Episode 63: The Centre

Synopsis:

The Doctor and Vicki are attacked by a weapon in the Zarbi command chamber which smothers them in a web-like substance. The Doctor is forced beneath the glass dome to communicate once more with the Animus. He claims that they had simply gone for a short exploration, and should be trusted as they returned of their own accord. The Animus refuses to believe him, and orders that they should both be brought to the centre of the Carzenome. Vicki hides the Isoptope cell destructor inside the TARDIS Astral Map.

Barbara and her Menoptra friends approach the Carzenome and begin to lure the Zarbi guards outside. They then rush inside and head for the centre of the complex.

Ian and Vrestin have begun climbing up through the tunnels to a point beneath the Carzenome, and come upon a dense organic layer which they must cut through.

The Doctor and Vicki are taken to a portal which the Zarbi will not pass. They go through and find themselves in the presence of the Animus - a huge tentacled creature. It overpowers them mentally, forcing them to approach closer. 

The others arrive in the command chamber and Barbara spots the Astral Map. The Menoptra ask if she can use it to contact their forces on Pictos, but when she tries she finds it will not work. Investigating, she finds the Isoptope hidden within. They set off for the centre in search of the Doctor and Vicki.

In the Centre, they are covered in tentacles, their life force being drained away. The Animus tells the Doctor that it will absorb the contents of his mind. It will invade Earth, to acquire mankind's knowledge of space travel which will allow it to spread its influence across the cosmos.

Barbara and the others arrive, and they are also overpowered by the Animus. The Menoptra are lured by its brilliant light - like moths to a flame.

The Animus is suddenly distracted by the arrival of Ian and his group through the floor of the chamber, which allows Barbara to use the Isoptope on the creature. The weapon works, and the Animus is destroyed.

A short time later, the Zarbi have reverted to a passive state and the Larvae Guns are helping to fertilise the land. Water is returning to the surface. Hetra and the Optera are trying to get used to being on the surface of their planet.

The Doctor and his companions bid everyone farewell, and the TARDIS departs.

The Menoptra promise that their people will sing songs about the mysterious travellers who came and helped them defeat the Animus. They transmit a message to the rest of their people, advising them that it is now safe to return to Vortis...

Next episode: The Lion

Data:

Written by: Bill Strutton

Recorded: Friday 26th February 1965 - Riverside Studio 1

First broadcast: 5:55pm, Saturday 20th March 1965

Ratings: 12 million / AI 43

Designer: John Wood

Director: Richard Martin

Critique:

Despite the problems which had beset the fourth instalment, it was decided that The Centre would be recorded later in the evening, starting at 9:30pm. And once again, technical problems meant an even later start and a lengthy overrun - with recording not finishing until 10:45pm. An initial problem was that no-one could find the power cable for the web gun, seen in the recap sequence at the start of the episode. There were also problems with the sound.

The Animus is described as being like a spider, but its on-screen realisation shows it as a large tentacled creature. The tentacles spread across the entire set, and stagehands wrapped these around Hartnell and O'Brien for scenes where they have been overpowered. The Animus hovers over a glowing dome. At times the wire holding the creature up can be glimpsed.

In his novelisation - Doctor Who and the Zarbi - Strutton describes the Animus as being like a giant bladder. John Wood's illustration shows a large revolving egg-like shape.

The BBC's own synopsis refers to a "spider cyndron".

The Animus had earlier not even recognised the Doctor and his companions, thinking them to be Menoptra - but by this episode it already seems to know all about Earth and of "Man's mastery of space".

Richard Martin was given the scripts for The Chase in the week leading up to the recording of this instalment. He was on holiday when the episode was edited, the work being carried out by Verity Lambert. She cut one VFX sequence of the Carzenome dissolving, as she felt it wasn't at all clear what was happening. This suggests that the TARDIS has not been moved outside the Carzenome at the end of the episode, but instead the complex has disintegrated around it.

It was during the making of this episode that William Russell decided that he would not be staying for the third season, as he wanted to return to theatre work. He discussed his plans with Jacqueline Hill, and she decided to leave with him.

A Hartnell fluff: "We have been on a slight exploitation...". 

Martin Jarvis, in his autobiography, claimed that one week he found the star struggling with his lines, having been absent from some rehearsals. As the pair only worked on this and the previous week's instalments, it must be one of these. Hartnell has very little to do this week, being semi-conscious for most of it, so it may well be this episode in which he felt he didn't have to master too many lines.

Bill Strutton never wrote for the series again, though he offered Lambert and Spooner another idea at the time. He did later submit a script called "The Mega" in 1970. It was commissioned by Terrance Dicks as a four-parter, but never made it into production. He gave up writing after a heart attack in 1978 and retired to Spain, where he died in 2003. "The Mega" was produced as an audio in 2013, featuring Katy Manning and Richard Franklin.

Trivia:

• This episode was broadcast 15 minutes later than scheduled, due to that day's live sporting events (rugby's Calcutta Cup from Twickenham).
• The audience figure is the lowest for the story, and the AI of 43 marks a new low for the series as a whole.
• New Zealand bought the episodes in 1968, but failed to broadcast them due to censorship problems. It wasn't shown there until July 2000.
• Doctor Who Magazine have just published a poll of William Hartnell stories (as of March 2023) in which The Web Planet sits in last place (29th).
• Well in advance of its 1966 debut in his native Australia, an interview with Strutton was published in the TV Week magazine of 27 March, 1965. It included his childhood inspiration for the story: