The Web of Fear

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#96 16 Oct 2004, 9:47 pm
Dorney
Time Lord

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Re: Day by Day

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The Web of Fear 1:

I seem to recall around the time of the vhs release of the Troughton years a letter in DWB or some such criticised the inclusion on said tape of the Abominable Snowmen 2 saying 'even a trained monkey could tell Web of Fear 1' is better.

Now, I'm not going to go all mental and try and prove the opposite, (sorry Abominable fans, it's true) but I did think it was worth asking why this is. Because on a lot of levels, Web really isn't that much better than Snowmen. It probably just loses out on coherency of plot for a start, and on an episode to episode basis the content in story terms at least is fairly much of a muchness. Characterisation is good in both, with some nicely drawn central guest stars and a few serviceable smaller parts. But in terms of the writing, Haisman and Lincoln aren't doing a vast amount better than last time. So what knocks this episode into the stratosphere, if it isn't them.

Well, it's two words, really. Camfield and atmosphere. Now these two do feed off each other to a degree, but let's consider them seperately. Let's go with atmosphere first. This story reeks of it. Like it or not certain locations, times and so on, suit Doctor Who like a glove. Now once or twice I've felt this is a problem - Doctor Who fans will dislike stories that don't broadly conform to the 'gothic' style, because they feel it's not just the best fit but the only, the paradigm that good Dr Who has to fit rather than a particularly succesful one - but the fact does remain that when it's done well, it's a damn fine type of story for the series. And this does feel like the most 'gothic' serial of all the modern day stories. It's all dark corners and enclosed environments, shadows and lurking monsters. You can tell this straight away from the opening sequence (well, the one in the museum), where it's all about slow burn scares and is placed in an environment that looks not too far from a haunted mansion. And the violence and scares keep coming - the death of Silverstein is surprisingly nasty in contrast to the mellowness of the Abominable Snowmen, and the dead news vendor is creepy as hell. This is a story that wants to scare you... and it does.

And that's mainly down to Camfield, who is essentially shooting an action thriller like a ghost story. The deserted underground is an unnerving environment - the sort of area we know terribly well, but presented in an alien and uncomfortable way (this is the Yeti in the toilet in tooting bec story - we're unnerved because it's something distinctly nasty in a place we know very well. For some reason it's creepier than the equivalents of War Machines and Faceless Ones... and there are several reasons why. The War Machines and the Chameleon's worked in a world running smoothly for a start - the world wasn't as affected by their presence as the underground here is. It's an enclosed environment as opposed to the streets (adding claustrophobia into the mix) Also, it's a creature we already know transplanted into our world . And frankly the War Machines and the Chameleon's are a bit crap, and never seem that creepy... whereas we've already been sold the threat of the Yeti with the nasty little prologue.

It's not just going for the creepy atmosphere that Camfield excels at by the way. There are loads of lovely little touches in terms of actor positioning (the scene where the TARDIS crew pop their heads out from round a corner, Victoria at the bottom, Jamie middle, Doctor top). There are lots of interesting angles and compositions, but they've never got that 'look at me, look at me' feel of bad direction.

Plotwise, the episode doesn't do anything particularly exciting. It's fairly simple and doesn't particularly have any interest in starting the plot proper, content merely to concentrate on introductions and set up - it's paced leisurely but not slow. The plot constantly progresses but is allowed time to breathe. Bear in mind the episode is pretty much based around the sort of scene that Ice Warriors did in 5 minutes - the crew arrive and meet the main cast. OK, the capture in space part goes some way to filling in a plot light episode, but it's played well and is tenser than it really should be.

Virtually no problems with this episode - the Discontinuity Guide criticises the jewish stereotyping, but that does sort of miss the point. Silverstein is in the episode for mere minutes, and the stereotype immediately supplies us with a personality for him. A cliched personality, yes, and that ain't great. But it's better than a swiftly killed cypher.

The only other problem is that I can't see the point of cliffhangers over from previous stories. If it's a cliffhanger that leads in to a new story, then it works. It's a tease. But this way... it just means you have to waste a few minutes at the beginning of the story ending a completely unrelated tale. And that's also the problem with end of series cliffhangers (see the shooting of Charlie in Casualty, the end of series 6 of Red Dwarf). With the story that led to that cliffhanger over, you're stuck with a scene that has nowhere to go left on the beginning of your new series. Always better to end with a climax that sticks in people's minds... or a cliffhanger were there is plenty of room for more story.


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#97 18 Oct 2004, 11:50 am
Dorney
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Re: Day by Day

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The Web of Fear 2:

The Web of Fear is Steptoe and Son. No, it is, really.

My favourite episodes of Steptoe are one's where the episode has a premise - they split the house in half, they plan a holiday, they write articles for a parish newsletter - that is then played on for the remainder of the story - looking for as many riffs and variations on the individual theme as possible. And watching this episode, I begin to feel that that's the way this is going.

There doesn't seem to be a vast amount of plot, if we're being honest. The story doesn't seem to be aiming anywhere in particular - the only real driver the story has, apart from Evans obviously, is the slowly encroaching fungus, the humans (and in deed, the Yeti) don't really seem to have an overall aim or plan. What it does is trap a lot of people in a claustrophobic environment, and play variations on that theme. It's a series of schemes to escape and threats, alternating. That's not to say this is a bad way of telling the story by the way, because no matter how simple the premise is (and it is very simple), the joy and the drama comes in the resulting set pieces. A structural brother is something like Cube, or Panic Room. Engage the audience immediately with a likeable cast of heroes, put them in a simple predicament - trapped, in a kill or be killed environment. Then present them with more difficulties in survival. Yes, it does mean that the story does become a series of set pieces rather than a vast overarching plot, but as an engine for tension it's unbeatable - and adding too much plotting would probably over-egg the pudding. Web's inherent simplicity is its best trick.

The mid episode Yeti attack here, for example seems from the soundtrack, telesnaps and those precious new zealand clips, to be a model of suspense. But with no greater threat than the very simple one: the goodies might get killed. But do you really need anything more? Web is a story about survival more than anything else, a desperate struggle to survive. Each episode seems to be themed around a central premise - last week it was the arrival of the regulars, this week it's the search for the Doctor. To my mind, this episode uses the holday of the lead actor better than any other. By not bothering to give an explanation for it. It's terribly intriguing, because he's being mentioned all the time, and there's no good reason for him not to be there. Amazingly it does work some way to raising our suspicions (not that he's necessarily working with the Yeti of course... just that he's up to something).

The characters are wonderfully real and varied. It's nice, for a change, to see at least two characters who do roughly what we would in the circumstances... crap ourselves. For all the cliches about Chorley and Evans being cowardly, the truth is that they're the closest characters to us in the scenario (ok, Chorley's more than a little vile, especially with his grim recording of the dying soldiers from Holborn, but there's something of his pragmatism in all of us). Even run of the mill grunts like Blake feel individual, and most of the characters are likeable for that reason alone. Doesn't matter that Arnold's gruff, he's still like regular people we could meet on the street.

So a good episode. The plot isn't racing off anywhere, but when it's as suspenseful, atmospheric and dramatic as this, who cares?


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#98 19 Oct 2004, 10:44 pm
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Re: Day by Day

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Chorley's a very underrated character - vile, as you say, but superbly acted.

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Ben grins out of the cockpit window:
“I am only borrowing this. I’m Ben Chatham” before expertly taking off into the clouds.

- "Face of Death" by Sparacus


"They laughed at Gallileo once."
- Sparacus


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#99 21 Oct 2004, 11:29 am
Dorney
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Re: Day by Day

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The Web of Fear 3:

I was thinking - is there anyone in fandom who doesn't like the Brigadier? Surely everyone does. Surely that's the one thing universally accepted by Who fans. Whilst there are always going to be those who aren't keen on City of Death, or Talons or Caves, or Hinchcliffe or Baker... everyone loves Courtney. And who can blame us?

It's an elegant controlled performance from the get go - the Colonel's first line is 'One moment', fact fans. Considering the fact that the character has only just turned up it's incredible how quickly he becomes commanding - and I mean this in more than the sense he takes control of Goodge Street. That's just the factual aspect of it. Without any real build up, he asserts control instantly, and he feels more of a commander than Knight, authoritative and strong. The only downside is he's quite blatantly touted as the red herring figure - there's a lovely moment to suggest this where he doesn't seem to know who Evans is - and of course that's never going to work now. Mind you, having said that, it shouldn't really work for the Doctor too, and we're sort of suspicious of him too at this point. Nice to feel, when watching these stories, that despite knowing who the traitor is, and knowing who it clearly isn't, you still get the sense of distrust inherent in the story. Signs of a strong script and direction there I think. After all, the entire story is, as I said last time, based on suspense.

There's still very little in the way of plot, per se, but the tension is racked up, and the plans get increasingly desperate with the slow advance of the web, and that gives the story the only driving force it needs, a constant threat of death to people we rather like - and we do like them. It's clear from these last few stories that the characterisation is important at this period in Who history, and each of the soldiers has a clear personality, meaning that the death of someone as minor as Weams at the end of this episode still has a strong dramatic weight. The script is, to my eye, the first 'base under siege' proper this season has had (in contrast to popular opinion). The forces in Tomb and Snowmen are mainly from within, and with the latter and Ice Warriors, the base is very rarely under attack. And in all three, no one is trapped, really. Here we're enclosed, in a deliciously claustrophobic environment, and under constant attack, a slow siege. In every sense. Boy is it tense.

The cliffhanger resolution is terribly weak. At the end of part two Evans and Jamie appeared to be trapped. Here they can just sneak away easily, with little explanation. Not good. It's a narrative cheat where the definition of the threat is changed between episodes. But the cliffhanger to this episode (which appears to be one of those tantalising clips at the end of the vhs) is rather fine.

Beyond all that, it's much the same as last time. A well scripted episode of slowly increasing tension. The fact that the central threat, the web, is so remorseless and impossible to reason with is what works here. It's the Doctor against a force of (un)nature. Rather like my favourite Star Trek episode, the Doomsday Machine. Unstoppable. Implaccable. Deadly. The most suspenseful Who story to date, in my opinion.


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#100 23 Oct 2004, 3:27 pm
Dorney
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Re: Day by Day

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The Web of Fear 4:

About the time of the 25th anniversary, I was often in touch via mail with another fan who claimed to have seen two missing episodes. These belonged to the legendary 'fan on an oil rig'. One of them was Tenth Planet 4. The other was Web of Fear 4.

It's one of the truism's of the missing episode legend that no-one ever circulate's rumours about minor stories. Any rumours are always Fury, or Web, or something similar. Never has there been a rumour about Galaxy 4 episode 3. Of course, it's always true that the episodes that have turned up (at least, the two most recent ones anyway), aren't exactly the most excitng ones going. I'm not complaining they're back of course. Just that no-one ever sat around thinking 'gee, wouldn't it be great if the Lion was returned'. They simply weren't that high on our list of priorities.

So it's interesting that the rumoured episode from this story is this one. It's blatantly the most action packed one so far, with the most memorable set piece (one that does look amazing from the soundtrack and the little clips). It'd be a lovely one to have back, if we can't get the rest.

One thing that setpiece drove home to me rather is the realisation that the Yeti don't really do that much in this story. For all their iconic status, the threat is the Web. They just turn up to offer a direct foe for the heroes whenever there's need for action. In deed, it's a little hard to see why the Intelligence needed the Yeti at all here, except for the fiddly stuff. The Web is the monster. The big murderous set pieces are nice, and there's a genuinely uncomfortable brutality to their killings (there's something particularly unpleasant about the idea of someone being beaten to death, I find). But really, they feel like the cherry on top of the cake, rather than the cake itself. They're there to supplement the central threat, rather than present it - if you don't believe me, think about how much they actually do in the story. They're a fairly distant threat, and are barely referenced outside the central set pieces. They turn up around the cliffhangers, but for the most part remain fairly seperate from the main thrust.

And the central thrust is the web. I'm still cottoning on to why it works as a threat, and it's the sheer unknowable quality it has. It's hard to tell what it is, what it does, how it kills. We just know it does.

Equally, paranoia plays an important part. The constant repetition and accusation surrounding the traitor really begin to make you trust no-one. The Doctor does seem like a possible contender, as does the Colonel and Evans. The reason this trick really works is for two reasons 1) because we've got one obvious red herring, Chorley, meaning that he's the only one we can really dismiss 2) because it's not necessarily a willing traitor. Which means it could be anyone. Usually, you have to dislike the villain on some level in these things, but here it generally is open to all. And it could be anyone. Knight's death is one of the most shocking in Who because we've been made to care for him, and we don't suspect he's on the hit list - he's a proper character, high billing. He's quite witty and likeable, and flirty. The killing of a character we subconciously expect to survive makes us think that anything could happen here. It really could.

It's a classy, exciting episode. The Colonel really dominates the guest cast, it has to be said, making it hard to believe this is only his second episode. Class, pure class.


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#101 23 Oct 2004, 11:36 pm
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Re: Day by Day

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But aren't the Yeti so fun?

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Ben grins out of the cockpit window:
“I am only borrowing this. I’m Ben Chatham” before expertly taking off into the clouds.

- "Face of Death" by Sparacus


"They laughed at Gallileo once."
- Sparacus


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#102 30 Oct 2004, 6:48 pm
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Re: Day by Day

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Come on Dorney, old man, get yer act in gear!

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Ben grins out of the cockpit window:
“I am only borrowing this. I’m Ben Chatham” before expertly taking off into the clouds.

- "Face of Death" by Sparacus


"They laughed at Gallileo once."
- Sparacus


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#103 31 Oct 2004, 9:25 am
Dorney
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Re: Day by Day

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got out of the habit a bit when I was up in London this week (though I did take the cds). Should be back on track this afternoon, or tomorrow.


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#104 1 Nov 2004, 11:48 am
Dorney
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Re: Day by Day

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The Web of Fear 5:

The only real problem with the Web of Fear is that the atmosphere, tension and suspense of the story isn't supported by a genuinely interesting story. The revelation of the Intelligence's aim in this episode is emabarassingly weak here - it's all a plot to get the Doctor? You're kidding right? It's a very very thin premise, and the more you think about it, the less it fits (what is the point of all the murders... Knight, and so on? The human's only proper purpose in the trap is as bargaining material, so the fewer they have the less power the intelligence has over the Doctor, surely?). And there's the hilarious line from Travers/Intelligence that he's turned up because now's the time to tell everyone his plan. Why? Why even wait? Turn up and tell him straight away, save yourself a bit of time. Don't give him plenty of space to figure out a way to beat you. And if he is so bloody smart, why can't he speak up? Why's he whispering all the time?

It is much to the credit of this story's direction and atmosphere that you still come out at the end of
it enjoying it, despite the weakness of its foundations. (There is a genuine sense that Haisman and Lincoln really didn't have the time to come up with a plot). This episode however, is probably the weakest. Whilst the background ticking clock does rack up the tension a touch, the Intelligence is less blatantly on the attack because of it (there's no point in trying to kill someone when you've given them twenty minutes to make a choice). This does mean this is a treading water episode. None of the characters seem to be given anything new to do - Anne and the Doctor continue to experiment for example. And it seems to have run out of potential set pieces (The Brigadier and Jamie seem to spend the entire episode wandering around doing things they've already tried and coming back - yes, let's wander into the tunnels. Yes, let's try overground). The Doctor trying to capture a yeti is quite interesting, but with an effective truce in operation, there's clearly a lack of tension.

To be honest, I find there's little to add as a result. It's becoming a little easier to guess who the traitor is -Arnold's sudden reappearance stinks of dodginess. However, that isn't entirely fair as the script has been careful to write out most of the characters for long stretches (Evans, the Colonel, the Doctor, Chorley, Travers and Arnold have all been out of the story for one or two episodes at points). And the air of distrust seems a tiny bit forced, as we can assume the traitor isn't a willing pawn (for all these people saying 'well, you can trust me' are all telling the truth, as far as they can tell).

So overall, a disappointing episode. But I'm very much looking forward to part six.

(Incidentally, apologies to anyone who was bemused by my initial version of this post. Accidentally posted my half written notes instead of a post in another thread. Mea Culpa. The illusion is ruined, the magic is spoilt).

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Last edited by Dorney; 1 Nov 2004 at 12:20 pm. Reason: Accidentally posted the wrong post.


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#105 2 Nov 2004, 12:24 pm
Dorney
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Re: Day by Day

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The Web of Fear 6:

So about a week later than I thought I'd get to it, it's the dramatic climax.

I've slightly changed my mind on one of the details here. Whilst the revelation of the Intelligence's plot is disappointing, and insanely illogical, it is rather fitting that it's so personal. The story hasn't really been about mass global domination or stuff like that, it's driven by the individuals, by the efforts of one small group to stay alive. A massive world threatening plot would seem somewhat wrong next to that. To illustrate what I mean... Enemy of the World has a big scale plan, hence the story deals in large areas. The world has to match the plot. Web never really wants, or needs, us to feel it affects more than the central batch of characters (we never see anything outside of London, no civilians worth speaking of outside of those already trapped). If the threat turned out to be global, we'd have had to have lost some of the claustrophobia and deal with how it affects the whole world... not just the circle line - I'm not sure I'm explaining that correctly... compare with the Dalek Invasion of Earth, and you should get what I mean.

Web is smaller scale than you realise. The danger is interpersonal, the set pieces are too. I don't think I can recall a more low-key climax episode than this one, played out more through psychology than action. Again, that's indicative of the story, which is often mistaken for being a UNIT style action thriller. It isn't. There are few action scenes (I can't really recall any in the last two episodes). The story is purely about a growing sense of threat and menace and unease. It's a suspense thriller rather than an action thriller, and as a result, a climax involving lots of shooting would be profoundly disappointing. It's fitting that the end is just a bunch of people standing in a room - there's a lovely air of melancholy and defeat about this episode. Every option has been exhausted (look how many characters pretty much give up in the story - even The Colonel here tries to encourage the Doctor to give in).

Arnold as the traitor isn't a vast surprise (especially considering it isn't really the man himself). They slightly hammer this home a bit too much early on in the episode with the 'Arnold was in the web. Don't know how he survived' bit. It may have seemed like an obvious problem, but I'm not sure anyone would have noticed without the attention being drawn to it. Personally, I'd have preferred it to be someone more amusing and likeable (imagine if it had been Evans!), and I have a sneaky feeling that it might not have been supposed to be Arnold (his sudden resurrection is perhaps a plot point too far... nothing's really gained from his fake death in part four, and his return only really serves to point up that it's probably him). I reckon he was originally due to be killed off in part four, but the writers decided they liked all of the characters left a little too much to let them go.

It is interesting that in a reversal of the usual morality of the series, the weak and cowardly characters live, and the brave ones die (Chorley is exactly the sort of character who would be bumped off for his desertion in other stories). Neither Evans nor Chorley get any real redemption for their weakness. It's quite nice for a change, because as I said they are the characters who we'd probably be most like.

Mild problems - well, after a lot of emphasis at the cliffhanger the fungus pretty much vanishes (and in testament to the fact that this episode is broadly a rewrite of the end of Abominable Snowman, the 5/6 cliffhanger to both stories is pretty much identical). No one ever really talks about it at the end. And it's a bit of a shame that the nice final scene with the guest cast isn't the proper end, and there's a pointless bit of silliness from the regulars. But none of this really detracts.

A beautifully concise, small scale thriller then, tense and human. It really connects to us for that very reason - it's a story about the human's rather than the monsters.


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#106 2 Nov 2004, 5:34 pm
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Re: Day by Day

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Hurrah! You're back!

And same views on Web that I've got - as a whole it's rather class, but runs out of steam in final episodes. I'm not exactly sure why the Intelligence decided it needed to knock out the London Underground in it's plan to get the Doctor... The Intelligence traps him in space in episode 1, surely a decent plan would have been just to keep him there until he submitted to the brain-sucker-outer-thingy. But then there'd have been no classy Yeti action. Ho hum.