Classic Doctor Who: The Web Planet
Briarheart Reviews: The Web Planet
This story. We now come to this story. Let me start off by saying this one is possibly the worst story aesthetically. The sets and costumes are atrocious and there are a lot of production errors that made it into the final serial. Is this a poorly made episode of Doctor Who? Is it a poorly written one? Well...
The story is pretty simple, but it's also a pretty fun one. Basically, it's harmless, kind of cute, bug aliens who are being threatened and killed by a force known as the Animus. So, of course, it's up to the Doctor and his friends to destroy the Great Web of the Animus and the Animus itself, and that's it. Pretty simple, but it's fun and it works. The acting is a bit dodgy in some places, but it's Doctor Who so what did you expect?
One thing that is pretty notable about this story though is it introduces us to a recurring villain species that the Doctor encounters time and time again. The Animus is part of the species known as "the Great Old Ones." If you're not a useless encyclopedia of Doctor Who knowledge like I am and you're wondering what the Great Old Ones are, basically they're the species that the Great Intelligence and the Nestene are a part of. The Animus is the first Great Old One we meet and even though it's in a controversial story, you can't deny that he leaves a pretty great impact and sets the bar high for the next Great Old One appearances.
Another thing worth mentioning about this story is Ian. If you love Ian this story should please you as Ian has a lot to do in it. So do the others, but Ian seems to take up about half the screen time while the other main characters are forced to split the remaining fifty percent. While I really like that Ian has a lot of the screentime in this one, I do feel it is necessary to point out that it isn't good from an objective viewpoint. A TARDIS team needs to be balanced, or else you get stuck with characters like Clara. It's dangerous to give one character out four so much more to do than the others because they might start to feel like they're overpowered. Luckily, most people love Ian, but I'm sure there are people who absolutely hate him and by extension this story.
Overall from a subjective standpoint, I really do enjoy this story. However, from an objective one, the only thing it really has going for it is the Animus, so although the part of me that loves it wants to give it a 9/10 my critical side says that I should give it a 5/10. I, therefore, have to meet myself in the middle and say: 7/10
This story. We now come to this story. Let me start off by saying this one is possibly the worst story aesthetically. The sets and costumes are atrocious and there are a lot of production errors that made it into the final serial. Is this a poorly made episode of Doctor Who? Is it a poorly written one? Well...
The story is pretty simple, but it's also a pretty fun one. Basically, it's harmless, kind of cute, bug aliens who are being threatened and killed by a force known as the Animus. So, of course, it's up to the Doctor and his friends to destroy the Great Web of the Animus and the Animus itself, and that's it. Pretty simple, but it's fun and it works. The acting is a bit dodgy in some places, but it's Doctor Who so what did you expect?
One thing that is pretty notable about this story though is it introduces us to a recurring villain species that the Doctor encounters time and time again. The Animus is part of the species known as "the Great Old Ones." If you're not a useless encyclopedia of Doctor Who knowledge like I am and you're wondering what the Great Old Ones are, basically they're the species that the Great Intelligence and the Nestene are a part of. The Animus is the first Great Old One we meet and even though it's in a controversial story, you can't deny that he leaves a pretty great impact and sets the bar high for the next Great Old One appearances.
Another thing worth mentioning about this story is Ian. If you love Ian this story should please you as Ian has a lot to do in it. So do the others, but Ian seems to take up about half the screen time while the other main characters are forced to split the remaining fifty percent. While I really like that Ian has a lot of the screentime in this one, I do feel it is necessary to point out that it isn't good from an objective viewpoint. A TARDIS team needs to be balanced, or else you get stuck with characters like Clara. It's dangerous to give one character out four so much more to do than the others because they might start to feel like they're overpowered. Luckily, most people love Ian, but I'm sure there are people who absolutely hate him and by extension this story.
Overall from a subjective standpoint, I really do enjoy this story. However, from an objective one, the only thing it really has going for it is the Animus, so although the part of me that loves it wants to give it a 9/10 my critical side says that I should give it a 5/10. I, therefore, have to meet myself in the middle and say: 7/10
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