Synopsis:
Travers has begun to recall the horror he experienced earlier in the cave. High above Det-Sen monastery, a glowing mass pours from the cave mouth - threatening to engulf the entire mountain...
He recalls how Songsten carried a glass pyramid into a cave, and the Yeti did not harm him. Thonmi tells them that the abbot is currently with Khrisong, and the Doctor realises that the warrior monk is in danger.
Outside the inner sanctum, Khrisong tries to get Songsten to leave with the others and to warn him about Padmasambhava. The ancient lama then speaks to them, inviting them inside - but first Khrisong must set aside his weapon. As soon as he hands it over, the abbot viciously stabs him.
Padmasambhava is horrified at what the Intelligence is making him do, but has no power to disobey. Songsten is sent to lead the rest of the monks away from the monastery.
The Doctor, Jamie and Thonmi arrive and find the dying monk, who is able to tells them that the abbot was possessed when he attacked him. Songsten is then compelled to kill them too, but is overpowered.
The rest of the monks are horrified to hear of what has happened as they witness their abbot's murderous state.
The Doctor explains that this is the work of their master - but he is also being controlled by a powerful and malignant force. He decides to hypnotise Songsten to free his mind and tell them of what he knows of the Intelligence's plans.
Travers is sure that the thing in the cave is what needs to be destroyed, and he talks Ralpachan into going up the mountain with him to attack it.
Songsten reveals that the master laboured for centuries to create the Yeti robots and their control spheres. The Intelligence has lied to them, demanding more and more. It now wants the whole planet. He then tells the Doctor of a secret chamber behind the inner sanctum where the control machinery is located.
Travers and Ralpachan soon discover that the glowing substance is spreading out to cover the entire mountaintop and there is no way they can destroy it. They turn back.
Sapan leads the monks away from Det-Sen and out into the night, taking their abbot with them. They are observed by Travers and Ralpachan, who cannot approach any closer due to the presence of a number of Yeti.
The Doctor's plan is to return to the inner sanctum to distract Padmasambhava long enough for Jamie and Thonmi to find the secret room and destroy whatever they find there.
The Doctor and Padmasambhava fight a mental duel, the ancient lama using psychic and telekinetic forces to attack him physically and mentally.
As Jamie and Thonmi search, Padmasambhava moves the Yeti models into the monastery on his map.
Victoria tries to stop him. The young men begin smashing the equipment they find in the secret room, but the Yeti continue to bear down on them.
Travers and Ralpachan have been able to re-enter the monastery now that the Yeti have moved inside. Travers attempts to shoot Padmasambhava - but the master is able to catch the bullet in his hand.
The damage appears to be having no effect until the Doctor recalls the glass pyramid. Shouting for them to find something similar, they spot one and begin to wreck it.
Padmasambhava lets out a terrifying scream and collapses as the control spheres within each Yeti explode.
At the same moment, the upper part of the mountain blows apart.
Padmasambhava is now free of the Intelligence, and dies in the Doctor's arms.
The following morning, Thonmi awaits the return of his fellow monks. Travers agrees to walk part of the way up the mountain as the Doctor and his companions return to the TARDIS. He announces that his expedition is over.
However, they see movement amongst the rocks and spot a real Yeti. It is a timid creature and runs off at their approach. Travers gives chase - allowing them to reach the TARDIS and slip away, with Jamie hoping for somewhere warmer next time...
Next time: The Ice Warriors
Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln
Recorded: Saturday 14th October 1967 - Lime Grove Studio D
First broadcast: 5.25pm, Saturday 4th November 1967
Ratings: 7.4 million / AI 52
VFX: Ron Oates & Ulrich Grosser
Designer: Malcolm Middleton
Director: Gerald Blake
Model filming for the concluding episode took place at Ealing on Friday 25th August 1967. This included the glowing foam covering the mountain, and its eventual explosion.
After two days lost to torrential rain, Jack Watling and David Baron were filmed in Snowdonia on the morning of Wednesday 6th September for their scenes in this episode.
This was to have been the crew's day off and both actors were supposed to have been released by this time, but filming had to be rearranged because of the weather.
One of the Yeti costumes was adapted to become a real Abominable Snowman. This was achieved by removing the bamboo framework and most of the padding to make it look sleeker. The actor playing it also had to be able to run - impossible to achieve with the regular costumes.
Prior to studio recording, a prosthetic model had been made of Wolfe Morris' head and shoulders, the plan being that Padmasambhava would be seen to melt and dissolve once free of the Intelligence's influence. This would be pre-filmed and used as an insert during the recording. The effect proved so gruesome that it was decided to abandon it.
In the end a shot of him screaming was superimposed over the model shot of the mountain exploding.
The VFX team were heavily involved in the mental duel sequence. A burning torch was suspended on wires and made to float through the air, whilst other torches were rigged to flare up.
It was this sequence which had impressed Patrick Troughton so much on reading the scripts - prompting him to write to Henry Lincoln.
The Yeti costumes had small explosive charges inserted in their chests, detonated electronically, for when their spheres exploded.
There were five recording breaks through the course of the evening, mainly for cast movements from set to set.
The closing captions rolled over a shot of the TARDIS dematerialising, though the Doctor's recorder could still be heard.
The caption announcing the following week's story - Dr Who and the Ice Warriors - was prepared but not used in the end. Instead a specially filmed trailer was shown immediately after broadcast. More on this next time.
The 405-line videotapes of The Abominable Snowmen were wiped between July and September 1969. the 16mm film copies were still available for overseas sale in 1974, but had been junked by 1978 - thought to be of no further commercial value.
Countries which had bought the serial included Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Singapore and Zambia, as well as Gibraltar.
The second episode turned up in a private collection in February 1982, when it was returned to the archives. Some 35mm film trims still exist from this episode.
In 1993 some further clips from the fourth instalment turned up in a copy of Late Night Line-Up from November 1967, in a piece about the BBC VFX Department. This comprised a shot of Songsten with the Yeti, and a crash zoom into the face of one of the creatures, standing next to the TARDIS.
A Yeti control sphere was seen in this piece, as well as a Cybermat, as Jack Kine and Bernard Wilkie spoke about their work.
For many years the Yeti were counted amongst the Top 5 Doctor Who monsters. This was mainly due to Target's The Doctor Who Monster Book, which was laid out on the basis of frequency of appearances - Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors then Yeti, Autons and Sontarans (two appearances apiece back then, but the Yeti got there first).
They were unique amongst Doctor Who monsters in that they did not appear scary or monstrous. Instead, young viewers actually found them cuddly and more than a few wanted one for Christmas. This appearance had been a deliberate decision by the writers, who wanted to juxtapose their seemingly cuddly appearance with their ferocity. They would claim to be unhappy at the changes which Douglas Camfield would soon make to them.
Another thing to say about the Yeti is that they are also unique to their environment, and really ought not to have worked in any other setting.
If the Yeti aren't scary, why is the story so popular - sufficiently so to trigger the commissioning of a sequel whilst the first serial was still in production?
Troughton, Frazer Hines and Debbie Watling are at the top of their game, and there is an excellent guest cast. Of note is Jack Watling's Travers, who was also slated to return in the sequel from the outset. Travers is one of the most popular non-villain guest characters in the history of the series, many of whom exhibited some sort of eccentricity (e.g. Miss Hawthorne, Prof Rumford). He and the regulars are ably supported by the likes of Norman Jones as Khrisong, who will be back in a couple of strong roles in the 1970's, and Wolfe Morris - relying almost entirely on his vocal skills to play the gentle Padmasambhava and his Great Intelligence-possessed alter-ego. David Spenser's Thonmi provides both a friend for Victoria, and a youthful ally for Jamie - as well as providing a bridge between the travellers and the warrior monks.
The other thing the story has going for it is the mood and claustrophobic atmosphere, despite a lot of wonderful location filming. The latter makes a big change from the capital and Home Counties.
Compare the surviving episode and the telesnaps with the animated version and you can see how important the atmosphere and mood are here. This story really benefits from being in black & white.
The Abominable Snowmen is a story we would all love to see returned.
- The ratings end on a positive note, with the highest viewing figures for the story and joint highest appreciation index.
- In early December 1967, a viewer wrote into Junior Points of View signing themself "a mad Yeti fan".
- Following their break with the production team over issues with The Dominators, Haisman and Lincoln considered turning this story into a non-Doctor Who novel. The adaptation was the work of Haisman's wife Vina. Titled "The Yeti", in place of the Doctor would be another brilliant scientist named Dr Murray who would be accompanied by his sons John and Paul. Travers became an army Major.
- When no publisher showed interest, Haisman himself tried an adaptation - "The Intelligence" - which he tried to sell to Walt Disney. Instead of the Doctor he opted for Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's temperamental Professor Challenger, this time accompanied by son John and daughter Paula. It was set in 1923 and the monastery remained Detsen. They had a guide named Khedru - the original name for Ralpachan but later used for another warrior monk in the Doctor Who version.
- A Yeti from this story pursued globe-trotting presenter Alan Whicker through Highgate Cemetery in an episode of his Whicker's World TV series. "A Handful Of Horrors: I Don't Like My Monsters To Have Oedipus Complexes" was screened on January 27th, 1968. As well as the appearance by the Yeti, it also features the well-known interview with Terry Nation at his home, surrounded by Daleks, and there are appearances by some of the Havoc stunt team members. The late great Christopher Lee also features. The complete programme was included as an extra on the Special Edition of The Power of the Daleks.
- No poster from Oliver Arkinstall-Jones this time - but he did provide a striking cover for Doctor Who Magazine (issue 581, September 2022):
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