The Abominable Snowmen (1967) Review

The Abominable Snowmen is a great adventure, taking a break from the futuristic stories of late at last. Having the setting be in the Himalayas feels very refreshing and let's the story seamlessly explore its own potential without using the monsters as a crutch.

PLOT

The TARDIS crew arrive in a Tibetan monastery only to find robot Yeti on the loose and a bunch of paranoid monks led by the Great Intelligence, who controls/mostly controls/semi-controls a 300-year old man who controls the abbot. To add excitement, there's also an eccentric Yeti researcher and a discount Worf from Star Trek.

CHARACTERS

Patrick Troughton is exemplary as always. I love the early scene with him in the TARDIS, going through the chest from his first story and his understated reaction to finding an old artifact. Throughout the story, he displays genuine respect towards the monks(not something the newer Doctors would do, probably) and a strong, paternal influence towards the companions.
The story's also somewhat personal for him, since Padmasambhava is his old friend, even if that's not explored too much.

The relationship between Jamie and Victoria is also fantastic, the two relying on each other in this friendly(and *gasp* not flirty or snarky) relationship.

Khrisong(Worf) is set up as a minor antagonist, but over the course of the story, becomes the crew's biggest ally. A strong performance, showing the evolution from unlikable character to a very likeable one.
Much the same goes for Professor Travers, who initially thinks the Doctor killed his best pal(nah, screw my friend's corpse, I'm gonna find Yeti!), but ultimately grows to trust him.

There's a cool atmosphere about this story I really like, sort of like taking a fresh air after being stuck in your apartment for too long. It's mysterious, adventurous, makes good use of its characters, has the freakin' Great Intelligence in it and works well as a Base Under Siege. In fact, it's the best use of the formula thus far.

NOTES

*Who took a scimitar to the TARDIS?

*I personally like to think that the artifact thing the Doctor was so fond of was built by Susan, maybe even for his birthday or something.

*The recorder reigns again! The Doctor sings a tune whilst locked up by the monks and later when the story's over.

*Why did the Great Intelligence waste 200 years to build robot Yeti instead of just getting straight to the bodybuilding? Who was he expecting to be fighting in Tibet? And ultimately, it's the Yeti who call attention to him.

*The Intelligence is extremely inconsistent here. Sometimes it's a whispery alter-ego of Padmasambhava, sometimes it's a nice-speaking, controlled Padmasambhava, sometimes it can only be heard by Padmasambhava. They should've sticked with one.

*Songsten is a completely unnecessary character. He's only there to give the Intelligence someone to talk to and a reason why no one ever sees Padmasambhava. It would've been better if the whole 300-year old angle wasn't there and the Intelligence was just hidden in the sanctum on his own.

*The Doctor appears to have redecorated. I don't like it.

*Speaking of which, is that the food machine from The Daleks?

*Thankfully, the comforting TARDIS hum is back.

*According to the Wiki, the St. John emblem was lost in the late Hartnell era, but I distinctly remember it being there in the last story.

*The recons are of an unusually high quality, with moving pictures and CGI involved.

BEST LINE

"Jamie has come up with a plan. I think we should be discreet now." It's funny, even though Jamie having bad plans has never come up before.

CONCLUSION

One of the strongest Troughton outings yet.