A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 61. Invasion (The Web Planet Part Five)

So here we get the equivalent of a Corridor Chase for this serial.  With their attempt to foil the control collars successful, the Doctor and Vicki escape the Animus (with a controlled Zarbi in tow that Vicki dubs 'Zombo') and eventually connect up with Barbara and what's left of the Menoptran Spearhead.  The Menoptrans have an implosion bomb that will destroy the Animus, and the Doctor volunteers to go into the Animus to plant it there.  Meanwhile, Ian and the...Opterans endeavor to escape the tunnels underneath Vortis.  Needless to say, it doesn't go off as planned....

The thing that struck me the most in this half hour is the information that could have been, maybe should have been imparted earlier in the serial.  There's a somewhat extensive monologue about Menoptran culture that I can't help thinking needed to be in the second or third episode to prevent that suspicion I had back then that the Menoptrans might've been the villains.  The plans--and the connected discovery of what the Animus is using to fulfill its dark purpose--should have been more spread out, as the mystery of the extra moons was mentioned in passing so far back we might not make the connection.  This is integral stuff to keep this six episodes flow better, and it's so packed in to this fifth episode that it feels overstuffed.  I once more come to the opinion that this serial should not have been as long as it is.

...and if you ask me, I'm positive that we just didn't need the Opterans.  So far they've contributed nothing other than giving Ian something to do--and I suspect William Russell knew it, as there's little moments where the camera catches him stifling a laugh at the ludicrousness of what he's doing.  A moment when one of the Opterans die has no impact, and there's nowhere in this serial that has any impact other than this whole sequence.  I'm sorry, but the felt-and-foam costumes of these third race just prevents me from seeing them as anything other than silly.

There are some good moments, especially with our female members.  I laughed out loud at Vicki's reactions in the opening scene, and I still take great joy in the way she gives a little sass to the Doctor when he's being crotchety.  And Barbara is in prime action heroine mode, devising a plan and acting strong in the face of mockery.  I know that my time with Jacqueline Hill is coming to an end, and I'm going to miss her steely resolve when she's gone.

So...yeah, a 'corridor chase'.  The cliffhanger seems very non-sequetorial, but I am taking some solace in knowing next episode is the last of this so well-intentioned but just isn't able to achieve its goal.