The Web of Fear

041 – **The Web of Fear**
041 – The Web of Fear
Doctor Who serial
	A pair of Yeti in the deserted London Underground as seen in the serial. The Yeti's presence in a familiar environment was discussed by critics to be an important reason for the serial's memorability.
Cast
	Doctor Patrick Troughton – Second Doctor;
	Companions Frazer Hines – Jamie McCrimmon; Deborah Watling – Victoria Waterfield;
	Others Nicholas Courtney – Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart; Jack Watling – Professor Travers; Tina Packer – Anne Travers; Jon Rollason – Harold Chorley; Ralph Watson – Captain Knight; Jack Woolgar – Staff Sergeant Arnold; Richardson Morgan – Corporal Blake; Rod Beacham – Corporal Lane; Stephen Whittaker – Craftsman Weams; Derek Pollitt – Driver Evans; Bernard G. High, Joseph O'Connell – Soldiers; Frederick Schrecker – Julius Silverstein; John Levene, John Lord, Gordon Stothard, Colin Warman, Jeremy King, Roger Jacombs – Yeti;
Production
Directed by	Douglas Camfield
Written by	Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln
Script editor	Derrick Sherwin
Produced by	Peter Bryant
Music by	None
Production code	QQ
Series	Season 5
Running time	6 episodes, 25 minutes each
Episode(s) missing	1 episode (3)
First broadcast	3 February 1968
Last broadcast	9 March 1968
Chronology
← Preceded by; The Enemy of the World	Followed by →; Fury from the Deep

The Web of Fear is the fifth serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 February to 9 March 1968. Written by writers Henry Lincoln and Mervyn Haisman, the serial is a sequel to 1967 serial The Abominable Snowmen. The plot concerns the incorporeal Great Intelligence and its robotic Yeti minions invading the London Underground in order to lead the time travelling Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) into a trap where it can drain the Doctor's mind of its knowledge. The Web of Fear marks the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney as Colonel Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, who would serve as a major recurring character in the series going forward.

The serial was commissioned as a result of then story editor Peter Bryant being highly pleased with The Abominable Snowmen, additionally wanting to feature the Yeti more due to a desire to include more "monsters" in the series. Haisman and Lincoln decided to set the story in the London Underground, wanting the serial's events to be close to home for viewers. The Yeti were redesigned after their appearance in the prior serial, giving the creatures a "rougher" appearance. Due to difficulties in scheduling the Underground for filming, the Underground was reconstructed as a set at BBC studios, where most of the serial's filming took place.

The serial has been regarded as an iconic serial in the series and has received largely positive reviews from retrospective critics. Following the serial's airing, the serial's episodes were destroyed, rendering the serial as missing. One episode was recovered in 1978, with four other episodes being recovered in Nigeria in 2013. The serial's third episode has not been recovered but was reconstructed via animation for a 2021 physical release of the serial.