ZZZ4 - Planet of the Spiders 4

The Doctor spends the first half of this episode incapacitated, leaving the others to carry the action while he waits for his new friends on Metebelis Three to figure out how to cure him.

The action at the meditation centre is the best stuff in this episode. Barnes and his friends seem to be minions of Lupton (who is clearly the alpha male there), but without his Lupton's presence there, they are lost. Their closed door meeting in this episode isn't one of nefarious intentions, but one called out of fear. Not only are they scared for Lupton, they're scared of what they've become involved in. When Mike Yates happens upon them, one of their numbers, Moss, reacts with fear again and clubs him from behind. Fear is at the heart of most characters' motives in this story.

The only person who doesn't feel fear, it seems, is Tommy, who doesn't have the mental capacity to feel fear, and once the Metebelis crystal opens his mind, he is too filled with wonder and innocence of his new world to be fearful of anything. The slow Tommy and the cured Tommy are two different characters in their own right, and they are both played remarkably well in a terrific performance from John Kane. Kane is the best thing about this episode, and one of the best things about a story that, after four episodes, has been thoroughly enjoyable.