Doctor Who: Every Doctor's WORST Episode

13. The Web Planet (The First Doctor)

One of the joys of watching classic Doctor Who is marvelling at some of the lovably low-budget production values. From dodgy costumes to wobbling sets, it’s a billion miles away from the polished glitz and glam of the 21st century incarnations.

There are few stories that better represent the shoddier aspects of the early years than the 1965 serial The Web Planet. While the team behind it clearly had lofty ideas and wanted to explore big themes about the nature of good versus evil, it just ends up looking... well, distracting, to put it kindly.

The butterfly-like Menoptra and the giant ants known as Zarbi are quite clearly actors in outfits and while yes you can say that about quite a lot of Doctor Who, it's undeniably at its worst here.

Still, despite all this and the glacially-paced story too, the first episode of The Web Planet still managed to achieve record viewership for Doctor Who with 13.5 million viewers – although the Audience Appreciation Index did rapidly fall as the serial progressed, which says it all really.