The Web of Fear is the partly missing fifth serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 February to 9 March 1968.
The serial is set on the London Underground railway over forty years after the 1967 serial The Abominable Snowmen. In the serial, the incorporeal Great Intelligence leads the time traveller the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) into a trap where it can drain the Doctor's mind of all of his knowledge. This serial marked the last regular appearance of the Yeti, although they would return for small cameos in The Five Doctors and the Reeltime Pictures spin-off Downtime.
The Web of Fear marks the first appearance of actor Nicholas Courtney as Colonel Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, subsequently better known as the Brigadier, and acts as a precursor to the numerous later serials involving the UNIT organisation.
Only five of the six episodes are held in the BBC Archives; one still remains missing.
For decades, all but episode 1 were thought to have been destroyed, but on 11 October 2013, the BBC announced the previously missing episodes 2 and 4-6 were recovered from Nigeria. Episode 3, however, was reportedly stolen by a private collector on its way back to the UK, so an animated reconstruction had to be made for episode 3. On 16 August 2021, a special edition Blu-ray and DVD release of the serial saw the missing episode reconstructed using 3D motion capture animation, a first for missing episodes.
Plot
Following the events at the end of The Enemy of the World, Jamie manages to close the TARDIS' doors, stabilising its flight. The TARDIS stalls in flight, however, as it is enshrouded in a web-like substance. The web clears, and the ship lands in a deserted Covent Garden tube station. The city outside appears completely abandoned.
Approximately 40 years after The Abominable Snowmen, an elderly Professor Travers accidentally reactivates a control sphere. The sphere inserts itself into an intact robot Yeti from Tibet at a private collection in London and escapes. In the following days, London is beset by thick fog and a deadly web-like fungus. Professor Travers is brought to the Second World War deep-level shelter under Goodge Street tube station, where his daughter Anne has asked for his help to defeat the menace.
Moving through the underground train tunnels, the Doctor and his companions encounter the military, who are trying to stem the spread of the fungus by demolishing tunnels with explosives. Explosives laid at Charing Cross tube station are neutralised by the robot Yeti by smothering the explosion with the fungus. The reappearance of the Yeti signifies to the Doctor that the Great Intelligence has returned. While others in the shelters are suspicious of the Doctor and his companions, Professor Travers, recognising them from their encounter in Tibet, convinces Captain Knight that the Doctor will be key to defeating the Yeti.
The group are joined by Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart and Private Evans, the sole survivors of an ammunition detail which was attacked by Yeti. Lethbridge-Stewart assumes command. The web suddenly speeds up its expansion, engulfing the whole of the Circle Line within minutes. Further attempts to use explosives to halt the web are blocked by Yeti attacks, and the military's explosives store is consumed by the fungus. The Doctor discovers a Yeti-attracting beacon at the scene, showing someone at HQ must be in league with the Intelligence. Meanwhile, Harold Chorley, the only journalist allowed to report on the crisis, is told of the TARDIS by Victoria and he rushes off to Covent Garden to find it and escape. The base is attacked by Yeti, killing several of the soldiers and knocking out Anne and Professor Travers. The Yeti leave with Professor Travers' unconscious body.
The Doctor informs Lethbridge-Stewart and Knight about the intelligence and the TARDIS; the Colonel decides to recover the TARDIS from Covent Garden station, hoping that it will allow them to escape. The Colonel fails to lead the remaining troops overground to Covent Garden; despite downing several robots in the ensuing battle, all except Lethbridge-Stewart perish. Staff-Sergeant Arnold vanishes into the fungus while delivering a baggage trolley to the Colonel.