Released as a 2-disc set on Monday 18th April, ‘Planet Of The Spiders’ sees the Doctor fighting a deadly foe and facing his own death.
“What begins as innocuous research into ESP turns into a deadly mind battle, with the terrifying spiders from the planet Metebelis Three pitted against The Doctor, his friends and Time Lord K’Anpo.
“At a Tibetan-style spiritual retreat deep in rural England, a clandestine circle of chanting brethren unknowingly call upon the evil powers of the Metebelis Spiders, whose quest for the perfect blue crystal leads them straight to the Doctor. He must travel to the alien planet to meet the Great One, merciless ruler of her spiders and human slaves, who plans to take over Earth.
The future of the entire universe is in the Doctor’s hands, but if he is to face the fear the Great One sees in his mind, then he must face the certainty of total destruction. Could this be the Time Lord’s final death?”
The extras are as follows:
– Commentary with actors Elisabeth Sladen, Nicholas Courtney and Richard Franklin, producer / director Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks.
– Coming Soon – a trailer for a forthcoming DVD release.
– Programme subtitles.
– Subtitle Production Notes.
– The Final Curtain – five years after its re-invention in colour and its rise to massive popularity, it was time for Doctor Who’s charismatic lead actor Jon Pertwee to move on… and with him the production team that had guided the show throughout that period. This documentary looks at the background to the Third Doctor’s swansong. With actors Jon Pertwee and Richard Franklin, producer / director Barry Letts, script editor Terrance Dicks, designer Rochelle Selwyn, visual effects assistant Mat Irvine and actor and author Mark Gatiss. Narrated by Glen Allen.
– John Kane Remembers… – actor John Kane memorably played the gentle, slow-witted Tommy, reborn through the power of the Metebelis crystal. An accomplished writer and series creator, Kane now lives in France, from where he looks back on his memories of the story.
– Directing Who with Barry Letts – Barry Letts is perhaps most famous as producer of Doctor Who, but he was also responsible for directing some of the show’s best-loved stories. Barry looks back on his career as a director in this documentary.
– Now & Then – the latest instalment in our ongoing series takes a trip back to some of the locations used during production of the story.
– ‘Planet Of The Spiders’ omnibus edition – the full-length omnibus edit of the story, presented here totally unrestored.
– Omnibus trailer
– Photo gallery – production, design and publicity photos from the story.
* Radio Times Listings in Adobe pdf format.