It is not lost on me that somehow coincidentally I am racing to the cataclysmic end of the Third Doctor era perfectly in tandem with Hurricane Irma bearing down on me. I watched the first third today, I'll watch the middle third tomorrow, and then the storm hits tomorrow evening. Will I witness the Third Doctor's regeneration on Monday as scheduled? Or will my world be destroyed just as the entire Universe is about to be destroyed onscreen? Time will tell. (Don't worry, I am as safe as I can be. I will probably lose power, the only question is for how long.)

So let's talk about evil intergalactic sentient spiders.

Planet of the Spiders - Parts 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The first part brings back poor Mike Yates, the disgraced former UNIT captain, who is trying to put his life back together. True to form, he picks the worst possible way to do it and winds up suspicious of some sinister goings-on in a Buddhist meditation center. He ropes Sarah Jane Smith into helping him investigate, and they quickly discover a group of bad guys who are somehow using meditation and metaphysics to open up some kind of dimensional portal through which a sentient talking spider arrives at the climax. Meanwhile, the Doctor is investigating a stage performer who pretends to be a fake but who actually has some kind of Extra Sensory Perception powers. Tragically, it is the combination of that investigation, plus the return of the blue Metabilis III crystal from The Green Death, which not only results in the clairvoyant's death but which also helps open the doorway through which the evil spider enters.

Most of the second part is an absolutely wonderful chase sequence that was clearly inspired by the James Bond movies. At one point or another it involves the Whomobile, Bessie, a gyro-copter, a police car, a speedboat, and a hover boat. It is absolutely glorious, and worth every single moment of its running time. The chase begins when the main bad guy, who is now under the guidance of the evil spider that has attached itself to his back and made itself invisible, steals the Metabilis crystal and the Doctor gives chase. At the end of the episode, just as the Doctor catches up, the bad guy disappears as the spider somehow teleports him away.

Thus far this is truly a story worth of being a Doctor's swan song. So far there has only been the one spider, but I gather there are many more on the way. I am very much looking forward to tomorrow's viewing. And I am going to be very disappointed if I am not able to finish on Monday because of some stupid catastrophic hurricane.

But seriously, to everyone else out there in Florida, keep safe and stay dry. I'll see you on the other side of this thing.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Third
Companion(s): Sarah Jane Smith, Brigadier Lethrbridge-Stewart
Episode(s): Planet of the Spiders - Parts 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 7,119 today, 1,288,554 total
Distance Walked: 3.75 miles today, 637.27 miles total
Weight: 259.72 lbs (five day moving average), net change -46.92 lbs