N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

I have a friend for whom this is the absolute nadir of Doctor Who (certainly the classic series) and, whilst I wouldn’t necessarily go so far as to say it’s the worst Doctor Who has to offer, sadly, it’s not hard for me to see why he feels that way.

I say sadly, because to be fair, there’s a lot to applaud here (especially in the first couple of episodes): the Vaseline-smeared-on-the-lens-effect camera filters make Vortis seem genuinely alien; the avant-garde music, whilst not written specifically for the serial, is also suitably unusual; I even like the Zarbi’s trilling! (There’s also one of those lovely TARDIS character moments in a scene where Vicki learns how Barbara received her gold bracelet.)

“There seems to be no end to it.”

Ian, The Centre

I’m not going to dwell on the pros and cons of the creatures and effects designed for the serial. Besides, any fan of old Doctor Who is well-equipped with a strong enough willing suspension of disbelief to cope with a man in an ant suit!

With The Web Planet though, I must confess that it was the snail pace that got to me in the end. Despite my earlier profession for liking the more sedate nature of early Doctor Who, I began to feel as though I was never going to see the end credits of The Centre!

Still, for all its faults The Web Planet is extraordinarily ambitious in scope and design – and frankly downright weird in places – and, as you couldn’t get a serial more different from its predecessor The Romans, once again illustrates how Doctor Who as a show was willing to try anything, even if ultimately it resulted in heroic failures such as this.