Patrick Troughton's second season as the Doctor was most definitely “The Monster Season”. Within this season he met the Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Weed Creature, The Human Monster Ramon Salamander and of course he had a double dose of run ins with the classic Yeti. Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln wrote both stories that featured the Yeti. And both are rightfully remembered as being classic stories from the show.
The Abominable Snowmen was in many ways quite a straightforward story. The basic thrust of the story is the alien Great Intelligence has taken over the mind of the ruler of a Tibetan Monastery, giving him an impossibly long life and the chance to formulate a plan to take over the planet earth with the aid of its robot Yeti servants.
The design of the Yeti immediately catches the eye. A brilliant design indeed. Several scenes of this story show off the formidable presence the Yeti have on screen. They are a brilliant menace and rightfully deserve the mantle of one of the most successful creature designs on the show ever, in my own opinion.
Of course, the Himalayas was a bit of a stretch for the budget of the production team of the time and so the far less grand scenic area of Welsh mountains double for the Himalayas. Despite the fact that there is no real comparison of scenery between these two locations, somehow one does still get the feeling that this story is right in the midst of the Himalayans and within a somewhat claustrophobic area of land, despite the open space! The corridors of Det Sen Monastery too are very pleasingly authentic looking and really convince as to being a place of peace and sanctuary for monks.
And what to say of the actors who appear in this story? Well, for one, the first appearance of Deborah Watling's Father, Jack, is totally inspired. He was an awesome character and deserves to join the pantheon of those characters who steal the story they are in. Both times Jack lights up the screen, and here in his younger version of Professor Travers he is brusque and unpleasant to begin with, but when he realises his error in accusing the Doctor of the murder of his friend, he becomes far more reasonable and likeable. He is definitely one of the strongest elements of the story and his character is never less than one hundred percent convincing.
Norman Jones as Khrisong also is superbly performed. He gives the character all the right nuances to make him totally believable as a man dedicated to the protection of his holy sanctuary and outpost. He is richly styled, but one expects no less from the likes of Norman Jones who was a superb actor for many many years. His death was and still is a sad loss to the acting world.
Wolfe Morris as Padmasambhava is also wonderfully cast. The chilling effect of the control of the intelligence that seems to ebb and flow throughout the story is deeply unsettling and creepy. The way he can speak one sentence softly and then suddenly burst out into a hissing bite of anger is palpably scary and menacing in the extreme. Also, his death scene I do believe had to be cut down for transmission because his decomposing was thought to have been far too horrific for tea time TV. But even so his death is still a very disturbing but also touching scene, as he is so relieved before his death to have reconnected with his old friend the Doctor and be free of the malign intelligence at last. It gives the story a superb ending that rounds off a very very strong and atmospheric adventure indeed.
David Spenser as Thonmi too is another superb performer. He portrays the slightly naive man with such aplomb that is impossible not to love his character. He is absolutely great in his scenes where he speaks of the history of the monastery with the captive Doctor.
This is one story that has several brilliant scenes throughout, and the story has one brilliantly humorous scene of the Doctor and Jamie confronting a Yeti outside the TARDIS and Jamie asking the Doctor if he has a plan to distract the Yeti. To which the Doctor highly amusingly replies “Bung a rock at it!” One of the countless joyous scenes of humour that just give a tiny bit of relief to the harder and more deadly aspects of the story along the way.
Scenes of the control units moving outside their robot yeti frames with the eerie beeping sound that accompanies them are also of great menace and definitely leave one unsettled and on the edge of their seat!
It is little wonder that the Abominable
Snowmen is called a classic. Mind you I believe every single one of the Second
Doctor's stories oozed charm and brilliance and were all highly worthy in their
own unique ways. Yes, in many ways this may well be one of the stalwarts “Base
under siege” that the series made several times. But for me there was never one
single boring story of this type ever in the show. And, in fact, The Abominable
Snowmen has stood the test of time as one of the highlights of the Patrick
Troughton era. It is just such a crushing shame that this story is almost
completely lost except for one solitary episode. This is just so sad and
devastating as we are now mostly bereft of one of the very best and most
atmospheric stories the show ever produced.
