The Abominable Snowmen This story is not known to exist in its original format (6 black-and-white 25-minute TV episodes) in its entirety. See below for episodes available on DVD / video CD Audio - 2 discs

(Doctor Who Story No. 38, starring Patrick Troughton) written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln directed by Gerald Blake produced by Innes Lloyd featuring library monk chants 6 episodes @ 25 minutes each Story: The Doctor has a holy relic to return to the Detsen Monastery in the Himalayan mountains of Tibet, but the monks are suspicious. Mysterious attacks have become more frequent, and the European Professor Travers suspects the Doctor of sabotaging his expedition to find the elusive Yeti: the Abominable Snowmen. Have the Yeti shed their timid reputation? Is the monk leadership unwittingly playing into the attackers' hands? And what kind of creature have Jamie and Victoria run into in a mysterious mountainside cave?

More monsters, more monsters..... The Doctor Who production team came up with another set of winners in the Yeti, and many of the best moments of this story involve the Doctor and friends discovering exactly how they work, and how they fit into the sinister plot of the story.

While the script treats the TARDIS fairly and introduces the series' characters and concepts adequately, the police box does not seem to get fair treatment coming or going, visually or audibly, landing with the sound still in the wrong direction and at half-speed for no apparently good reason. Thankfully, the TARDIS is not ignored during the rest of the story....

The plot elements are firmly based on a strong formula, but they get stretched a little too thinly for a six-parter, which results in a pace much slower than the ideal. Although we still get a good interesting story, most season five tales can out-strip "The Abominable Snowmen" in this area.

There is a near total absence of any music in the story, apart from some recordings of Tibetan Monk chants (officially termed source music instead of incidental music) or one of Brian Hodgson's more prominent creations (officially termed sound effects even though it makes the atmospheric contribution that incidental music should). Many other scenes are begging for a little music to audibly magnify the suspense expertly conveyed in the visuals, but are left bone bare, like unfinished pieces of footage.

Add up the slow pace, the stretched-thin plot, the lack of musical atmosphere, and the hypnotic qualities of the Padmasambhava's voice and the voices of his dutiful monk followers, and the effect is truly hypnotic and sleep-inducing. Lullaby time! At least the Yeti are capable of waking one up with a bit of crash and bang now and then, and the story is full of many interesting elements. Appreciation of this story requires more effort on the viewer's part to take and maintain an active interest in the goings on, but those who do this will largely have their efforts rewarded with a satisfactory tale.

It takes some considerable time before Professor Travers becomes a character that serves the story well. Despite having a chance to work with his daughter Deborah, Jack Watling's performance does not appear to be altogether inspired in this story. It does improve as the story progresses and Watling becomes more familiar with his character.

Victoria gets to do some of her very best in this story, as she has many scenes of dealing with the Monks all on her own, proving she has as much initiative, ingenuity, and knack for getting in and out of trouble as any good Doctor Who companion. The Doctor and Jamie fit their hero and sidekick roles in their usual exemplary fashion, adding a bit of humour to the works. A typical outing for the pair of them.

In the monk world, Khrisong is about the only one who stands out. Although the character's antagonism is motivated a little too thinly, Norman Jones turns in an excellent portrayal, doing what he can to keep the drama fresh.

"The Abominable Snowmen" is good but slow, rating at about the same level as last year's "The Moonbase" (story no. 33). Like the Cybermen, the Yeti have proven good enough for a return.....

Doctor Who: Lost in Time - Patrick Troughton 2 DVD discs (also included in Lost in Time Boxed Sets)

Coverage on The Abominable Snowmen includes:

• Episode 2
  • (with optional commentary by actress Deborah Watling (Victoria Waterfield), and moderator Gary Russell)
• Yeti clips from episode 4 (silent, 11 sec.)
• behind-the-scenes location footage (colour, no sound, 3 min.)

Audio CD - Doctor Who - The Abominable Snowmen.

Doctor Who: The Troughton Years introduced by Jon Pertwee 1 VHS video tape

• One complete episode:
  • Episode 2

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