The Web Planet
When the TARDIS is pulled off course and lands on a strange planet, the Doctor and his companions must uncover the source of the mysterious force and the strange creatures inhabiting the desolate landscape before they become permanent prisoners.
The Doctor, along with his companions Ian, Barbara, and Vicki, find themselves stranded on a desolate, alien planet after the TARDIS is forcibly pulled off course. Upon arrival, they note the thin, static atmosphere and the barren landscape, immediately sensing something is amiss. Vicki is the first to perceive a strange, humming sound, dismissed by the Doctor as an extra-sonic phenomenon audible only to the young.
As the Doctor attempts to diagnose the TARDIS's malfunction, the group encounters evidence of unusual phenomena: the TARDIS fails to dematerialize, a gold pen vanishes into thin air, and echoes resonate strangely across the landscape. Ian expresses a growing sense of being watched, while Barbara and Vicki remain inside the TARDIS, where Barbara experiences a disquieting sensation of her arm moving independently.
The Doctor and Ian venture out to explore, discovering a mysterious pyramid and a pool filled with a highly corrosive acid. The Doctor's attempt to test the water with Ian's tie results in the tie's near disintegration, revealing the pool's dangerous nature. They also hear strange, high-pitched noises.
Inside the TARDIS, Barbara is increasingly affected by an unseen force. She tries to clean and also calm Vicki who’s still shaken from the initial crash landing. Her arm continues to be pulled by an unseen force. Eventually, she succumbs, and sleepwalks out of the TARDIS.
Outside, the Doctor and Ian debate the source of the disturbances when Vicki's cries for Barbara echo across the landscape. Rushing back, Ian falls into a net trap of unknown origin. The Doctor promises to return with help but warns Ian to remain still, while leaving Ian trapped. Inside, Vicki attempts to operate the TARDIS console, desperately trying to figure out how to start it again, and inadvertently initiates a dematerialization sequence as the episode concludes, leaving Barbara sleepwalking, and Ian snared.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
The TARDIS is violently pulled off course, materializing on a bleak, desolate planet characterized by crags, pools, and a thin, static atmosphere. The Doctor immediately diagnoses a powerful, unseen force imprisoning the ship, rendering its dematerialization systems useless. Vicki is the first to perceive a strange, low humming sound, which the Doctor dismisses as an extra-sonic phenomenon audible only to the young. Despite the Doctor's attempts to restore power, the TARDIS remains trapped, its internal systems failing, and the scanner displaying a chaotic external environment. Barbara observes a mysterious 'flash' behind the crags, intensifying the group's unease and the sense of an active, external presence. Doctor and Ian discuss the nature of the force, whether it's natural or intelligent. Recognizing the urgent need for external investigation to understand and counteract this interference, the Doctor and Ian prepare to venture onto the hostile surface. They don atmospheric density jackets and respiratory compensators, with the Doctor using his signet ring to force open the TARDIS doors, leaving Barbara and Vicki inside the increasingly vulnerable ship. This decisive action marks a pivotal shift from internal diagnosis to active, perilous exploration, setting the stage for direct confrontation with the planet's unknown dangers and leaving the remaining companions exposed to unseen influences within the TARDIS.
As the Doctor and Ian venture onto the alien landscape, they encounter increasingly bizarre and threatening phenomena. While examining a rock, Ian's gold pen vanishes into thin air, an event immediately followed by strange, repeating echoes that confirm an active, unseen presence. Ian expresses a growing, unsettling sense of being watched, a feeling the Doctor initially dismisses. Simultaneously, inside the TARDIS, Barbara experiences a profound and disquieting sensation as her left arm begins to move independently, seemingly controlled by an external, unseen force. She attempts to dismiss it as imagination, even as she tries to clean the TARDIS, but the sensation persists, growing stronger. The Doctor and Ian then discover a mysterious, ancient pyramid, its origins unknown, followed by a small pool of highly corrosive acid. The acid instantly disintegrates Ian's tie, revealing the planet's extreme and immediate dangers. The high-pitched, chittering sounds of the mega-ants become clearly audible, adding to the unsettling atmosphere. Barbara, increasingly affected by the unseen force, eventually succumbs to its influence, entering a sleepwalking state and leaving the TARDIS, abandoning Vicki alone and vulnerable inside. This dual escalation of internal and external threats raises the stakes significantly, with one companion now directly exposed to the planet's perils and the others facing unknown dangers.
Vicki detects an eerie, unexplained humming sound within the TARDIS, which the Doctor dismisses as an extra-sonic phenomenon. The sound abruptly stops, leaving the group unsettled. Barbara, already on edge, …
The scene opens with the Doctor confirming the TARDIS’s power levels are sufficient for departure, but the moment is abruptly interrupted by Vicki’s report of an eerie, unexplained humming sound. …
In the aftermath of the TARDIS's violent shaking and the Doctor's announcement that they must explore the planet to counteract the interference, Barbara shifts focus to Vicki's distress. While the …
The TARDIS is trapped and powerless, its systems disabled by an unknown force. The Doctor, after dismissing Barbara’s observation of a flash outside as a cosmic ray, declares that exploration …
With Barbara now outside the TARDIS and Vicki left alone and vulnerable within, the situation rapidly devolves into a series of immediate and compounding threats. Vicki, waking to discover Barbara's absence, calls out for her, her desperate cries echoing across the desolate landscape and reaching the Doctor and Ian. Hearing Vicki's distress, the Doctor and Ian immediately abandon their exploration and rush back towards the TARDIS, sensing grave danger. However, their return is violently interrupted when Ian suddenly falls into a camouflaged net trap, which springs from the ground and snaring him tightly. The Doctor, unable to free him immediately, instructs Ian to remain absolutely still, promising to return with help, but leaving Ian trapped and exposed to the planet's unknown inhabitants. Simultaneously, Barbara, still under the influence of the unseen force and in her sleepwalking state, drifts dangerously and inexorably towards the highly corrosive acid pool discovered earlier, unaware of the lethal peril. Inside the TARDIS, Vicki, desperate and alone, attempts to operate the console to restart the ship and escape. In her frantic, untrained efforts, she inadvertently initiates a dematerialization sequence, causing the TARDIS to lurch violently. This leaves all three companions in dire, immediate peril: Ian snared and injured, Barbara approaching a deadly environmental hazard, and the TARDIS potentially departing or further malfunctioning, intensifying the episode's cliffhanger and their isolation on the hostile planet.
The Doctor, absorbed in examining an unusual rock formation, dismisses Ian’s growing unease as he witnesses his pen vanish into thin air. The Doctor’s scientific curiosity and Ian’s mounting paranoia …
The Doctor, absorbed in examining a geologically unusual rock formation, dismisses Ian’s growing unease as he witnesses his pen vanish into thin air. The Doctor’s scientific curiosity and flippant tone …
The Doctor and Ian investigate an ancient pyramid on the planet's surface, but their attention shifts to a suspicious liquid pool. When the Doctor tests it with Ian's tie-belt, the …
After discovering an ancient pyramid and testing a suspicious pool with Ian’s tie—revealing it to be corrosive acid—the Doctor dismisses Ian’s urgent claim of seeing movement beneath the surface. Ian …
As Ian and the Doctor sprint back to the TARDIS in response to Vicki’s frantic cries for Barbara, Ian is abruptly ensnared by a hidden alien net that erupts from …
As Ian and the Doctor race back to the TARDIS in response to Vicki’s distressed cries, Ian is suddenly ensnared by a hidden alien trap—a net that erupts from the …