History Recap / DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders

->''"Look, Brigadier! Look! I think it's starting!"''

** Doctor frees himself out of web using trick he learned from Creator/HarryHoudini.

'''Production code:''' ZZZ

Written by Robert Sloman and Creator/BarryLetts (uncredited, as usual). This six-episode serial first aired from May 4 to June 8, 1974.

* NoodleIncident: It's mentioned that the Brigadier once somehow earned the gratitude of a woman named Doris. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield Battlefield]]", it's revealed "she finally caught him" and they are now married.

->''"A tear, Sarah Jane? No, don't cry. While there's life, there's..."''

Oh if only we had a Doctor that could start larking about the Pythagorean Theorem and let us know all was well. One who did not make us think his death would stick...

But the utterance of hope that the Doctor couldn't gasp out before his demise shows up in the form of K'anpo Rimpoche. Sarah learns the Doctor isn't so dead after all, because the wise Time Lord sees that his old friend needs a "push" to make his cells [[TheNthDoctor regenerate]]. Sarah didn't know what the Doctor meant by regeneration when he first spoke of it, and is a mite confused at what is going on. But the Brigadier has dealt with this change of appearance before. A bit diffused by the idea the Doctor is going to have a personality tilt again after two oft incorrigible faces, he resignedly says, "Well, [[HereWeGoAgain here we go again...]]" Jon Pertwee fades away.

->''"Is that fear I can feel in your mind? You are not accustomed to feeling frightened, are you Doctor? You are very wise to be afraid of '''me'''!"''

The one with the very long chase sequence. And '''[[BigCreepyCrawlies SPIDERS!!!]]'''

The Third Doctor returns to Earth several weeks late from his departure. He quavers out the doors of the TARDIS, unable to even stand without huddling to the frame of his ship. Losing his strength, he falls to the ground faced down. The Brig gets a seat cushion to prop up his head while Sarah turns him over on his back, grieving at the sight of her Doctor's last moments. The poor gentlemen is on his deathbed after getting lost in the Time Vortex. He weakly tells his companion what he had to do, but she won't accept his death. Starting to cry, the Doctor tells her "A tear, Sarah Jane? No, don't cry. While there's life, there's..." But the word "hope" does not escape his lips. He dies as though he just froze in place as the radiation stopped every process of his body from working, including speech and [[DiesWideOpen his eyelids, which Sarah closes]].

* AuthorAppeal: The Buddhist themes were written into the story by Creator/BarryLetts, himself a practicing Buddhist. This came back to bite him slightly, as some Buddhists objected to the use of mantras and chants as a means to summon the spiders.
** It's also thanks to this that Regeneration was defined as what it was; an explicit parallel to {{Reincarnation}}.

* BadassNormal: Sgt. Benton. The mind-thrown lightning bolts instantly kill normal humans, and seriously inconvenience the Doctor. Benton takes two to the chest, and shakes it off with enough wherewithal to bring the car around.
** He also makes a damn fine cup of coffee.

* SimpletonVoice: Tommy has this ailment until the Metebelis crystal heals his mind and increases his intelligence.

* SimpletonVoice: Tommy has this ailment until the Metebelis crystal washes out his mind.