Planet of the Spiders

 This is actually quite a dark episode of Dr Who. It must have been terrifying watching it as 7 year old in 73. As an aside I think the Actor playing the abbot is in Yellow face too. 

I think this episode  gets overlooked because of the obvious filler. The chase scene, and because its a regeneration story. It is a wearying story. You can feel Jon Pertwee's age

The  Abbott offers an interesting maxim about time. The poor horse that you whip so hard. 

There will be spoilers :

Firstly, the Dr/ Jon Pertwee is beaten- It is the Great One's arrogance that leads to her downfall We realise that she has complete physical and emotional mastery over the Dr. She can turn him into her puppet. Pertwee's awkward movements as the Great One forces him to spin for her amusement. Shows off the Doctor's age and fragility  The Human rebels on Mettebulis 3 are beaten - (We will return to that planet again in Hide- A story I have reviewed here)

 I am interested in why (Hide excepted )Dr has never been back to the planet of the Spiders , nor why have not seen the Spiders again. Is it too traumatic? Would the desire for revenge be too strong?

Did the Valeyard or Timelord victorious return...

Secondly we have Sarah Jane Smith possessed- This must be a mentally taxing episode for Sarah, the scene where she is in the spiders larder waiting to be devoured, is a moment of Fridge horror. Then when she sees the Dr appear, only for him to appear beaten- A prisoner of the Spiders. The episode skips over this but for a few moments. Sarah must be in utter despair. Being exterminated by a Dalek is surely a kinder fate. 

The Spiders hating being called Spiders is interesting. It is a Human name. So that make sense- They are not Spiders, they are the 8 legs. The Spiders define themselves differently The Spiders are truly alien, despite being terrestrial in origin

Eusocial spiders having a Queen is a twist on biology. I wonder if the Spiders were bio- engineered in universe for some reason. Or maybe they were the great ones first experiment 

The  antagonists are interesting-  The first -Lupton, like everyone in this story is preying on the weak .

But who is weak?

 Lupton passed over and conspired against wants revenge on the world- A salesman, not a King, or Vizer, or General or Scientist. . To this end Lupton manipulates a small group in the Abbey. A spider tries to manipulate Lupton's group. Lupton and the Spider try to manipulate the Queen and council of Spiders  The Spiders manipulate the Dr through the rebels and then openly

 The Spider she notes that his( Lupton's)  mind is stronger than the Metabelians Which seems to imply the Metabelian humans have been domesticated by the Spiders. The children of the colonists are now livestock. 

Gareth Hunt is playing the leader of the human rebels. There clothes seem almost like Apaches - With the desert and crystal this is almost a Western. Pertwee as the Cowboy coming to put things right, and being bushwacked 

This episode left an impression.. It took a toll  Farewell Jon Pertwee. I really enjoyed your stories