The Abominable Snowmen Episode Six

The one where Victoria learns the Jewel of the Lotus prayer...

I keep harping on about it, but Wolfe Morris really is the best thing about this story. The way he spits "Song-sten" gives me the willies, and the scene where Padmasambhava laughs maniacally at the death of Khrisong is truly creepy. His laugh sounds like a croak, a creaking gate, but is filled with malevolence. Wolfe Morris deserves much more praise for his performance in this story than he ever gets, especially as his connection to the Yeti myth goes back years. He played the character of Nima Kusang in the BBC Sunday Night Theatre play The Creature in 1954, and reprised the role when Nigel Kneale's script was remade by Hammer for the big screen as 1957's The Abominable Snowman (starring movie Dr Who Peter Cushing). His casting in Doctor Who was no coincidence.

Morris gets over Padmasambhava's internal conflict so well. His voice wavers and falters as the Great Intelligence tries to subsume his right-thinking self (the bit where he says: "You will no-o-o-o-o-o-w..." and just tails off as he loses control is heartbreaking and chilling).

The Abominable Snowmen Episode Five

The one where Victoria gets hypnotised twice...

Things are finally starting to warm up in this episode as we amble towards the finale. It's a pedestrian serial, but that's no bad thing in my eyes. I like it when a story takes its time to unravel the mystery and peel away the layers, but sadly with The Abominable Snowmen, there aren't really very many layers to peel. We're aware of a threat from an unseen alien force as early as episode 2, but here we are, three episodes later, and we're yet to actually see the thing.

It's a contemplative serial, but sadly doesn't take an awful lot of time to flesh out the characters. A story leading on atmosphere rather than incident would ordinarily place the characters to the fore, but the monks are all pretty interchangeable, except perhaps for the fanatical Khrisong, while Professor Travers gets next to no development after episode 1. Jack Watling was a fine and respected actor, so it's a shame he wasn't given more to do. Nevertheless, he is very good with what he's given, and the scene where he tries to remember what he saw on the mountain is spooky, especially when he describes it as "like a shadow on my mind".

The Abominable Snowmen Episode Four

The one where the monks begin to turn on each other...

This is a Yeti-heavy episode, and also boasts oodles of gorgeous location footage (I know we can't see it, but the telesnaps show it's a pretty extravagant amount). What bugs me about these Yeti is they don't make a sound. They don't roar or growl as they do in later appearances, they move about silently, which reduces their scare factor considerably for me. Coupled with their cutesy appearance and their wobbling gait, it's perhaps just as well we can't see how silly they probably looked.

I just find it hard to believe that the Yeti are something to be afraid of. They're big, but that's about it. Apart from the opening seconds of episode 1, we've not seen them kill anybody, although we've been told they've killed several monks (quite why, I'm not sure). Everybody seems afraid of their size and their reputation, with little real evidence. When the Doctor and Jamie approach the dormant Yeti outside the TARDIS, this reduces their threat even further.

The Abominable Snowmen Episode Three

The one where the Yeti come to get their ball back...

While there's not been an awful lot going on in the first two episodes of this story, at least it's been a slow-burning mystery laced with intrigue and moments of incident. It's not the most complex or exciting storyline, but it's been suitably entertaining and giving just about enough to keep the viewer interested.

However, episode 3 really does dip, with very little actually happening between beginning and end to move the plot on. Just about the only thing we learn is that the big bad is some non-corporeal alien thing called the Great Intelligence which is hoping to focus on Earth, grow and take physical form. This is all shared with the viewer via Wolfe Morris's fabulously sinister vocal delivery, swinging from peaceful and gentle to aggressive and rasping at the drop of a (Himalayan) hat. Without Morris's intensely creepy performance, Padmasambhava's threat would be void (the bit where Padmasambhava moans "Ohhhhhhh...", half in exhaustion, half in ecstasy, is very eerie). He's also got a really cool game board of the Himalayas and some beautiful carved Yeti pieces. Want.

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.

The Abominable Snowmen Episode One

The one where the Doctor doesn't get the welcome of a lifetime that he expects...

This episode surely has to have one of the quickest deaths in Doctor Who history? The titles have barely faded away before we witness the violent death of a man called John at the hands (or claws) of a mysterious creature. The actor playing John isn't credited (it was Reg Whitehead), but it has to qualify among the fastest demises in the show's long history! It certainly sets the scene well, before we enter more familiar territory by joining the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria aboard the TARDIS.

The dynamic between Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines and Deborah Watling is notable by its fluidity. They seem very happy in one another's company and at ease with the repartee between the three characters. There's a noticeable spark between the trio which helps to create a familiar, "family" feel to the show. Brother, sister and crazy old uncle.