Planet of the Spiders

After his traumatic involvement in Operation Golden Age, Mike Yates goes to a meditation retreat to regain his sanity. Trouble is, some of his fellow meditators are up to no good, conducting secrret sessions to tap into unknown powers for their own uses. Knowing that the Doctor and the Brigadier would not necessarily trust him, Mike calls upon Sarah. The Doctor, meanwhile, receives a package from Jo Grant: she is returning the Metebelis crystal that he gave her as a wedding gift as its presence is causing troubles amongst the South American tribes she and her husband are working with. The crystal is the object of yet more trouble, though; giant intelligent spiders from Metebelis use the mediation centre as a bridgehead and take over Mr Lupton in their attempt to recover the crystal for their own uses. Sarah is transported to Metebelis and the Doctor follows, and they discover the truth of the plan: the Great One, a spider of enormous size, has built a crystal web and needs the final crystal to complete it in her mad quest for ultimate power.

Spiders. Creepy. There are few people who will say that they love spiders, and the sight on a giant one leaping onto Lupton's back sends shivers down many a spine. Unfortunately the CSO effects of the time meant that any shots involving the spiders moving across the floor are not very well executed, and they look brown, not black like the static models used in the spider council chamber.

Mike Yates has done well. He must have received a good retirement package after his UNIT discharge to afford all his swanky attire (nice ascot, Mike) and his sporty new car. He's perfectly right to suspect the Brigadier and the Doctor might be suspicous of him, but why Sarah decided he was safe to be around again is anyone's guess. Her reckless journalistic spirit, perhaps. Her fashion sense needs work this time though.

Ah the Doctor. It's almost as if he knows his regeneration is out there waiting for him; the script is peppered with subtle hints about change, about endings and beginnings, and his convenient conversation with fellow Time Lord K'Anpo Rinpoche (who is hiding at the meditation centre after leaving Gallifrey - but doing so without running off with a TARDIS) leads to the first proper discussion about regeneration, for the sake of Sarah and for us at home, who have never really heard the logic behind why it happens. And the Doctor goes out with style; the script is packed with tense moments, including the Doctor's near-fatal wounding by a spider guard, and his irradiation by the crystals in the Great One's cave. When the regeneration does come, the Brigadier and Sarah are both on hand to see their friend's features fade away and be replaced by a complete stranger.

Just before the Doctor regenerates, he emerges from the TARDIS claiming that he has been lost in the time vortex and that the ship finally brought him back. Sarah says it has been about three weeks since he disappeared, which leaves some interesting space for additional third Doctor adventures with him lost in time and slowly dying from the radiation, all the time trying to get back to Earth.

But what if the Doctor regenerated in the TARDIS, or somewhere else, and never returned to Earth? Before we go on with the televised series, let's look at another of the Big Finish Doctor Who Unbound range...

NEXT EPISODE : FULL FATHOM FIVE

PS : 6:49 AM EST now...