or giant spiders, and their Queen is the supreme ruler. They govern using guards chosen from among the planet's Two-Leg (human) population and their own phenomenal mental powers, amplified by the blue stones of the planet. The Doctor arrives on the planet and he makes contact with Arak, who explains that the Metebelians are the descendants of the crew of an earth space ship, which crashed hundreds of years before. A spider on board found its way to the Blue Mountains where, through the effect of the crystals, its progeny grew larger and larger and cleverer and cleverer. The Doctor works out that a “negative” stone can absorb and reject the power of the blue crystals and starts a revolt among the humans, but this is defeated and the Doctor ventures to the Blue Mountains. There he encounters the Great One, a giant spider which controls the world of Metebelis and desires power over other domains too. She knows the crystal is still on Earth and sends the Doctor there to get it for her. He flees back to Earth with Sarah – not knowing the Queen spider has now implanted itself in his companion's mind. Tommy has given the crystal to the abbot, K’Anpo Rinpoche, who is an elderly [[Time Lord]] and the one-time hermit mentor of the Doctor. He now lives in peaceful exile on Earth. He tells the Doctor of Sarah's control and they work together to expel the Queen Spider. A fight breaks in the monastery between Lupton’s cronies and the Abbot’s men. The Abbot advises the Doctor to take the crystal to the Great One: the Doctor started this chain of events by removing the crystal in the first place, and it is up to him to put it back. He departs in the TARDIS with the crystal. On Metebelis Three, Lupton has been killed by the spiders after falling out with the Spider Queen. When the TARDIS lands, the Doctor heads to the cave of the Great One and gives her the crystal, which she uses to complete a lattice that begins to magnify her mental powers. However, the forces unleashed are too strong for the Great One and the positive feedback kills her and the other spiders. A vast radiation wave from the blue cave spills over the Doctor, destroying his cells and weakening him… Three weeks later, [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] and Sarah are in the Doctor's laboratory when the Doctor returns and promptly collapses. The Doctor dies, and Sarah cries. The abbot K’Anpo arrives in his new body, having regenerated into the form of Cho-Je, who was a sort of forward projection of his soul. He tells them that the Doctor will change too and before their eyes the Doctor starts to regenerate. Sarah tells the Brigadier that she thinks The Doctor is starting to regenerate. The Brigadier says "Well, here we go again!" And The Doctor regenerates into a younger man (Tom Baker). The abbot comments on his brain cells being rattled around a bit, perhaps to account for the Fourth Doctors radically eccentric personality. ===Cast notes=== *This story marks the final appearance of Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates. Franklin would reprise his role in ''[[The Five Doctors]]'' (1983) and ''[[Dimensions in Time]]'' (1993), although on both occasions they were illusory versions of Yates. After his departure from the series, Franklin would go on to become a stage and television director. *Kismet Delgado, the widow of [[Roger Delgado]], who had played the [[Master (Doctor Who)|Master]] during the Third Doctor's era, was one of the voices for the Spiders. *Gareth Hunt, who would go on to play Mike Gambit in ''[[The New Avengers (TV series)|The New Avengers]]'', appears here as a human rebel on Metebelis III. See also [[Celebrity appearances in Doctor Who]]. ==Production== {{DoctorWhoEpisodeHead |Archive=Y | {{DoctorWhoEpisodeBody|Episode 1|04 May 1974|24'40"|10.1|PAL 2" color videotape|Archive=y}}<!--74--> {{DoctorWhoEpisodeBody|Episode 2|11 May 1974|25'02"|8.9|PAL 2" color videotape|Archive=y}}<!--74--> {{DoctorWhoEpisodeBody|Episode 3|18 May 1974|24'58"|8.8|PAL 2" color videotape|Archive=y}}<!--74--> {{DoctorWhoEpisodeBody|Episode 4|25 May 1974|23'53"|8.2|PAL 2" color videotape|Archive=y}}<!--74--> {{DoctorWhoEpisodeBody|Episode 5|1 Jun 1974|24'01"|9.2|PAL 2" color videotape|Archive=y}}<!--74--> {{DoctorWhoEpisodeBody|Episode 6|8 Jun 1974|24'43"|8.9|PAL 2" color videotape|Archive=y}}<!--74--> }} ==Continuity== *This story was the second and last appearance of the "[[List of Doctor Who vehicles#Whomobile|Whomobile]]". *The character of [[Harry Sullivan]], the UNIT medical officer, is referred to by the Brigadier who calls for him when the Doctor falls into a daze after staring into the crystal. Sullivan would not actually appear on screen until ''[[Robot (Doctor Who)|Robot]]'', where he was played by [[Ian Marter]]. *The Spiders of Metebelis Three make further appearances in the short story "Return of the Spiders" by [[Gareth Roberts (writer)|Gareth Roberts]] (in the collection ''[[BBC Short Trips#More Short Trips|More Short Trips]]'') and a brief appearance in the [[Eighth Doctor Adventures|Eight Doctor Adventure]] ''[[The Eight Doctors]]'' by [[Terrance Dicks]]. *The [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novels ''[[Interference: Book One]]'' and ''[[Interference: Book Two|Two]]'' by [[Lawrence Miles]] has the time-travelling voodoo cult [[Faction Paradox]] changing history so that the events of this story never happen and instead having the Third Doctor regenerating on a planet named Dust after being shot. A later novel in the series, ''[[The Ancestor Cell]]'' by [[Peter Anghelides]] and [[Stephen Cole (writer)|Stephen Cole]], resolves this paradox and restores the Doctor's timeline to its previous state. The [[canon (fiction)#Doctor Who|canonicity]] of the novels is unclear. ===Regeneration=== The concept of [[regeneration (Doctor Who)|regeneration]] is named in this serial. Fan speculation about whether [[Patrick Troughton]]'s [[Second Doctor]] was a regeneration or merely a "change of appearance" continued until ''[[The Five Doctors]]''. This story introduces the character of K'anpo Rimpoche, the previously unnamed [[Time Lord]] hermit from the Doctor's childhood, first mentioned in ''[[The Time Monster]]''. K'anpo has the power to travel through time without the use of a TARDIS, to make a corporeal projection of a potential future incarnation (Cho-Je) of himself, and to stimulate the regeneration process of another Time Lord. Whereas a Time Lord was seen to travel without a TARDIS in ''[[Terror of the Autons]]'' and the Doctor has met two future potential incarnations of himself: the Watcher in ''[[Logopolis]]'' (1981) and the [[Valeyard]] in ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'' (1986), no other Time Lord has been shown to stimulate the regeneration process (although it can be argued that the Time Lords stimulated the Doctor's regeneration in ''[[The War Games]]''; and that the Doctor's companion [[Romana]] may have stimulated her own regeneration or projected possible future incarnations for the Doctor to choose from in ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]''). K'anpo was referenced again in the [[Fourth Doctor]] serial ''[[State of Decay]]'' as the man who told the Doctor about the legends of the Great Vampires. This is the first story to feature a Time Lord (other than the Doctor) regenerating on screen. To date, only two other Time Lords have been seen to regenerate in a television story. The first is [[Romana]] in ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'' (1979). Although [[Master (Doctor Who)|the Master]] was also shown changing appearance on two occasions (in ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'' and the [[Doctor Who (1996 film)|1996 TV film]]), neither was an actual regeneration. The Master was finally seen to regenerate in the 2007 episode "[[Utopia (Doctor Who)|Utopia]]." ==Production== The final story of Season 11 (to have been titled ''The Final Game'') was originally intended to write out the character of [[Master (Doctor Who)|the Master]], with the villainous [[Time Lord]] sacrificing his life to save the Doctor's. Due to the death of actor [[Roger Delgado]], [[script editor]] [[Terrance Dicks]] abandoned the project in favour of a new story, which eventually evolved into ''Planet of the Spiders''. Coincidentally, Kismit Delgado, Roger's widow provided her voice to one of the spiders. ==In print== {{Doctorwhobook| |title=Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders |series=[[List of Doctor Who novelisations|Target novelisations]] |number=48 |featuring= |cover=Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders.jpg |writer=[[Terrance Dicks]] |publisher=[[Target Books]] |coverartist=[[Peter Brookes]] |isbn=ISBN 0 426 10655 5 |set_between= |pages= |date=16 October 1975 |preceding=[[The Green Death#In print|Doctor Who and the Green Death]] |following=[[The Three Doctors#In print|The Three Doctors]] |}} A novelisation of this serial, written by [[Terrance Dicks]], was published by [[Target Books]] in October 1975 as ''Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders''. ==Broadcast, VHS release== *This story was released on [[VHS]] in April 1991 as a double pack. *A commentary with [[Elizabeth Sladen]], [[Nicholas Courtney]], [[Richard Franklin]], [[Barry Letts]], and [[Terrance Dicks]] was recorded on [[19 February]] [[2007]] for a future DVD release. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{BBCCDW | id=planetofspiders | title=Planet of the Spiders}} *{{Brief | id=zzz | title=Planet of the Spiders}} *{{Doctor Who RG | id=who_3z | title=Planet of the Spiders}} *[http://www.thatchickensite.com/letters/hovercraft That Doctor Who Episode with the Hovercraft Chase: A Retrospective] — A tongue-in-cheek analysis of ''Planet of the Spiders'' Part Two. ===Reviews=== *{{OG review | id=3z | title=Planet of the Spiders}} *{{DWRG | id=plans | title=Planet of the Spiders}} ===Target novelisation=== *{{DWRG | id=plansnov | title=Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders}} *[http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~ecl6nb/OnTarget/1975/planet/75planet.htm On Target — ''Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders''] {{Doctor Who (season 11)}} {{UNIT Stories}} {{Regeneration Stories}} [[Category:Third Doctor serials]] [[Category:Doctor Who serials novelised by Terrance Dicks]] [[Category:1974 television episodes]] [[vo:Planet Raänidas]]