Doctor Who and the Web of Fear

"It was like a glowing mist made solid, and anyone who entered it was never seen again."

Writer: Terrance Dicks
Format: Novel
Released: August 1976
Series: Target 72

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Victoria

Synopsis

'With a sudden, shattering roar the Yeti smashed down its arm in s savage blow...'

The TARDIS is engulfed by a mysterious web-like substance in space. Breaking free, the Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria land in the London Underground system. But a spreading killer mist has meant that London has been evacuated. The Great Intelligence is back - and its robot Yeti are roaming the streets and the underground tunnels.

The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria team up with an army unit working with their old friend Professor Travers to combat the menace. They soon realise, however, that someone in the group must be working for the Intelligence. With time running out, the Doctor and his friends realise they can trust no one...

Verdict 

Doctor Who and the Web of Fear was a very good novelisation of what is quite a renowned story from the era of the Second Doctor. It is significant for the return of the Great Intelligence and the Yeti following their debut in The Abominable Snowmen and it also sees the first appearance of Lethbridge-Stewart with hints at the beginnings of UNIT at the story's end. I thought the book was very good from start to finish and one thing I noticed about the prose format for this adventure was that the pace was very fast which made for a good read. Terrance Dicks never seems to fail with his novelisations and he captured the atmosphere of the era and the story very well. One thing that is difficult to put onto the page though was doing the London Underground justice. It wasn't a bad depiction by any means but there was just something special about the televised story that wasn't quite in place here. I thought the characterisation of the Second Doctor was excellent and I loved the scenes in the TARDIS where he thought Jamie and Victoria were having a joke on him when the TARDIS was suspended in the web in space. The return of the Yeti was handled brilliantly and I liked how Travers had been working on getting the sphere and oversaw its return to functionality which gave the Intelligence something to cling onto and reestablish itself into something threatening. The meeting between the Doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart was wonderful but I wasn't too sure about the reference and footnote to Doctor Who and the Android Invasion. Was it really necessary to forecast future events? Evans was a very good character and I really liked the positive comments about the Welsh, even if some of the dialogue was a little stereotypical some of the time. The guessing game of who was being controlled by the Great Intelligence was very good and I loved how it turned out to be Arnold when it had been hinted at being Chorley for quite some time. Anne Travers was a very good character and her initial scepticism towards the Doctor was completely understandable but I liked how her father was quick to defend his old friend. The prospect of the Doctor giving himself willingly to the Great Intelligence was horrifying but it was brilliant that Jamie seemingly saved the day. After the Doctor and Anne had worked hard to gain control of a sphere and thus a Yeti, Jamie ordered it to attack the other Yetis and destroy the Great Intelligence's pyramid of form but what shocked me was the Doctor's reaction. He was disappointed as whilst the link with Earth was severed, the Intelligence still survived. I guess that was very useful for the return in The Snowmen but I also liked how the Doctor calmed himself once he realised that nobody else knew of his plan to actually drain the Intelligence after he reversed the helmet controls. Overall though, a great read!

Rating: 8/10