"The Web of Fear" - Episode 2

Doctor Who
Airdate: February 10, 1968
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling
Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln
Produced by Peter Bryant
Directed by Douglas Camfield

Jamie and Victoria, still held by the Army at the Goodge Street fortress, worry that the Doctor may have been killed in the explosion. But the explosion never happened. Captain Knight suspects that the Doctor may have sabotaged the explosives and sends troops into the tunnel to investigate. After hearing mention of Yeti, Jamie and Victoria realize that the Great Intelligence has returned. Baffled as to how two young people could know anything about it, Travers interrogates the two, but Victoria quickly recognizes him. Jamie sets off into the tunnels with Staff Sergeant Arnold to find the Doctor, but instead find Captain Knight and his men, along with Evans, a driver who is apparently the only survivor of a Yeti raid on a supply caravan. Knight and his men return to HQ while Jamie and Evans continue searching for the Doctor. Instead, they discover more pulsating fungus surrounding them, creeping closer every moment...

With Patrick Troughton on a well-earned vacation (After pulling six episodes worth of double-duty on "The Enemy of the World"), this episode is really just a bunch of padding. But it gives me a chance to talk about a few things that I think are worth mentioning.

The first episode of this story is actually a lot like the first episode of "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" way back in Season Two. Once again, we're in familiar surroundings under unusual circumstances. Once again, London is eerily quiet and in the grip of an alien power. This time, the Underground system is the primary location, and judging by the only extant episode, it makes for a creepy, claustrophobic, and atmospheric environment.

Take a moment to compare what's happening here with what happened in "The Abominable Snowmen". In the final episode of that story, the physical manifestation of the Great Intelligence was just beginning to billow out of the cave onto the mountain. This time, the Intelligence is already well-established in the Underground system before the TARDIS even arrives. Why? Because for the first half of Episode One, the Intelligence had the TARDIS trapped, hovering in space. This story is all about what happens when the Doctor arrives late, and I'm intrigued by that concept.