The surprising thing about this story is that so much more could have gone wrong - but didn't. In a season where only the Daleks get six part stories, having another story of that length in which no human characters appear other than the regulars, set on a moonscape planet entirely confined to a small studio, was a massive gamble. Many would argue that the gamble failed, but I wouldn't, and there were 13.5 million viewers for The Web Planet - a record not broken until Tom Baker's tenure.
Anyway, this is about what didn't quite go to plan, so let's go.
The history of the planet Vortis is rather confusing. The Menoptra speak as if they were only forced to flee the planet relatively recently - a year or two at most. However, the Doctor thinks that the Animus must have been growing for at least a century, and it doesn't recognise what a Menoptra looks like - asking the Doctor if he is one.
The Optera also talk as if the Animus has been around for centuries. Presumably they diverged from the Menoptra well before they were forced off the planet, as evolution couldn't possibly account for them being a more recent development.
If the Menoptra have been away for a lot longer than a few years, why do they want to return? Vortis is now a barren world, with hardly any vegetation left. What's more, the air is very thin, which begs the question of how they are able to fly now.
Pictos is described as not suitable for them, so why not find a new home elsewhere altogether?
We hear that the Animus is growing very very slowly at the planet's magnetic pole. Vortis is a big planet, so why couldn't the Menoptra just have relocated to another part of the planet to establish a base there?
Some stories seem to imply that the TARDIS materialises out of the Vortex momentarily before landing. This is presumably what happens here, otherwise the Animus is really very very powerful indeed, so why would it want to master the human race's ability to travel through space - a primitive form of travel in comparison to what it can already achieve.
As mentioned, there are no humanoid species on Vortis. The Zarbi actually look okay on screen, there obvious means of construction and operation more visible in static photographs. The Menoptra are more impressive, but you can see where they decided to change the design between the filming at Ealing and the studio sessions. On film the faces are just makeup rather than masks.
The Optera aren't anywhere near as effective, their subsidiary limbs clearly being costume parts. The Venom Grubs, or Larvae Guns, or Sting Grubs can't work out what they want to be called... Easy to see how they are operated by an extra down on all fours - except when they whizz along the wooden studio floor, pulled along on a trolley.
How do the Menoptra know that the Animus has a "dark side"? As it happens, when we finally get to see it, it doesn't really have any particularly dark side.
The Menoptra seem to accept the Doctor and his companions fairly readily, and yet insist on the correct password from their own kind.
Time we said it - one of the Zarbi rushes towards a camera, and crashes right into it.
The Doctor's Astral Map is clearly hollow, the images on it printed on card.
When Ian and Vrestin fall down the chasm to the lair of the Optera, you can hear Roslyn De Wynter laughing hysterically as the dust falls on them.
Hartnell has some problems in the first episode with his dialogue, throwing William Russell a couple of times. Ian has to rather awkwardly ask which galaxy Vortis is in, to get Hartnell back on track with the script. We then have the scene where Ian asks the Doctor how they are going to open the TARDIS doors without power. Watch Russell's face as Hartnell hums and hahs over his ring.
Some Hartnell fluffs:
"The question is, is it some natural phenomena or... is it intelligent or deliberate, or... for a purpose? Hmm?".
"... if I can only trick her into neutralising this section of area...".
And: "We have been on a slight exploitation...".
It is said that it was during the making of this story that William Russell decided to quit the show. If it was down to the production rather than for off screen reasons, then there is fun to be had working out which scene might have acted as his final straw...
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