Season 5, Episode 5 | 6 parts | First broadcast: 3 February – 9 March 1968 | Writer: Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln | Director: Douglas Camfield
Cast
- Patrick Troughton as the Doctor
- Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon
- Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield
- Nicholas Courtney as Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart
Summary
A mysterious web-like substance from space again heralds the return of the Great Intelligence and its robotic Yeti, this time invading the London Underground and driving the city into a state of emergency. The Doctor joins forces with the army, including a young Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart in his first appearance, to battle the Yeti and stop the Intelligence before it can overrun London entirely.
Interesting Facts
- This serial introduces Nicholas Courtney’s Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, who would return the following season and become a recurring, beloved figure across the series as the Brigadier.
- Only Episode 1 survives in the original BBC archive, but the rest of the serial was rediscovered in 2013, missing only Episode 3, which has since been animated.
- The atmospheric use of the London Underground’s tunnels for a monster siege proved so effective that it directly inspired the following season’s The Invasion.
- Actor Jack Watling reprises his role of Professor Travers from The Abominable Snowmen, now decades older and still haunted by his earlier encounter with the Great Intelligence.