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episode guide

planet of the spiders

story 74 : season 11 : serial ZZZ : 6 episodes

Producer: Barry Letts
Director: Barry Letts
Writer: Robert Sloman
Script Editor: Terrance Dicks
Designer: Rochelle Selwyn

cast information

Jon Pertwee (Doctor Who); Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith); Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart); John Levene (Benton); Richard Franklin (Mike Yates); Tom Baker (Doctor Who (uncredited)); John Dearth (Lupton); Cyril Shaps (Professor Clegg); John Kane (Tommy); Christopher Burgess (Barnes); Terence Lodge (Moss); Carl Forgione (Land); Andrew Staines (Keaver); Kevin Lindsay (Cho-je); George Cormack (K Anpo); Chubby Oates (Policeman); Pat Gorman (Soldier); Terry Walsh (Man with boat); Michael Pinder (Hopkins); Stuart Fell (Tramp); Gareth Hunt (Arak); Geoffrey Morris (Sabor); Jenny Laird (Neska); Joanna Monro (Rega); Ralph Arliss (Tuar); Ysanne Churchman (Spider Voice); Kismet Delgado (Spider Voice); Maureen Morris (Spider Voice); Walter Randall (Guard Captain); Max Faulkner (Guard Captain);

crew information

Graeme Harper (Assistant Floor Manager); L Rowland Warne (Costumes); Fred Hamilton (Film Cameraman); Bob Rymer (Film Editor); Dudley Simpson (Incidental Music); Deanne Turner (Make-Up); Marion McDougall (Production Assistant); George Gallacio (Production Unit Manager); Dick Mills (Special Sounds); Ralph Walton (Studio Lighting); John Holmes (Studio Sound); Ron Grainer (Title Music); Bernard Wilkie (Visual Effects); Delia Derbyshire (Theme Arrangement);

episode information

  Title First UK Transmission Duration Ratings Archive Status
1 Part One 4 May 1974 at 17:45 24'40" 10.1mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
2 Part Two 11 May 1974 at 17:40 25'02" 8.9mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
3 Part Three 18 May 1974 at 17:40 24'58" 8.8mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
4 Part Four 25 May 1974 at 17:30 23'53" 8.2mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
5 Part Five 1 June 1974 at 17:35 24'01" 9.2mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
6 Part Six 8 June 1974 at 17:35 24'43" 8.9mil PAL 2 inch colour videotape
  1. Part One
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
  2. Part Two
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
  3. Part Three
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
  4. Part Four
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
  5. Part Five
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978
  6. Part Six
    » Held by the FVTL when audited in 1978

release information

In Print:
Novelised as: Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders
Written by: Terrance Dicks
Number 048 in the Target Doctor Who Library

Versions
1975 Published by Allan Wingate Ltd, UK in hardback
With cover artwork by: Peter Brookes
ISBN: 85523 052 5
16 October 1975 Published by Tandem, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Peter Brookes
ISBN: 0 426 10655 5
28 September 1978 Published by Tandem, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Alun Hood
ISBN: 0 426 10655 5
1979 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Alun Hood
ISBN: 0 426 10655 5
22 August 1991 Published by Virgin Publishing Ltd, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Alister Pearson
ISBN: 0 426 10655 5

plot synopsis

Jo Grant sends the blue crystal from Metebilis Three that the Doctor gave to her as a wedding present back to him. A giant spider from that planet materialises at a meditation centre, and takes over Lupton, commanding him to retrieve the said gem. The Doctor, Sarah and Lupton end up on the planet where the Spiders rule, and their powerful queen, 'The Great One', needs the missing crystal to complete a giant one which will give it immense power. The Doctor confronts it, and the radiation from its cave destroys his body. The TARDIS manages to get him back to the UNIT lab, where the Brigadier and Sarah watch in amazement as he collapses and regenerates...

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