The Abominable Snowmen Episode Two

The one where the Yeti turns out not to be a Yeti at all...

Awwwww, the Yeti actually look really sweet! It's a shame that, now I can see them, the monsters in this serial have lost all their threat, because they just look like giant teddy bears. They might have quite nasty looking claws, but the costumes themselves (while an impressive achievement) fail in trying to make them seem a formidable creature. They don't even make any growling or roaring sounds (as they would in The Web of Fear). Their cuddly appearance, coupled with the rather endearing way they lumber and wobble across the landscape in pursuit of Jamie and Victoria, make them one of the least successful monsters of the Troughton era. I just want to take one home for those cold winter nights when the central heating isn't quite cutting it!

We begin to learn that this is not the first time the Doctor has visited the Detsen monastery (and by the way, Detsen is probably named after Trisong Detsen, one of the three Dharma Kings who established Buddhism in Tibet, along with Songtsen Gampo and Ralpacan - also names with equivalents in this serial). He has visited before, in 1630, when the monastery's holy ghanta went missing. That'll be the Tibetan bell which the Doctor's got in his bag then! It's nice to have a Doctor Who story that is a sequel of sorts to an unseen adventure, and it's doubly satisfying to know that this story will have its own sequel too.

Khrisong, leader of the monastery's warrior monks, is up to his blood-thirsty tricks again, wanting to tie the Doctor up outside to see whether the Yeti come and rescue him, proving he is their ally. This idea is as nonsensical and unjust as dunking witches was in 16th and 17th century England, essentially meaning that if the victim is innocent, they'll die anyway. Luckily, situations combine to lead to the Doctor's last minute reprieve, and at last he can get on with investigating the Yeti menace unhindered.

There's some gorgeous camerawork by director Gerald Blake in the scenes in Padmasambhava's chamber. The flickering torches seem all that illuminate this inner sanctum, and when Thonmi rises to leave the room, the camera gently follows him, keeping him in frame as he exits the doors, turns and closes them, all in one fluid camera move. Much praise to Blake and lighting director Howard King for giving the episode this quality sheen. The location scenes are impressive too, shot with scale and spectacle in mind, but with plenty of dialogue too, when the companions meet Travers (and doesn't Deborah Watling look pleased as punch to be working with her father?).

Talking of Padmasambhava (that's easier for me to type than for you to say!), Wolfe Morris turns in a truly spine-tingling performance with his voice alone. Jumping from the gentle lilt of the High Lama, to the aggressive rasping of the possessed ("The Dok-torrr!"), the vocal juxtaposition makes for a quite disconcerting and effective "baddie" (the way Morris pronounces "prrrrepa-rrrrations" is truly creepy). We can't see him (yet) but we know that whatever this chap looks like, it's not going to be altogether human. I mean, he hides behind a muslin drape so he's not going to turn out to be Brad Pitt, is he? I love Blake's directorial flourish with the drape too, giving us Padmasambhava's slightly smeary point of view of Songtsen, then pulling back through the muslin to where the High Lama is sitting. So clever.

The introduction of the two-tone Padmasambhava raises a few intriguing questions to keep us interested, such as what the Great Plan is, and why the gentle High Lama recognises the Doctor as a friend who must be sent away in safety, while the raspy version is perfectly happy to dispose of him if he doesn't go.

The biggest revelation of the episode is after they've captured a teddy bear - sorry, Yeti - and discover that it's actually made of metal beneath the fur. It's a robot! And there seems to be a hole in the robot where a globe shaped object should be... the silver orbs Jamie and Victoria found in the cave.

The cliffhanger sees the silver globes from the deactivated Yeti and the cave begin to move on their own, seemingly signalling to one another and coming together. It's not the most thrilling of cliffhangers, but it's certainly different.

First broadcast: October 7th, 1967

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Wolfe Morris's vocal performance as Padmasambhava is really creepy.
The Bad: The cuddly Yeti. All threat they ever have is diluted by their sheer furryness.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

NEXT TIME: Episode Three...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Three; Episode Four; Episode Five; Episode Six

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/the-abominable-snowmen.html

The Abominable Snowmen soundtrack is available on BBC CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Abominable-Snowmen-Collection/dp/056347856X.