Group View Discussion

THE WEB PLANET - Episode One only

Chosen by Steve Hill shill@harper.cc.il.us
Weekend of 18-20 July 1997



From: chrisk@webtv.net (Chris Krisocki)

   Well, it looks as though I'm to be the first one to comment on this
episode, which I had not watched since the late 1980's. This episode is
filled with mystery, the strangest incidental music ever, and loads of
bloopers which I hadn't noticed before.
   To begin, I have no idea what the Doctor is saying in the first
scene, the reprise from The Romans. He says, "I wouldn't have thought it
possible, but ... somehow we've been" what? The sound effects are too
loud.
   Once we get onto Vortis, I must say that the design of the sets are
completely convincing to my eyes. Ian's comment about it being the moon
isn't that far off. That monument is a pretty impressive glass shot and
the music gives me a feeling of a ruined civilization and sent a few
chills up my spine.
   Ah, but the technobabble: "she's probably seen a cosmic ray," "an
ultrasonic sound like young people and young animals hear." Ugh.
Hartnell's constant laughing on the surface is incredibly annoying, good
thing he stopped doing it after this. Those ADJ's still look ridiculous.
Someone forgot to hide the wire leading to the console!
   The bloopers that I spotted: in the scene right before Ian's pen is
pulled away, there's a wire attached to it which shines in the light.
When the TARDIS doors open for the first time, there's someone visible
outside them. The Zarbi that Ian sees reflected in the pool may be seen
throughout the entire scene in back of the rock formation or whatever it
is. There is a small light visible in the upper left-hand corner of one
of the scenes where Barbara is talking with Vicki, and in those scenes
it's also possible to spot some strange marks on the camera lenses: one
of them is circular and toward the upper right-hand quarter of the
screen, and another is a small line about 70% down and about the same
amount to the right. Sorry to be so technical :-) Plus, the TARDIS
monitor glitches before the dematerialization.
   Now that my rambling is done, I think that a lot of effort went into
making this episode. Even after thirty-odd years it's still impressive
what they managed to do with £ 33,033. No wonder it was promoted so
heavily at the time: they tried to pull out all the stops for this one,
but it was a little bit too much for them to handle. Side note: why did
Richard Martin get assigned the, shall we say, more ambitious stories
this year?
   It's a strange contrast to watch the beginning of the poor quality
print of the second episode, which has loads of scratches and poor
contrast, so much so that Ian's face blends into the ground. That's
where I stopped my recording made off NJN and hit the power key.


From: KATHY SULLIVAN WNMCGYVER@VAX2.WINONA.MSUS.EDU

I thought the aspirin scene was done well, showing the
contrast between Vicki's and Barbara's time.  (And I
do find it interesting after the NA's that Doctor did
carry aspirin--good thing that Vicki had the line
that he probably picked it up somewhere).  

Anyone have a technobabble explanation for how the
ring could open the TARDIS doors without power?  Loved
Ian's expression at that.


picpic


From: David Atkins d.atkins@mdx.ac.uk

Chris Krisocki wrote:-
>    Well, it looks as though I'm to be the first one to comment on this
> episode, which I had not watched since the late 1980's. This episode is
> filled with mystery, the strangest incidental music ever, and loads of
> bloopers which I hadn't noticed before.

During the sequence with the ring, Hartnell seems to have forgotten 
his lines but it works, as it seems as if he's just too embarrassed 
to explain it's function to Ian.

>    To begin, I have no idea what the Doctor is saying in the first
> scene, the reprise from The Romans. He says, "I wouldn't have thought it
> possible, but ... somehow we've been" what? The sound effects are too
> loud.

Isn't it 'we're being dragged down' or words to that effect?

>    Once we get onto Vortis, I must say that the design of the sets are
> completely convincing to my eyes. Ian's comment about it being the moon
> isn't that far off. That monument is a pretty impressive glass shot and
> the music gives me a feeling of a ruined civilization and sent a few
> chills up my spine.

I agree, the sets are nice, though I did notice, in one of the 
shot's, that one of the rocks is clearly a thin stand-up prop.

>    Ah, but the technobabble: "she's probably seen a cosmic ray," "an
> ultrasonic sound like young people and young animals hear." Ugh.

Maureen O' Brian is pretty dreadful during the scene where she's 
hearing the sound. Looks like she's grinning instead of wincing.
The expression on her face when taking the aspirin is over-played 
aswell, though her line-delivery troughout the episode is fine.

> Hartnell's constant laughing on the surface is incredibly annoying, good
> thing he stopped doing it after this. Those ADJ's still look ridiculous.

Hartnell seems very energetic throughout the whole episode. The 
laughing is annoying but, on the whole, I think he's in fine form.

> Someone forgot to hide the wire leading to the console!

I noticed this aswell. Interesting that the whole TARDIS set is shot 
from the opposite angle to usual (I don't recall this happening in 
any other story) allowing us to see all sorts of equipment within the 
console room.

I enjoyed watching the episode again, despite a few irritating 
moments, flashes of humour (I loved the Coal Hill School tie 
sequence) and a good build-up of mystery make it a strong first 
episode. As for the rest of the serial, well that's another 
story.....

One thing to remember. If anyone calls you an anorak, because you're 
a Doctor Who fan, tell them calmly that you're not. You are, in fact, 
an atmospheric density jacket.... 


pic pic


From: shane@thehub.com.au (Shane Wright)

IMFAUDO "Web Planet" ep 1 also has one of the mightiest cliffhangers ever.
saw
who likes cliffhangers.  Not cliff richard hangers, just generic ones.


From: renton@juno.com (renton patrick)

 writes:
>I agree, the sets are nice, though I did notice, in one of the 
>shot's, that one of the rocks is clearly a thin stand-up prop.

Isn't it great?  It's almost as good as that sequence in The Space
Museum, where you can see their shadows on the sky (though I think you
can do this in The Web Planet as well)...


From: chrisk@webtv.net (Chris Krisocki)

Getting back to that first scene: he says, "I wouldn't have thought it
possible, but we've been"  "by some kind of force. I simply
can't break its hold." What is he saying?


pic pic


From: Michael Lee michaell@execpc.com

I managed to dig up the tape -- since I taped it on air in the atrocious movie 
format, it was funny to watch the video quality decline when I reached the end 
of part 1.

Considering I've never been fond of the *entire* story -- it is slow and 
horrifically dated, and only deserves our indulgence because of the uniqueness 
of not having any human characters outside of the main cast -- I was surprised 
how *good* the first episode was when you don't follow it up with the rest of 
the story.    The episode has a good deal of mystery -- and while for the life 
of me I don't know why Ian is using his Coal Hill School tie as a belt, the 
scene with the Doctor and Ian by the lake is pure classic Doctor Who.    The 
Doctor and Ian relationship is one that is too often ignored, as it is often 
quite fun.

I'm convinced that it is better to watch the first three Doctors only one 
episode at a time -- they were made to be viewed that way, and are better when 
they are viewed that way.


From: shill@harper.cc.il.us (Steve Hill)

Some of you have now discovered the reason why I chose *part one* of The 
Web Planet for our first group view.

Most people dislike the story overall. *I* dislike the story overall. 
There is one point in episode four, I think, in which some sort of battle 
is taking place and you drift away and then snap back and look at the 
screen and say, "WHAT is going ON here?" The conclusion is weak but I 
like the concept of entering the heart of the malignancy.

But when viewed by itself, episode one REALLY works well. There are 
plenty of brow-furrowing moments and mystery, and the design of the Zarbi 
is absolutely terrific. And we finish with a cliffhanger that does its 
job very well - it makes us *need* to know what happens next.

Although we didn't watch past part one, I was wondering what people think of 
the concept of the Animus as cancer? I know I read this idea somwehere. 
Even the name - Carcinome (sp?) - recalls carcinogen.


From: george@embossed.chi.il.us

Okay, I have to admit right away that I'm very fond
of this story.  This is one of the few DW stories of 
its era -- or, really, any era -- to create a complete,
pervasive alien environment.  

Some high points:

* The atmospheric density jackets -- under the
circumstances, they were a good idea, nicely
realized.

* "My ship...my TARDIS..."

* The aspirin sequence

* The shiny, ethereal look of Vortis

* The Zarbi.  Yes, that's right.  Even though
they're clearly men in elaborate costumes, 
a lot of work appears to have gone into them.
Look at their front legs, which seem very
controllable.  I watched "Warriors of the Deep"
over the weekend, too, and the Zarbi are more
convincing than either the Silurians or Sea Devils.

* Excellent Doctor/Ian banter throughout

Some odd bits...

* There's an early TARDIS sequence where all of the
actors manage to wander out of shot, leaving the camera
nicely centered on the TARDIS console, surrounded by
Vicki's shoulder, half of the Doctor and Ian sans head.
Probably Maureen O'Brien overshot her mark while 
struggling to retain her lines...

* Whatever's at work at Vortis can take time out from
its planet-wide machinations to steal Ian's pen.

* Do they seriously expect us to believe that Ian 
can't find a single belt in the TARDIS, and must 
instead resort to using a necktie?  Couldn't he even
find rope?  Sounds like someone didn't realize Ian
would be wearing a turtleneck...

* There's evidence throughout this episode that
William Hartnell took the wrong vitamins on the
morning of recording...

Ahh, how I love Hartnell stories!


pic


From: george@embossed.chi.il.us

Steve Hill wrote... 
> But when viewed by itself, episode one REALLY works well. There are 
> plenty of brow-furrowing moments and mystery, and the design of the Zarbi 
> is absolutely terrific. And we finish with a cliffhanger that does its 
> job very well - it makes us *need* to know what happens next.

It's one of the few DW first episodes where you can honestly say
that, watching it for the first time, you really don't have any
idea where the story's going.

Of course, you can say that about both parts of Timelash, or
any part of Time and the Rani, but for different reasons. 


From: "Chuck Foster" Chuck.Foster@uk.uu.net

On 21 Jul 97 at 16:46, Steve Hill wrote:
> But when viewed by itself, episode one REALLY works well. There are 
> plenty of brow-furrowing moments and mystery, and the design of the Zarbi 
> is absolutely terrific. And we finish with a cliffhanger that does its 
> job very well - it makes us *need* to know what happens next.

Well, that is the point of the episodic form! A lot of stories cannot 
hold the attention if you watch them in one go (episode three can 
often be a real plodder!), but if you are watching one a week as they 
were intended, then by the time you're getting bored its over. 25 
minutes is a bit easier on the brain than 100 minutes!


From: "David Alexander" davida@dircon.co.uk

Chuck wrote:-

> Well, that is the point of the episodic form! A lot of stories cannot 
> hold the attention if you watch them in one go (episode three can 
> often be a real plodder!), but if you are watching one a week as they 
> were intended, then by the time you're getting bored its over. 25 
> minutes is a bit easier on the brain than 100 minutes!

True, of course, but I personally prefer to watch the complete story all in
one go ... okay, in certain cases, e.g. "The Seeds of Death", this does
tend to produce a mild psychosis, but I'm one of these people who doesn't
have much time for the episodic form, the heartstopping cliffhanger & all
that jazz ... Which probably explains why I never read Neil Gaiman's
"Sandman" in comic-book format, preferring instead to buy the collections.


From: shill@harper.cc.il.us (Steve Hill)

> On 21 Jul 97 at 16:46, Steve Hill wrote:
> > But when viewed by itself, episode one REALLY works well. There are 
> > plenty of brow-furrowing moments and mystery, and the design of the Zarbi 
> > is absolutely terrific. And we finish with a cliffhanger that does its 
> > job very well - it makes us *need* to know what happens next.

Chuck wrote:
> Well, that is the point of the episodic form!

Yes, but there are far too many episodes that fail to have an effective 
cliffhanger. We've seen lists of "best cliffhangers" and all, and they're 
all alike in regard to my earlier sentence... they all make us *need* to 
know what happens next. There are so many average cliffhangers, and many 
poor episode breaks (that can't even be called cliffhangers). I can't 
think of too many good breaks in Trial of a Time Lord, which we make fun 
of in THE REIGN OF TURNER (camera zooms in on the Doctor as the Valeyard 
says the Doctor has to die).


From: Tyler Dion TDion34@m2.sprynet.com

>Getting back to that first scene: he says, "I wouldn't have thought it
>possible, but we've been"  "by some kind of force. I simply
>can't break its hold." What is he saying?

Um, some guff about being dragged down off their astral plane (And I always
thought the Doctor didn't believe in astrology ;-)

[More pictures] [Return to the Group View page]