Classic Who // New Who Parallels

• Jon Pertwee’s last outing as the current Doctor.
• The last regular appearance of Mike Yates
• The first use of the term “regeneration”
• The first mention of the Brig’s wife, Doris. (She won’t be back until 1989)
• First mention of Harry Sullivan
• Second, and final, appearance of the Whomobile.
• This was originally intended to write out the character of the Master, who would sacrifice his life to save the Doctor. Due to Roger Delgado’s passage, this idea had to be scrapped.
• The Buddhist themes were written in by Barry Letts, himself a practicing Buddhist. This came back to bite him slightly, as some Buddhists objected to their portrayal.
• Huath, the queen spider, is Old Irish for “fear”
• Quote directly from TV tropes, who put it better than I ever could: The massive (and completely gratuitous) car chase that takes up most of the second episode was the writers’ farewell gift to Jon Pertwee, who appreciated any excuse to drive motor vehicles very fast.