THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN

This page looks back to the Patrick Troughton story, "The Abominable Snowmen", which was the second story in Season Five.

A Yeti roams the mountains. Original photo © BBC

The Story The TARDIS lands in the Himalayas in 1930. The Doctor is overjoyed because they are near the monastery of Detsen, that he visited many years ago, and he can now return their holy bell which was entrusted to him for safety. But all is not well in the mountains. On arrival at the monastery, the Doctor is accused by an English explorer, Travers, of being responsible for his friend's death the previous night, and the Doctor is thrown into a cell. Meanwhile, Jamie and Victoria have left the safety of the TARDIS to explore and have encountered a large, hairy creature which tries to attack them. Capturing one of the beasts, the Doctor discovers that it is not an animal, but a robot. But, who is controlling the robots? The monastery's mysterious abbot, Padmasambhava holds the answer. The Doctor must do battle with the Great Intelligence that threatens Earth.

The Doctor tries to tell Thonmi about the Gantar. Original photo © BBC

The Production Sadly only one episode of this story (episode 2) survives at the BBC and it is difficult for any fans who did not see it in 1967 to appreciate how good it was. Much of the story was shot on location, with North Wales doubling as the Himalayas, and with a largely Welsh cast. The setting is unusual and realised well. Although a six-part story, it doesn't drag at all and the suspense remains until the end. One of the classic Doctor Who stories.

Victoria spots a Yeti. Original photo © BBC

Availability Episode Two was released on the BBC Video "The Troughton Years" (BBCV 4609) in 1991. More recently, the story was released on BBC Audio CD in July 2001.