The Abominable Snowmen

Starring Patrick Troughton
Episodes 1-6
1967
150 minutes
2 CD's

Directed by
Gerald Blake

Produced by
Innes Lloyd

Original Airdate
Sept 30 - Nov 4, 1967

UK Release Date
July 2001

BBC Radio Collection
ISBN 056347856X

Yet Attack Box Set

Patrick Troughton has his first encounter with the Yeti in this exclusive recording of a classic "lost" television adventure, with linking narration by Frazer Hines.

"Don't pretend.  They're here somewhere, on these mountains.  The Yeti.  The Abominable Snowmen!"

The year is 1935.  The TARDIS materializes in the snowy Himalayas, and the Doctor makes a return visit to the nearby Detsen monastery.  Having last been there three hundred years ago, he is astonished to find the community of monks and lamas divided by conflict.  The monastery is under attack, apparently from the Yeti which are said to roam the mountainside.  Furthermore, the Doctor discovers that his friend the High Lama is still alive, his ancient body under the influence of an apparently unearthly force...

Meanwhile, explorer Edward Travers is determined to track down the capture one of the Yeti.  When his colleague is murdered, he refuses to blame the creatures and instead accused the Doctor.  The time travelers discover that the Yeti are all too prominent in the area - in fact they are set to kill anyone who threatens the plans of the disembodied intelligence which they serve.  Whilst Jamie is keen to lend his weight to the problem, Victoria's curiosity seems bound to lead her into danger.  The Doctor and his companions soon realize that not only the monastery but the safety of the whole world is at peril.

• The Abominable Snowmen introduces a popular (if seldom used)  nemesis, The Great Intelligence and the Yeti.  They would return again later in the season in the sequel story "The Web of Fear."
   
• Although the Yeti costumes were pulled out of storage for publicity shots of Jon Pertwee when he was announced as the new Doctor, they would not be seen on TV again until the 25th anniversary story "The Five Doctors."  Apparently, the costumes were in such poor shape during production that they had to shoot from a distance and with little light to hide the fact that it was disintegrating.
   
• Professor Travers was played by Deborah Watling's father, Jack Watling.
   
• Khrisong is played by actor Norman Jones.  Jones would go on to make two more appearances in Doctor Who.  His next role was Spencer in the Pertwee story "Doctor Who and the Silurians."  His final appearance was as Hieronymous in the Tom Baker story "The Masque of Mandragora."
   
• Recently, this story was packaged along with "The Web of Fear" as part of box set called "Yeti Attack."  The version included in the box set is identical to the individual title and is still available separately.
   
• The audio recording of this story was done by Graham Strong using his own home audio equipment. 
   
• Mark Ayres, of the Doctor Who Restoration Team, did extensive work on this audio release by digitally remastering these recordings as well as repairing a missing gap in the audio recordings.
   
• An additional release of this story occurred recently.  This time the story is in mp3 (compressed audio) format.  Due to the compressed nature of the files, many more episodes can be included on a single disc.