The Abominable Snowmen
Encyclopedia
The Abominable Snowmen is a serial in the British
science fiction television series Doctor Who
, which originally aired in six weekly parts from September 30 to November 4, 1967. The story is notable for the introduction of recurring foes, the Yeti
.
The TARDIS
has materialised on a cold and windy hillside. Inside, the Doctor is delighted at their destination and tells his companions Jamie and Victoria to start searching for what he calls a 'Holy Ghanta'. When Jamie inquires where they are, the Doctor reveals they have landed in Tibet
, and that the Detsen Monastery will "give them a welcome of a lifetime" if they arrive with the Ghanta: a bell and holy Buddhist relic which the Doctor took some three hundred years ago for safe-keeping.
While the Doctor steps outside to investigate (dressed in an extremely furry coat), Jamie and Victoria locate the Ghanta along with an impressive looking sword which Jamie decides to keep. Meanwhile the Doctor is certain he is being watched and elects to travel to the monastery first to prepare the way. En route, he finds the remains of Travers's camp and the dead body. He takes the rucksack with him as evidence.
Victoria quickly gets bored of being stuck in the TARDIS and convinces Jamie to explore. Jamie is convinced that as a highlander he will be unaffected by the harsh chill, but he soon discovers otherwise. They soon discover huge animal footprints that encircle the TARDIS.
The Doctor arrives at the monastery, clutching the remains of Travers's rifle and rucksack, but there is no response when he knocks on the large wooden doors. The inner courtyard is strangely deserted. However, when he turns back to the door, his route is blocked by a group of armed monks. Travers is also present and before the Doctor can explain his presence, he spots his rucksack in the Doctor's hand. Travers is convinced that the Doctor must be responsible for the death of his friend, despite his earlier claims to the monks that a "beast" had done so.
The Doctor loudly protests his innocence to the peaceful monks, but Travers is determined that he is lying. The leading Warrior Monk, a gruff man by the name of Khrisong, states that this matter would be of little consequence had some of their own not also been killed. The Doctor is thrown into a cell to await the monks' decision. Khrisong is not sure of Travers or why the stranger has come to the monastery.
Back on the hillside, Jamie and Victoria have been following the trails of footprints right to the mouth of a deep cave. Jamie at first is not willing to enter it for fear of some savage animal, but he changes his mind when he spots timbers holding up the roof. Victoria spots a huge creature at the cave mouth, and the pair watch in horror as massive claws push a boulder which traps them inside.
The Doctor is increasingly irritated within the confines of his cell and climbs up to a small window in order to peer outside. Travers pops his head through a hatch and mockingly informs him of the hundred foot drop beneath the window. He goes on to accuse the Doctor of being a sabotaging journalist.
When the Doctor asks what Travers is talking about, Travers cries, "You know! The Yeti
! The Abominable Snowmen!"
The Doctor's response is simple enough – he knows from experience that the Yeti are naturally timid, so they aren't the culprits. And he certainly does not have the strength of the beasts himself, for all his fur. Travers simply states that "Khrisong will find out the truth".
Indeed, the Warrior monk is in conference within the courtyard over the fate of this apparent murderer. The other monks doubt whether Travers can be certain of his claims, but Khrisong is less sure. "He is an Englishman. Why should he lie?" The monks respond by saying they were almost certain the Yeti were in some way responsible. Khrisong states that this odd shift in behaviour makes the stranger still more threatening – he therefore requests a chance to prove the Doctor's guilt. The monks recoil in horror: "You are asking us to condemn a man to death." The warrior monk states he only does this to protect the others, his responsibility as Chief Warrior. But the more peaceful monks elect to turn over the whole matter to the Abbot following prayer. Once they have gone, Khrisong ignores their decision and orders for the Doctor to be brought to him.
Back in the darkness of the sealed cave, Jamie has discovered a pyramid of small silver spheres placed on a raised plinth. Before either can ponder their significance, the boulder shifts once more and the lumbering form of a Yeti enters the cave, trapping the pair of terrified travelers. Victoria screams as Jamie tries to defend her from the monster with his sword, only to see it snapped in two by the creature's hands as it lumbers toward them.
Jamie and Victoria evade the Yeti and depart with one of the strange illuminated spheres. They head toward the monastery, where the Doctor is still being detained on Khrisong’s orders. He has, nevertheless, been able to pass on the Ghanta to the friendly monk Thonmi. This novice takes it to the private chamber of Abbot Songsten, who is in communion with the master of the monastery, Padmasambhava. The ancient spiritual guide of the monastery knows the Doctor personally from his previous visit, and though he knows of the Doctor’s wisdom, he fears he will intervene in The Great Plan. Thonmi is told depart, his memory wiped of what he has heard, though left with the instruction of the Abbot that the Doctor should be released without harm.
The Doctor has meanwhile been placed on trial and, as a test of whether he controls the Yeti, is tied to the doors of the monastery as a means to lure the Yeti out. Travers has by now met Jamie and Victoria, who convince him the Doctor is no threat. The trio return to the monastery in time to see the Doctor freed on the Abbot’s instructions. Shortly afterward, the Yeti advance in an abortive attack on the monastery, during which one of them is overpowered and rendered dormant. The Doctor examines the captured creature and deduces it is some kind of robot
, controlled by a missing spherical unit from its chest cavity. Elsewhere in the monastery, the sphere brought back by Jamie comes to life.
Travers has now become worried that the real Yeti are under threat from the robot ones, but some of the others now suspect he is the one controlling the robots. Outside the monastery he observes two of the robots come to life and head for Detsen. It soon appears the creatures are under the control of Padmasambhava
, who is moving miniature Yeti like chess pieces around a map of the area. Inside the monastery the sphere slowly makes its way toward the dormant Yeti robot with the Doctor and monks looking for it, having worked out its purpose. Khrisong finds a sphere outside the walls of Detsen and the others observe the two Yeti retrieving it without harming it, leaving the Doctor to conclude that the two were obeying specific orders. Khrisong is now so overawed by the situation he begins to put his trust in the Doctor, who decides to try and return to the TARDIS with Jamie to get equipment to track the missing sphere. The pulsing globe finally reaches the dormant Yeti and revives it, causing the robot to menace Victoria and her new friend Thonmi.
The awakened Yeti battles its way out of Detsen, killing warrior monks in its wake, and leaving Khrisong angry that Thonmi opened the door to allow it to flee – albeit to avoid further bloodshed. Victoria and Thonmi are imprisoned for supposedly reviving the creature. The freed Yeti takes the sphere to the cave on the mountain, unaware it has been observed by Travers. Songsten himself soon arrives, guarded by Yeti, and bearing a glowing pyramid of spheres. The party deposits the pyramid in the cave and then departs. Travers sneaks into the cave and finds the pyramid pulsing with life, cracking open and oozing a strange cobweb substance. He flees in terror and makes back for the monastery, following the same path taken by Songesten, who is also returning to Detsen. The Abbot soon reports to Padmasambhava their plan is working and the old master replies that the Great Intelligence is thus already taking on corporeal form. To make way for the next phase, Padmasambhava orders, all monks must leave the monastery. This order is relayed throughout Detsen, though Khrisong is furious at such a command and is resistant.
When the Doctor and Jamie reach the TARDIS they find it guarded by another Yeti, but it is inactive and the Doctor takes out its control sphere for examination. He gets a tracking device from the TARDIS but moments later, in response to the pyramid, the sphere comes to life. It is only prevented from re-entering the dormant Yeti when Jamie lodges a rock in the open chest cavity. They too head back to the monastery but the sphere they have allows them to be pinpointed by their enemies and five Yeti are sent to deal with them. They only escape by giving up their sphere. When they return to the monastery the Doctor forges a new uneasy alliance with Khrisong based on the need to enable the monks to stay at the monastery. Realising the monks will not leave peacefully, Songsten opens the gates of the monastery to more Yeti.
Victoria has meanwhile given her jailers the slip and ventured alone to the Inner Sanctum of the monastery where, against all the commands, she witnesses the ancient and wizened face of the Master Padmasambhava.
Victoria soon realises the ancient man manipulating the small Yeti figures is commanding the robots around the countryside. He wipes her mind of their meeting and summons more Yeti to attack. In another part of the monastery Travers has returned from the mountain, but is delirious and incoherent in his ramblings about the glowing pyramid and a great evil that threatens them all. On command the Yeti retreat from the monastery once more, killing a monk named Rinchen before they depart. Even Khrisong now decides the monks must depart. Padmasambhava only wished to scare the monks away, not kill them all, and he sends Victoria as his emissary, speaking with his voice, to urge them to leave and not to blame the strangers, who are innocent of any evil. When the Doctor discovers Padmasambhava is still alive after three hundred years he becomes ever more concerned. He heads to the Inner Sanctum and confronts his old friend there. Padmasambhava explains that he encountered the formless Great Intelligence on the astral plane and the entity borrowed his form in order to conduct an experiment. It is an experiment that is now out of control and the old man seemingly passes away, lamenting his part in the situation. Seconds later the body of Padmasambhava is reanimated by the Great Intelligence, but the Doctor has returned to his friends and does not know this. The Doctor now helps Victoria recover from her trance-like state and then turns to help Travers, who is recovering his senses and explains about the cave and the pyramid. The Doctor pieces together the nature of the threat while Travers recalls that Songsten was in the cave too. It is clear Songsten is the link between the Yeti and the monastery. At the cave, the physical manifestation of the Intelligence is growing ever stronger and pouring forth menacingly.
In the Inner Sanctum Songsten has bowed totally to the will of the Great Intelligence, despite the voice of Padmasambhava lamenting the great evil, and slays Khrisong when the warrior monk arrives there. The Doctor and his friends arrive and overpower Songsten, realising he too has been entranced to commit the will of the Intelligence. Songsten is bound and returned to the other monks and the violence of his manner persuades them that he is indeed the threat to Detsen. The Doctor tells all the monks to flee quickly so that he can defeat the Intelligence, and he keeps Jamie, Victoria and Thonmi at his side while the others flee. He plans to destroy the equipment which the Intelligence is using through Padmasambhava to control the robotic Yeti, no more than minions in its quest for manifestation and domination. They venture to the Inner Sanctum once more where the Doctor distracts the being while Thonmi and Jamie start to destroy the equipment used to relay instructions to the Yeti. Some Yeti still attack the Sanctum, controlled by spheres, and it is not until these are destroyed that the robots become dormant once more. Destroying a further pyramid of spheres expels the Intelligence and, left in peace, the aged Padmasambhava finally dies, finding peace in the Doctor's arms. With the danger over, the travelers depart the ruined monastery. Travers accompanies them up the mountain and his belief in the real Yeti is renewed when he spots one on the moment. He charges off to investigate as the TARDIS departs.
, was published by Target Books
in November 1974. At Barry Letts' request several Buddhist terms used in the screenplay as names were modified for the novelisation. There have been French
, Portuguese
and Turkish
editions. When Target Books began numbering its releases in the late 1970s, it chose to do so alphabetically rather than based upon publication or broadcast order. As a result, the novelisation of The Abominable Snowmen was identified as book number 1. An un-abridged reading of the Target novel was released by BBC audio on CD in February 2009. It is read by David Troughton, the son of Patrick Troughton who played the Doctor in this story.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, which originally aired in six weekly parts from September 30 to November 4, 1967. The story is notable for the introduction of recurring foes, the Yeti
Yeti (Doctor Who)
The Yeti of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, although resembling the cryptozoological creatures also called the Yeti, are in actuality alien robots. Their external appearance, that of a huge hairy biped, disguises a small spherical mechanism that provides its motive power...
.
Plot
Professor Travers, an anthropologist and explorer, is awoken from his sleep when he hears the screams of his companion. He is horrified to see a lumbering, hairy creature standing over his friend's lifeless body. The beast grabs Travers's gun and twists it into scrap metal as the terrified man scampers into the night.The TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
has materialised on a cold and windy hillside. Inside, the Doctor is delighted at their destination and tells his companions Jamie and Victoria to start searching for what he calls a 'Holy Ghanta'. When Jamie inquires where they are, the Doctor reveals they have landed in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, and that the Detsen Monastery will "give them a welcome of a lifetime" if they arrive with the Ghanta: a bell and holy Buddhist relic which the Doctor took some three hundred years ago for safe-keeping.
While the Doctor steps outside to investigate (dressed in an extremely furry coat), Jamie and Victoria locate the Ghanta along with an impressive looking sword which Jamie decides to keep. Meanwhile the Doctor is certain he is being watched and elects to travel to the monastery first to prepare the way. En route, he finds the remains of Travers's camp and the dead body. He takes the rucksack with him as evidence.
Victoria quickly gets bored of being stuck in the TARDIS and convinces Jamie to explore. Jamie is convinced that as a highlander he will be unaffected by the harsh chill, but he soon discovers otherwise. They soon discover huge animal footprints that encircle the TARDIS.
The Doctor arrives at the monastery, clutching the remains of Travers's rifle and rucksack, but there is no response when he knocks on the large wooden doors. The inner courtyard is strangely deserted. However, when he turns back to the door, his route is blocked by a group of armed monks. Travers is also present and before the Doctor can explain his presence, he spots his rucksack in the Doctor's hand. Travers is convinced that the Doctor must be responsible for the death of his friend, despite his earlier claims to the monks that a "beast" had done so.
The Doctor loudly protests his innocence to the peaceful monks, but Travers is determined that he is lying. The leading Warrior Monk, a gruff man by the name of Khrisong, states that this matter would be of little consequence had some of their own not also been killed. The Doctor is thrown into a cell to await the monks' decision. Khrisong is not sure of Travers or why the stranger has come to the monastery.
Back on the hillside, Jamie and Victoria have been following the trails of footprints right to the mouth of a deep cave. Jamie at first is not willing to enter it for fear of some savage animal, but he changes his mind when he spots timbers holding up the roof. Victoria spots a huge creature at the cave mouth, and the pair watch in horror as massive claws push a boulder which traps them inside.
The Doctor is increasingly irritated within the confines of his cell and climbs up to a small window in order to peer outside. Travers pops his head through a hatch and mockingly informs him of the hundred foot drop beneath the window. He goes on to accuse the Doctor of being a sabotaging journalist.
When the Doctor asks what Travers is talking about, Travers cries, "You know! The Yeti
Yeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
! The Abominable Snowmen!"
The Doctor's response is simple enough – he knows from experience that the Yeti are naturally timid, so they aren't the culprits. And he certainly does not have the strength of the beasts himself, for all his fur. Travers simply states that "Khrisong will find out the truth".
Indeed, the Warrior monk is in conference within the courtyard over the fate of this apparent murderer. The other monks doubt whether Travers can be certain of his claims, but Khrisong is less sure. "He is an Englishman. Why should he lie?" The monks respond by saying they were almost certain the Yeti were in some way responsible. Khrisong states that this odd shift in behaviour makes the stranger still more threatening – he therefore requests a chance to prove the Doctor's guilt. The monks recoil in horror: "You are asking us to condemn a man to death." The warrior monk states he only does this to protect the others, his responsibility as Chief Warrior. But the more peaceful monks elect to turn over the whole matter to the Abbot following prayer. Once they have gone, Khrisong ignores their decision and orders for the Doctor to be brought to him.
Back in the darkness of the sealed cave, Jamie has discovered a pyramid of small silver spheres placed on a raised plinth. Before either can ponder their significance, the boulder shifts once more and the lumbering form of a Yeti enters the cave, trapping the pair of terrified travelers. Victoria screams as Jamie tries to defend her from the monster with his sword, only to see it snapped in two by the creature's hands as it lumbers toward them.
Jamie and Victoria evade the Yeti and depart with one of the strange illuminated spheres. They head toward the monastery, where the Doctor is still being detained on Khrisong’s orders. He has, nevertheless, been able to pass on the Ghanta to the friendly monk Thonmi. This novice takes it to the private chamber of Abbot Songsten, who is in communion with the master of the monastery, Padmasambhava. The ancient spiritual guide of the monastery knows the Doctor personally from his previous visit, and though he knows of the Doctor’s wisdom, he fears he will intervene in The Great Plan. Thonmi is told depart, his memory wiped of what he has heard, though left with the instruction of the Abbot that the Doctor should be released without harm.
The Doctor has meanwhile been placed on trial and, as a test of whether he controls the Yeti, is tied to the doors of the monastery as a means to lure the Yeti out. Travers has by now met Jamie and Victoria, who convince him the Doctor is no threat. The trio return to the monastery in time to see the Doctor freed on the Abbot’s instructions. Shortly afterward, the Yeti advance in an abortive attack on the monastery, during which one of them is overpowered and rendered dormant. The Doctor examines the captured creature and deduces it is some kind of robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
, controlled by a missing spherical unit from its chest cavity. Elsewhere in the monastery, the sphere brought back by Jamie comes to life.
Travers has now become worried that the real Yeti are under threat from the robot ones, but some of the others now suspect he is the one controlling the robots. Outside the monastery he observes two of the robots come to life and head for Detsen. It soon appears the creatures are under the control of Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ; Mongolian ловон Бадмажунай, lovon Badmajunai, , Means The Lotus-Born, was a sage guru from Oddiyāna who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century...
, who is moving miniature Yeti like chess pieces around a map of the area. Inside the monastery the sphere slowly makes its way toward the dormant Yeti robot with the Doctor and monks looking for it, having worked out its purpose. Khrisong finds a sphere outside the walls of Detsen and the others observe the two Yeti retrieving it without harming it, leaving the Doctor to conclude that the two were obeying specific orders. Khrisong is now so overawed by the situation he begins to put his trust in the Doctor, who decides to try and return to the TARDIS with Jamie to get equipment to track the missing sphere. The pulsing globe finally reaches the dormant Yeti and revives it, causing the robot to menace Victoria and her new friend Thonmi.
The awakened Yeti battles its way out of Detsen, killing warrior monks in its wake, and leaving Khrisong angry that Thonmi opened the door to allow it to flee – albeit to avoid further bloodshed. Victoria and Thonmi are imprisoned for supposedly reviving the creature. The freed Yeti takes the sphere to the cave on the mountain, unaware it has been observed by Travers. Songsten himself soon arrives, guarded by Yeti, and bearing a glowing pyramid of spheres. The party deposits the pyramid in the cave and then departs. Travers sneaks into the cave and finds the pyramid pulsing with life, cracking open and oozing a strange cobweb substance. He flees in terror and makes back for the monastery, following the same path taken by Songesten, who is also returning to Detsen. The Abbot soon reports to Padmasambhava their plan is working and the old master replies that the Great Intelligence is thus already taking on corporeal form. To make way for the next phase, Padmasambhava orders, all monks must leave the monastery. This order is relayed throughout Detsen, though Khrisong is furious at such a command and is resistant.
When the Doctor and Jamie reach the TARDIS they find it guarded by another Yeti, but it is inactive and the Doctor takes out its control sphere for examination. He gets a tracking device from the TARDIS but moments later, in response to the pyramid, the sphere comes to life. It is only prevented from re-entering the dormant Yeti when Jamie lodges a rock in the open chest cavity. They too head back to the monastery but the sphere they have allows them to be pinpointed by their enemies and five Yeti are sent to deal with them. They only escape by giving up their sphere. When they return to the monastery the Doctor forges a new uneasy alliance with Khrisong based on the need to enable the monks to stay at the monastery. Realising the monks will not leave peacefully, Songsten opens the gates of the monastery to more Yeti.
Victoria has meanwhile given her jailers the slip and ventured alone to the Inner Sanctum of the monastery where, against all the commands, she witnesses the ancient and wizened face of the Master Padmasambhava.
Victoria soon realises the ancient man manipulating the small Yeti figures is commanding the robots around the countryside. He wipes her mind of their meeting and summons more Yeti to attack. In another part of the monastery Travers has returned from the mountain, but is delirious and incoherent in his ramblings about the glowing pyramid and a great evil that threatens them all. On command the Yeti retreat from the monastery once more, killing a monk named Rinchen before they depart. Even Khrisong now decides the monks must depart. Padmasambhava only wished to scare the monks away, not kill them all, and he sends Victoria as his emissary, speaking with his voice, to urge them to leave and not to blame the strangers, who are innocent of any evil. When the Doctor discovers Padmasambhava is still alive after three hundred years he becomes ever more concerned. He heads to the Inner Sanctum and confronts his old friend there. Padmasambhava explains that he encountered the formless Great Intelligence on the astral plane and the entity borrowed his form in order to conduct an experiment. It is an experiment that is now out of control and the old man seemingly passes away, lamenting his part in the situation. Seconds later the body of Padmasambhava is reanimated by the Great Intelligence, but the Doctor has returned to his friends and does not know this. The Doctor now helps Victoria recover from her trance-like state and then turns to help Travers, who is recovering his senses and explains about the cave and the pyramid. The Doctor pieces together the nature of the threat while Travers recalls that Songsten was in the cave too. It is clear Songsten is the link between the Yeti and the monastery. At the cave, the physical manifestation of the Intelligence is growing ever stronger and pouring forth menacingly.
In the Inner Sanctum Songsten has bowed totally to the will of the Great Intelligence, despite the voice of Padmasambhava lamenting the great evil, and slays Khrisong when the warrior monk arrives there. The Doctor and his friends arrive and overpower Songsten, realising he too has been entranced to commit the will of the Intelligence. Songsten is bound and returned to the other monks and the violence of his manner persuades them that he is indeed the threat to Detsen. The Doctor tells all the monks to flee quickly so that he can defeat the Intelligence, and he keeps Jamie, Victoria and Thonmi at his side while the others flee. He plans to destroy the equipment which the Intelligence is using through Padmasambhava to control the robotic Yeti, no more than minions in its quest for manifestation and domination. They venture to the Inner Sanctum once more where the Doctor distracts the being while Thonmi and Jamie start to destroy the equipment used to relay instructions to the Yeti. Some Yeti still attack the Sanctum, controlled by spheres, and it is not until these are destroyed that the robots become dormant once more. Destroying a further pyramid of spheres expels the Intelligence and, left in peace, the aged Padmasambhava finally dies, finding peace in the Doctor's arms. With the danger over, the travelers depart the ruined monastery. Travers accompanies them up the mountain and his belief in the real Yeti is renewed when he spots one on the moment. He charges off to investigate as the TARDIS departs.
Continuity
- For dating see the Chronology.
- The Great Intelligence, the Yeti, and Professor Travers return in The Web of Fear and the spin-off video DowntimeDowntime (Doctor Who)Downtime is a direct-to-video spin-off of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was released direct-to-video and produced by the independent production company Reeltime Pictures...
. Travers is also referenced by name in the 1968 serial The InvasionThe Invasion (Doctor Who)The Invasion is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in eight weekly parts from 2 November to 21 December 1968...
. According to the DVD release, the latter serial was intended to include the character, yet due to the unavailability of actor Jack Watling, a new character, Professor Watkins, was created instead. - Anne Travers also reappears in The Web of Fear and the Virgin Missing AdventuresVirgin Missing AdventuresThe Virgin Missing Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the programme. The novels were published from 1994 to 1997, and...
novel Millennial RitesMillennial RitesMillennial Rites is an original novel written by Craig Hinton and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, which also features the Great Intelligence. - According to the radio drama Golden AgeGolden Age (Torchwood)"Golden Age" is an original BBC Radio 4 audio play written by James Goss and is a spin-off from the British science fiction television series Torchwood, itself a spin-off from Doctor Who. This episode aired on the 2 July 2009 on BBC Radio 4...
, Torchwood IndiaTorchwood InstituteThe Torchwood Institute is a fictional secret organization from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood. It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria after the events of "Tooth and Claw". Its prime directive, is to defend the earth against...
collected the Yeti spheres. - The Abominable Snowmen proved to be very popular with viewers, which pleased the producers enough that they brought the monsters back very quickly in The Web of FearThe Web of FearThe Web of Fear is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 February to 9 March 1968. This serial — which marks the return of the Yeti, the Great Intelligence, and Professor Travers — is the sequel to The Abominable...
, and intending a third story in the next season until falling out with the production over The DominatorsThe DominatorsThe Dominators is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in five weekly parts from 10 August to 7 September 1968.-Plot:...
. This was partly an effort to provide a new 'signature enemy' for the series to replace the Daleks. At the time of production, Dalek creator Terry NationTerry NationTerry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...
was trying to create an American television show based around the Daleks, and as a result refused to grant the show permission to use the Daleks during this period. The Yeti would appear once more in The Five DoctorsThe Five DoctorsThe Five Doctors is a special feature-length episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, produced in celebration of the programme's twentieth anniversary. It had its world premiere in the United States, on the Chicago PBS station WTTW and various other PBS member stations...
.
Production
- All episodes except for the second one are missing.
- The North WalesNorth WalesNorth Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
mountain pass at Nant Ffrancon doubled as TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
for the filming of this serial.
Cast notes
- The character of Professor Travers is played by Jack Watling, the father of actress Deborah Watling, who plays Victoria.
- Norman Jones later played Major Baker in Doctor Who and the SiluriansDoctor Who and the SiluriansDoctor Who and the Silurians is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts from January 31 to March 14, 1970. The story is the first appearance of a recurring family of Earth-dwelling reptiles...
and Hieronymous in The Masque of MandragoraThe Masque of MandragoraThe Masque of Mandragora is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 4 September to 25 September 1976. It opened Season 14 of the series.-Synopsis:...
. - Rapalchan is played by David Baron, often said to be the playwright Harold PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
under a stage name. Pinter has since denied this rumour. David Baron was indeed Pinter's name for the purposes of EquityBritish Actors' Equity AssociationEquity is the trade union for actors, stage managers and models in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1930 by a group of West End performers....
, the British actors' union, but he had relinquished it by the time this serial was produced.
In print
A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance DicksTerrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks is an English writer, best known for his work in television and for writing a large number of popular children's books during the 1970s and 80s.- Early career :...
, was published by Target Books
Target Books
Target Books was a British publishing imprint, established in 1973 by Universal-Tandem Publishing Co Ltd, a paperback publishing company. The imprint was established as a children's imprint to complement the adult Tandem imprint, and became well known for their highly successful range of...
in November 1974. At Barry Letts' request several Buddhist terms used in the screenplay as names were modified for the novelisation. There have been French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
editions. When Target Books began numbering its releases in the late 1970s, it chose to do so alphabetically rather than based upon publication or broadcast order. As a result, the novelisation of The Abominable Snowmen was identified as book number 1. An un-abridged reading of the Target novel was released by BBC audio on CD in February 2009. It is read by David Troughton, the son of Patrick Troughton who played the Doctor in this story.
VHS, DVD and CD releases
- In 1991, Episode 2 was released on VHS as part of "The Troughton Years".
- In 2004, that episode, along with a handful of clips gathered from other sources, were digitally restored and released on the Lost in Time: Collection of Rare Episodes DVD.
- All known copies of Episode 2, including audio recordings made by fans during the original broadcast in 1967, contain a brief audio dropout late in the episode. The Doctor is examining a captured Yeti and is supposed to say "You were right about one thing Victoria — this creature certainly doesn't seem to be flesh and blood!" In what appears to have been a fault with the master videotape recording, the sound cuts in with "...toria..." The original VHS release of the episode saw the soundtrack manipulated to cover the dropout (and avoid customer complaints that the tape was faulty), whilst maintaining the running time of the episode. The DVD release contains a "patchwork repair" of the fault, performed by Mark Ayres of the Doctor Who Restoration TeamDoctor Who Restoration TeamThe Doctor Who Restoration Team is a loose collection of Doctor Who fans, many within the television industry, who restore Doctor Who episodes for release on DVD....
, using the appropriate words spoken by Troughton with the correct vocal inflections, taken from other Second Doctor episodes. - The audio soundtrack, along with additional linking narration by Frazer Hines, has been released on MP3 CD, along with The Web of Fear. A collection box entitled "Yeti Attack" contains both Yeti adventures on normal CD
External links
- Photonovel of The Abominable Snowmen on the BBC website
- Doctor Who Locations - The Abominable Snowmen