Classic Doctor Who 11x05 "Planet of the Spiders" eps 5-6 full reaction
Added 2023-02-22 06:31:48 +0000 UTC"Well, here we go again..."
Comments
Also a fun fact for you. The Spiders were originally going to return in The Sarah Jane Adventures. If you remember Series 4 of SJA's finale (Goodbye Sarah Jane Smith episode) where Ruby targeted and drained Sarah Jane, originally the spiders were going to be the antagonists of that story where they would now be powerful enough to dominate the world. They would make Sarah Jane forgetful and have her do out of character things during late evening hours such as stealing resources, wiping Mr Smith's mind or restricting Rani and Clyde from accessing Mr Smith. This would later lead to Clyde and Rani discovering Sarah Jane growing blue crystals in her webbed cellar with a big reveal of The Queen Spider's return when jumping on Sarah's back and declaring the start of a new harvest with the youngsters being the next targets. Part 2 would deal with the likes of Rani, Clyde, Gita, Professor Rivers and Toby having to fight against it by utilising Mr Smith and the Pharos Institute facilities while spider webs spread out through London. There were different versions of this story with one called The Web of Lies and the second version called Servant of The Spiders. One would have Sarah Jane experiencing nightmares of the events she experienced in this story and another would have Mr Smith's Xylok Crystal being used as an opposing force against the Metebelis Crystal with the idea that Sarah Jane was influenced to buying the house in Bannerman Road because of something lying in wait, subconsciously calling out to her in the cellar. I believe RTD scrapped this mainly because he thought the idea didn't work after several revisions. Despite it being fascinating, he felt that this lessened the spiders as villains due to them killing The Third Doctor. Although the writers themselves seemed to have opposing thoughts as they still wished that this version of the story hadn't been scrapped. They revealed this info with a bit of artwork in the SJA Magazines. Eventually the ideas and concepts would be replaced with the Goodbye Sarah Jane Smith episode. Despite it not working out, I find if fascinating that we could have potentially gotten a sequel to this story in 2010.
JY
2023-02-22 23:35:13 +0000 UTCGreat reaction to Pertwee's final hurrah! Very sad and bittersweet to say goodbye to the Third Doctor and Pertwee in this episode but as a farewell, it works wonderfully as it really wraps up the Third Doctor's character arc really well. Not only because of him finally facing his fear or even experiencing fear but also being reunited with his old teacher one more time, going to lengths to rescue Sarah Jane and the citizens of Metebelis 3 and eventually accepting his fate despite feeling vulnerable and scared when entering the cave and facing The Great One. The talk he had with his teacher really helped seed those doubts and fears even further. I really liked those moments and talks they had. But the icing on the cake for me was his final scene, particularly when he tells Sarah that "The Tardis brought me home". From the start, The Third Doctor was stranded and exiled on Earth which he really disliked as he was really craving the freedom to travel in his Tardis (as we saw when Liz and Jo were his companions) but now flashforward to this and after all the adventures that he's had in this era, it has officially come full circle with him embracing Earth and calling it his home and I think that's absolutely heart-warming and beautiful. It really makes his arc and character development come to full circle. I also appreciate that Sarah Jane and the Brig were present with The Third Doctor during its final moments. The performances from Elisabeth Sladen and Jon Pertwee in their last scene together was really excellent and moving. Hit the right emotional beats very well for me. I really liked Tommy. I'm glad he survived the story and managed to help both Sarah Jane and The Doctor. There's something really sweet about him calling Sarah Jane his friend as she showed kindness to him earlier in the story. I'm also really happy that Mike was able to redeem himself in this story after what he did in the Dinosaur episode. Like you, I was also worried that he was going to die when I first saw this but I'm glad he survived and contributed a great deal in this story given that it all started with him and Sarah Jane. It was sweet to see him protect Tommy and Sarah Jane comforting him when he woke up after being attacked. I believe this story also marks the final appearance of Mike too sadly so it's fitting for him to be redeemed in this last adventure with Pertwee. The Spiders are effectively good villains. I really do like the voices for them too, especially with the great one sounding very power hungry and perfectly OTT near the end. I believe RTD did get inspiration from this story when it came to Donna having a beetle on her back in Turn Left which is very reminiscent to Sarah Jane having a spider on her back when she was controlled if I'm not mistaken. That scene was also one of the first Classic Who scenes to be used as a flashback in SJA's Mad Woman in The Attic. Lupton was also a good villain or secondary evil. If I had to criticise anything, the only issues for me was that there were a few pacing issue with scenes that could have been condensed (but I'm honestly fine with this being a 6 parter given its Pertwee last run) and there's a bit of ableism with Tommy but aside from that, it's overall a really good story and a very fitting farewell to Jon Pertwee who is definitely one of my favourite classic Doctors. I also wish there was an additional scene with Tommy and Mike during the aftermath. It will be very interesting to see what you make of The Fourth Doctor. I'm currently approaching near the end of his era myself but I really like him too. He's quickly gone up in my list of favourites alongside The Third Doctor. So I'm looking forward to seeing your journey with him and it will also help with Sarah Jane sticking around to bridge the gap for a while. Very curious to see which stories you'll be watching.
JY
2023-02-22 22:46:25 +0000 UTC
