Doctor Who and the Zarbi

The first Doctor is trapped on Vortis by the Zarbi, in a new facsimile edition of the long-out-of-print original 1960s edition. The Zarbi, huge ant-like creatures with metallic bodies and pincer claws, are waiting for TARDIS when it materializes on the cold and craggy planet Vortis. They capture the Doctor, Ian, and Vicki and take them to their weird headquarters, a city of web-like organic matter. In the final thrilling chapters, the Doctor and his crew encounter the
power which controls both the Zarbi and the living Web City. How can they defeat this strange bladder of dazzling light which draws in and absorbs all who come into its presence?

Born in South Australia in 1918, Bill Strutton worked as a clerk before joining the Australian army during World War 2. He served in the Middle East and later in Greece. Captured by the Germans in Crete, he spent several years as a prisoner of war. After the war, Strutton came to live in England where he pursued a career writing. He worked as a journalist as well as writing novels and television scripts. Strutton's only script for Doctor Who was The Web Planet, commissioned in late 1964 and broadcast in 1965. He died on 23 November 2003, the day of Doctor Who's 40th anniversary, aged 85 years.