A5: THE WEB

 

RADIO TIMES: Blake and his companions discover that Cally, their new crew member, has sabotaged the Liberator. Apparently out of control, the ship plunges on into uncharted space.

GUEST CAST: Richard Beale (Saymon), Ania Mason (Geela), Miles Fothergill (Novara), Deep Roy, Gilda Cohen, Ismet Hassm, Marcus Powell, Molly Tweedley, Willy Shearer (Decimas)

FACT FILE

 

• The Web was watched by 9.6m viewers.

 

• The Decimas were all played by actors of restricted growth including the legendary Deep Roy. 

 

• Location filming took place at Black Park in Buckinghamshire from Weds 23 - Fri 25 November 1977.

 

• Latex cobwebs were sprayed across the trees & weather balloons were inflated to suggest giant seed pods.

 

• A small amount of traditional animation was used for the scenes involving Novara’s punishment rod.

 

• VFX designer Ian Scoones was responsible for the shots of the Liberator trapped in the web. Video effects provided the blue beams seen firing for the first time from the Liberator’s neutron blasters.

 

• Studio recording for The Web commenced on Monday 12 December, 1977.

 

• Saymon's shrunken form was achieved by using a small puppet body placed under actor Richard Beale’s face. In the original script, Saymon’s entire body was to be hidden by a life-support system, apart from his face.