‘THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Yeti with the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria

For Deborah Watling

This is the first ‘Doctor Who’ story to feature the Yeti! 🙂

‘The Abominable Snowmen’ is a six-part adventure from the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. Sadly, the story is mostly missing from the BBC Archives. For a while, it was one of the ‘lost’ classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV adventures that was available as a BBC audio soundtrack for everyone to listen to and enjoy.

I enjoyed ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ as a BBC audio soundtrack on CD with linking narration by Frazer Hines, who plays Jamie McCrimmon in the story. On audio, Frazer has an engaging voice to listen to, especially when he provided the linking narration throughout ‘The Abominable Snowmen’.

The CD sleeve notes for ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ also helped with visualising where certain scenes were to take place. One episode of ‘The Abominable Snowman’ has survived and exists in the BBC Archives. This is of course ‘Episode Two’, which was available to see in the ‘Lost in Time’ DVD. 🙂

There is also a couple of clips of surviving footage of the Yeti from ‘Episode Four’ as well as some 88mm location filming that was taken during the making of the story. Lately, ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ can be enjoyed in its entirety with animated episodes for DVD and Blu-ray, which was released in September 2022.

This six-part adventure is by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln. It was their first contribution to the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. I enjoyed their take on the mythical Yeti, the abominable snowmen, that live in the Himalayas in Tibet. The Yeti soon became quite popular monsters in the ‘Doctor Who’ series. 🙂

In the story, the TARDIS arrives on Earth in the 1930s. The Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria see that they’re in the Himalayas in Tibet and they end up visiting the Det-Sen monastery. The Doctor hopes to return a special bell called the Holy Gantha to the monks residing at the Det-Sen monastery. 🙂

However, not all is well at the monastery, since the monks are under the constant attack of the Yeti, who turn out to be robots. The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria are aided by Professor Travers and certain monks at the monastery, as they uncover what the mystery is and what’s really controlling the Yeti.

Nowadays, I prefer watching this story with the animated versions of ‘Episodes One, Three, Four, Five and Six’ and the surviving ‘Episode Two’. I enjoy watching the story in black-and-white as opposed to colour on the Blu-ray copy that I pre-ordered via Amazon on the 23rd of November 2021.

I don’t quite understand the need to animate ‘Episode Two’ when it comes to animating ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ on DVD and Blu-ray, since it’s more animation work that’s unnecessary. Also, the animation version of ‘Episode Two’ clearly doesn’t match to what’s in the transmitted episode. 😐

Also, a black-and-white version of ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ is more authentic than a colour version, since black-and-white was how the story was initially presented back in 1967. Maybe as a fun special feature it makes sense, but when taking the story in a serious light and context, not so. 😐

I know I’ve mentioned this in other reviews I’ve done on animated versions of classic black-and-white ‘Doctor Who’ stories from the 1960s like ‘Galaxy 4’, ‘The Macra Terror’, ‘Fury From The Deep’ etc, but I reiterate the issue since straight-forward animations of the missing episodes is all I require.

As for the animation itself in ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, it’s decent enough. It’s a lot better than the animation for the missing ‘Episode Three’ in ‘The Web of Fear’ Special Edition DVD/Blu-ray. It’s also very funny when the animations for that episode and ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ don’t match.

This is especially considering the two stories are Yeti stories. The animation for the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria is well-done and whilst I question certain animation scenes, e.g. the Doctor hypnotising Victoria and we see what she’s made to remember in ‘Episode Five’, it’s quite enjoyable.

Mind you, I wonder whether the animators were taking several creative liberties concerning the design of some of the characters featured in the story. This includes Thonmi’s hairstyle, which is different in the surviving ‘Episode Two’, since he has more hair in live-action compared animation. 😐

There are also the two monks Sapan and Rinchen. I know these are two minor characters, but I’m sure they’re different in the surviving ‘Episode Two’ compared to the animation episodes. I’m pretty sure one of them didn’t have a white flowing beard in the surviving ‘Episode Two’ than in animation.

One of the things I’ve admired in the two animation episodes for ‘The Invasion’ is that the animators at least tried to match what was in the surviving material for that story. Nowadays, concerning animation versions of 1960s ‘Doctor Who’ stories, I feel that the animation is lazily-handled at times.

I know that sounds harsh and it’s a minor issue considering the majority of the animation in ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ does its job in terms of matching to the TV soundtrack. But I hate to think the animators didn’t try to match to what was available in the surviving material and the still photos.

Anyway, let’s talk about the surviving ‘Episode Two’. I found it very easy to watch, especially since it contains some iconic Yeti moments. It gets quite tense when the Doctor is about to be sacrificed by Khrisong and his monks whilst Jamie and Victoria are journeying on foot to the Det-Sen monastery. 🙂

This is before they meet Professor Travers, who initially assumed the Doctor killed his friend before he realises that he, Jamie and Victoria aren’t looking for the same thing as he is – the Yeti. It’s also interesting how ‘Episode Two’ concluded with one of the Yeti’s control units missing from its body. 😐

The first time I ever saw a Yeti in ‘Doctor Who’ was when one briefly appeared in ‘The Five Doctors’. I’m surprised the Yeti have only appeared twice in ‘Doctor Who’ and it was only during Patrick Troughton’s time as the Doctor. It’s also intriguing when the twist is that the Yeti are actually robots.

The Yeti are controlled by the Great Intelligence, that attempt to take control of the Earth and are using the monastery as their base of operations. This would be the first of many encounters with the Great Intelligence, not just in ‘The Web of Fear’, but also in a couple of the new series TV episodes. 🙂

This includes ‘The Snowmen’ and ‘The Name of the Doctor’ with Matt Smith. In this story, the Yeti appear rather cuddly-looking and they look like overgrown fur coats. The Yeti would become more frightening in later stories, especially in ‘The Web of Fear’ as well as in a production like ‘Downtime’.

The concept of the Yeti is interesting, in that they’re robots under the Great Intelligence’s control. On the outside, they look cute and cuddly. But on the inside, they’re dangerous and they probably will kill you. I wonder how the actors playing the Yetis coped when filming on location and in studio.

The actors playing the Yetis include Reg Whitehead, Tony Harwood, Richard Kerley and John Hogan. I’m sure they must have felt warm and comfortable when playing the Yeti out in the freezing cold in Snowdonia in Northwest Wales, compared to the other actors that aren’t wearing the Yeti costumes. 😀

Patrick Troughton excels as the Second Doctor in this story. I liked the fur coat he wore, making him look like a Yeti and the moments he has when playing his recorder in his monastery prison cell. I was anxious for the Doctor when he was accused of murder and about to be sacrificed out in the open. 😐

I also liked it when the Doctor worked things out in the monastery, and he was getting the respect he needed from the monks and Professor Travers. I liked his scenes with Thomni, who he manages to win his trust with. I like how exasperated he gets whenever Khrisong refuses to heed his advice. 🙂

Frazer Hines is also superb as Jamie. Jamie tries to be strong and heroic, despite feeling cold in the Himalayan Mountains. He has a sword from the TARDIS, which sadly gets broken in half by a Yeti. I liked his moments of concern for Victoria, since he’s clearly in love with her during their adventures.

I also liked the moment where Jamie persuaded Professor Travers to take him and Victoria to the monastery after being threatened to take him to where the Yetis are. I also enjoyed it when Jamie called a Yeti a ‘hairy beastie’ and it was hillarious when he mispronounced Padmasambhava’s name.

Deborah Watling as Victoria is lovely. I enjoyed the scenes she has with Jamie, especially when out on the Himalayan Mountains and when being chased by Yeti. I became anxious for Victoria when she was in a trance by the Great Intelligence. I also found her quite cheeky when she went off by herself.

I found it intriguing as to why Victoria would initially think that the Himalayas were in India and not in Tibet. I wonder if that is what she was taught when living in Victorian times with her father. I liked it when she was told to leave the monastery with the monks by the Doctor and she refused to do so.

In this story, Jack Watling makes his debut appearance as Professor Travers. In real-life, Jack Watling is the father of Deborah Watling. It was nice to see the father-and-daughter dynamic featured in this ‘Doctor Who’ adventure, even though they’re playing characters that aren’t really family relations. 🙂

Jack Watling is great as Professor Travers in this adventure. He’s on an expedition to search for the Yeti. It’s interesting how he initially accused the Doctor for murdering his friend before he grew to trust him, Jamie and Victoria. He’s surprised the Yeti are violent, as they’re usually timid creatures. 😐

The guest cast also includes Norman Jones as Khrisong, one of the warrior monks at the monastery. Khrisong is a monk who gets easily suspicious, and he doesn’t trust the Doctor when he claims he’s innocent for not committing a murder. Gradually, Khrisong grows to trust the Doctor and his friends.

This is one Norman Jones’ many guest role appearances in ‘Doctor Who’, since he would later return to play Major Baker in ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’ and Hieronymous in ‘The Masque of Mandragora’. I’ve also seen him in a 1975 BBC TV production of ‘North & South’, starring Patrick Stewart. 🙂

There’s also David Spenser as Thonmi. Thonmi is a young monk at the monastery who gradually trusts the Doctor after he discovers he has returned the Holy Gantha which was believed to be lost after so many years. He helps the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria to sort out the Yeti menace at the monastery. 🙂

It was interesting to see Thonmi’s scenes with Victoria in animation compared to hearing them on audio. Thonmi gets frustrated whenever Victoria gives him the slip in trying to see Padmasambhava in the inner sanctum. Thonmi is clearly dedicated as a monk concerning certain traditions and principles.

There’s also Charles Morgan as Songsten, the Abbot at the Det-Sen monastery. Songsten serves his master within the monastery, but he’s under hypnotic control by the Great Intelligence and is forced to do its bidding when going out to the mountains. I found it very intriguing to see that in animation.

It’s also interesting to see when Songsten goes into trances and only he can hear Padmasambhava’s voice who talks to him and gives him instructions. It was a shock to see Songsten stab Khrisong in the back after taking his weapon from him in the inner sanctum. Even on second viewing, I was shocked.

There’s Wolfe Morris as Padmasambhava, who lives in the inner sanctum at the monastery. Padmasambhava is also under the control of the Great Intelligence, as he gives orders to Songsten about carrying out their wishes in order to control the Yeti before they attempt to control the world.

At times, Padmasambhava has a calm and eerie voice within the monastery. Sometimes it shifts into rasping and creepy tones. It’s also intriguing, especially in animation form, to see that Padmasambhava has lived for a very long time, as he desires peace and rest from the Intelligence. 🙂

The rest of the story’s cast includes David Grey as Rinchen, Raymond Llewellyn as Sapan and David Baron as Ralpachan. Whilst some of these monk characters are minor ones in the story, it’s interesting how they react to everything that’s going on concerning the Yeti and the Doctor’s arrival.

As stated, the Himalayas scene were filmed in Snowdonia in Wales. I know they couldn’t afford to go to the actual Himalayas themselves to film the location scenes in the story, but I’m glad they chose Snowdonia in Wales to film the story. I wish there was more snow featured in the surviving footage.

This is in both ‘Episode Two’ and the surviving clips from ‘Episode Four’. You can tell in both surviving ‘Episode Two’ and in the animation episodes that there’s a sense of a freezing cold atmosphere about the place, especially with the high winds, and there’s some snowfall featured in the story’s end.

I liked how the story ends with Professor Travers escorting the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria back to the TARDIS on the mountains. Travers then sees a real Yeti, who is timid and less feral. Travers is delighted about this and he runs after it whilst the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria return to the TARDIS. 🙂

Of course, this is only the beginning, as the Yeti soon returned in the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Web of Fear’. Professor Travers also returns in that story, as a much older man. The Yeti were supposed to return in a third TV adventure called ‘Laird of the McCrimmon’, but sadly, that story didn’t get made.

On the 3-disc DVD and Blu-ray sets of ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, the special features are as follows. On Disc 1, as well as the black-and-white animation version of the story, there’s the surviving original ‘Episode Two’. As with the ‘Galaxy 4’ 2-disc Blu-ray set, you can ‘play all’ animated episodes and you can ‘play all’ episodes with the surviving original ‘Episode Two’ in the ‘PLAY ALL’ option of the Blu-ray menu. There are also the surviving original clips from ‘Episode Four’ of the story to enjoy. There’s an interview with co-writer Mervyn Haisman from ’31 Who’, which was recorded and transmitted in September 1990. There’s 8mm home movie film footage of the story recorded by Frazer Hines and there’s 8mm home movie film footage of the story recorded by director Gerald Blake. There are also audio commentaries on selected episodes. There’s a commentary on the first animation episode with production assistant Judy Shears, moderated by Toby Hadoke. There are two commentaries on the surviving original ‘Episode Two’. The first one is with Frazer Hines and film camera assistant John Walker, moderated by Toby Hadoke. The second one is with Deborah Watling, moderated by Gary Russell, which was originally released in the ‘Lost in Time’ DVD back in 2004. There’s a commentary on the second animation episode with animation producer/director Gary Russell, moderated by Toby Hadoke. There’s a commentary on the third animation episode with cameraman Bernard Newnham, moderated by Toby Hadoke. There’s a commentary on the fourth animation episode with Frazer Hines and film camera assistant John Walker, moderated by Toby Hadoke. There’s a commentary on the fifth animation episode with special sound designer Brian Hodgson and make-up designer Sylvia James, moderated by Toby Hadoke. And there’s a commentary on the sixth animation episode with animation producer/director Gary Russell, moderated by Toby Hadoke.

On Disc 2 of the 3-disc DVD and Blu-ray sets, there’s the colour animation version of the story. The audio commentaries on the black-and-white animation episodes are carried over from Disc 1 onto the colour animation episodes, since the surviving original ‘Episode Two’ of the story isn’t included on Disc 2.

On Disc 3 of the 3-disc Blu-ray set, there’s the black-and-white telesnap version of the story with the TV soundtrack, the surviving original ‘Episode Two’, and optional linking narration by Frazer Hines. There’s the ‘Troughton in Tibet – Making ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ making-of documentary with behind-the-scenes cast and crew interviews, a photo gallery of the story, and a teaser trailer. There are also scripts and ‘Radio Times Listings’ of ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, which can be accessed via a computer.

‘The Abominable Snowmen’ is a good ‘Doctor Who’ adventure, which is mostly sadly missing from the BBC Archives, but it can now be enjoyable with its animation episodes as well as the surviving ‘Episode Two’ on DVD and Blu-ray. The animation episodes are debatable, but they’re still enjoyable.

I enjoyed listening to ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ on audio and I’ve enjoyed it more in animation and its surviving episode on Blu-ray. It would be nice if the missing five episodes of ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ can be found, like ‘The Web of Fear’ episodes were in October 2013. We can all hope and dream it happening.

‘The Abominable Snowmen’ rating – 7/10

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