Doctor Who: The Web Planet

.

The Web Planet is the fifth serial of Season 2 of the classic Doctor Who television series. It was originally broadcast on BBC1 in six weekly parts from 13 February to 20 March 1965. It was written by Bill Strutton and directed by Richard Martin. It stars William Hartnell as the Doctor, William Russell as Ian Chesterton, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, and Maureen O’Brien as Vicki.

On the strange world of Vortis, the TARDIS is dragged down by an unseen force into a landscape of dust, silence, and insect life, where the ant-like Zarbi serve a malevolent presence called the Animus and the winged Menoptra fight to reclaim their home. This story leans into bold design and mime, creating an alien culture through movement, costume, and sound, as the travellers are separated, captured, and drawn into a war

Episode 1: The Web Planet

The TARDIS is dragged off course by a mysterious force and lands on the planet Vortis. The Doctor and Ian step outside to explore, while Barbara and Vicki remain inside. The planet has a strange, thin atmosphere and a surface covered in dust and weird light effects. The TARDIS malfunctions and appears to be immobilised. The Doctor suspects some powerful energy is affecting the ship.

Barbara, inside the TARDIS, falls into a trance and walks off alone, controlled by an unknown force. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Ian encounter large insectoid creatures called Zarbi, ant-like beings that appear aggressive and mute. The Zarbi capture the Doctor and Ian and take them to a central base. Barbara, under mental control, is brought to the same place, where the TARDIS is now being dragged by the Zarbi using web-like cables. Something sinister is clearly controlling events on the planet.

Episode 2: The Zarbi

The Zarbi surround the Doctor and Ian and drive them across the web-covered plain into a vast living hive called the Carcinome. Inside, chittering guards shove them through pulsing tunnels. A harsh, echoing voice, the Animus, speaks from a coiling tube of light and demands to know who they are and why they have come. The Doctor stalls, studies the strange machinery, and promises to help if no one is harmed.

Out on the plain, Barbara, previously seized by the Zarbi, breaks free in the confusion and is rescued by winged humanoids, the Menoptra. They tell her the Animus invaded Vortis, enslaved the Zarbi, and drove the Menoptra from their home. An invasion force is coming, but they need time and guidance. Barbara agrees to help them avoid patrols.

In space within the Carcinome’s pull, the TARDIS is dragged across the ground by sticky strands. Vicki, alone inside, feels the ship jolt and slide. A Zarbi blunders into the control room, panics at the sounds and lights, and retreats; moments later the whole TARDIS is hauled into the hive as a prize.

The Animus orders the Doctor to make a device to locate other arrivals. Guards clamp control harnesses on him and Ian. In the tunnels, the Doctor plans quietly, knowing Barbara is somewhere outside with new allies.

Episode 3: Escape to Danger

The Doctor and Ian are prisoners inside the living hive, the Carcinome. The Animus orders the Doctor to build a device to locate other arrivals on Vortis. Guards bring him parts from the TARDIS. He studies the gold control harnesses the Zarbi wear and sees how they work. Quietly, he alters one so it will obey his signal instead of the Animus.

Ian tests the plan. He clips the harness on a Zarbi. It goes still, then follows their gestures like a trained animal. With the docile Zarbi in front of them, they move through tunnels without challenge and reach Vicki in the captured TARDIS. Vicki has found a damaged harness too and helps steady their new “guide.” The Doctor hides a small circuit inside his locator so it can jam signals later.

The Animus senses delay and speaks through a coiling tube of light. Web strands drop from the ceiling. The Doctor agrees to finish the locator and buys a little more time. Out on the plain, Barbara travels with a Menoptra scout.

They learn an invasion force is coming to land at the Crater of Needles. A Zarbi beacon tracks the flyers. Barbara and the scout decide to destroy it. They rush across the webbed ground as patrols close in, while the Doctor readies his quiet sabotage inside the hive.

Episode 4: Crater of Needles

Barbara and a Menoptra scout race across the webbed plain to smash a Zarbi beacon near the Crater of Needles. They reach the mast, strike it with rocks, and rip at its cables, but Zarbi and Larvae Guns swarm from the rim. The beacon flares a signal into the sky. High above, the Menoptra invasion force dives to land: and flies straight into a trap. Energy bolts rip the air. Wings burn. The attack fails in moments.

Barbara and the scout are seized and driven into the crater. Inside, prisoners work among acid pools and webbed machinery under Zarbi whips. The Menoptra whisper of the Animus at the centre of the hive and of hidden tunnels below the surface. Barbara begins to look for tools and allies.

In the Carcinome, the Doctor finishes the locator under the Animus’s eye. He hides a jamming circuit inside and learns the landing has been crushed. Vicki steadies their tamed Zarbi and watches for a chance to slip away.

Ian, using the controlled Zarbi as a cover, scouts a shaft at the crater’s edge. He ties a rope and climbs down to find a way to Barbara. The wall softens; the webbing tears. The rope snaps, and Ian plunges into darkness as unseen shapes stir in the tunnels below.

Episode 5: Invasion

Ian falls into dark tunnels beneath the crater and meets the Optera, pale, wingless cousins of the Menoptra who live underground. At first they fear him as a “creature of light,” but he wins their trust. He learns they dread the “light that kills” from above and the acid that seeps through the stone. Ian asks them to guide him toward the “Centre,” the heart of the Animus. The Optera agree to lead him through secret burrows.

On the surface, Barbara works among prisoners beside acid pools. She joins surviving Menoptra and helps plan a breakout. Using tools and a quick diversion, they overpower Zarbi guards and flee the crater. Guided by memory, they reach an ancient Menoptra Temple of Light hidden among rocks. There, scattered flyers gather. A leader speaks of a new strike against the Animus and a compact weapon they hope to use when the time comes.

Inside the Carcinome, the Doctor and Vicki finish the locator under the Animus’s eye. The Doctor’s hidden circuit lets them confuse nearby Zarbi for a moment and slip to the captured TARDIS. The Animus senses trouble; web strands thicken through the hive.

As night settles on Vortis, three paths form: Barbara and the Menoptra prepare an assault from above, Ian and the Optera move from below, and the Doctor and Vicki face the Animus at the centre.

Episode 6: The Centre

The Animus draws the Doctor and Vicki into its lair at the centre of the Carcinome. Web strands drop from the ceiling and fix them in place. A glowing tube speaks in the Animus’s harsh voice and tries to force the Doctor to reveal everything. He cannot move. Vicki watches as the web thickens around them and the hive hum grows louder.

Barbara leads a Menoptra party into the hive with a compact light weapon. Zarbi and Larvae Guns attack in the tunnels, but the Menoptra push through. The weapon stutters, then works again. They reach the centre and see the Doctor and Vicki trapped under web.

Barbara fires at the Animus, driving it back. Beneath the hive, Ian and the Optera break through stone with antler picks and burst into the chamber from below. Together they shield the prisoners and keep the beam on the Animus.

The Animus weakens and collapses. Control snaps. The Zarbi stop fighting and scatter like confused animals. The living walls begin to fail. The Optera, seeing daylight, cheer that one day they will “become light” and learn to fly. The Menoptra thank the travellers and promise to rebuild Vortis. The TARDIS is released from the web. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki say farewell and depart.

Themes

Ambitious and strange, “The Web Planet” pushes the series into truly alien territory: a world of insect empires, ritual dances, and a whispering Animus that bends minds. Across its six chapters, the scale and imagination are undeniable, even if the pace and theatrical staging won’t suit every viewer.

Measured against the crisp comedy of The Romans or the power of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, it lands in the mid tier of the Hartnell era: not the most polished serial, but one of the most daring.

Coming right after The Rescue and The Romans, it completes a run that tests how far the show can roam: historical farce one week, a wholly non-human ecology the next. It then pivots into the grounded intensity of The Crusade. Vicki’s settling-in continues here, giving the Doctor a lighter, more playful companion dynamic that will carry into The Space Museum, The Chase, and finally the turning-point ingenuity of The Time Meddler.

In that sense, the Menoptra–Zarbi saga stands as a bridge: a proof that Doctor Who can leave Earth behind entirely and still find character, consequence, and wonder.

.

This is a chapter from Craig Hill’s book “Doctor Who – The First Doctor”, chronicling every episode featuring the First Doctor. It is available on Amazon.

.

To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

Doctor Who Episode Guides for Sale on Amazon

Step aboard the TARDIS and journey across the universe with every incarnation of The Doctor in this series of unofficial Doctor Who episode companions.

This collection of twelve books explores every televised adventure of the Time Lord’s lives.

Each volume in the series delves into a different Doctor’s era, offering detailed episode guides, behind-the-scenes insights, character profiles, and story synopses.

Once you have clicked the link, choose which book you want, and then whether you want to buy the Kindle (eBook) or Paperback versions.

Previews are available before you buy.

Visit the Australian Book and Language Studio

www.abls.com.au