The Yeti in Snowdonia National Park

The Yeti don't get much love in Doctor Who. Sadly, the two second Doctor stories in which they figured prominently, "The Abominable Snowmen" and "The Web of Fear," went missing from BBC archives for many years. Aside from a cameo appearance in the twentieth anniversary story "The Five Doctors," the Yeti silently slipped away from Doctor Who, never to rival the popularity of Cybermen and the Daleks.  

Thankfully, one episode of the six-part "The Abominable Snowmen" still exists, and five of the six episodes of "The Web of Fear" were returned to the BBC in recent years. So by watching the fan-produced reconstruction of "The Abominable Snowmen" and the BBC-reissued "The Web of Fear," fans can get an idea of the menace the Yeti posed for the second Doctor in the 1960s. Still, with so many established alien races, and the program constantly introducing us to more, it seems unlikely that the Yeti will ever rise higher than curiosities in the Doctor Who universe.

Nonetheless, my wife and I thought of the Yeti, and "The Abominable Snowmen," when we drove through Snowdonia National Park in Wales a few years ago. For it was in this area that the second Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria encounter the elusive creatures. Or at least this was where the location filming took place. Transformed by the production team, the TARDIS actually lands in the Himilayas, where the heroes protect priests at a Buddhist Temple from the Yeti, and a malevolent entity called the Great Intelligence.

While shrouded in mist, Snowdonia National Park proved rich in character. Towns with seemingly unpronounceable names proved picturesque and inviting. Grass, foliage, and trees burst forth from the hard ground and stark rocky hillsides. We wondered how harsh the winters in Wales might be, given the rugged terrain, and were glad we had arrived in summer, when conditions were cool but comfortable.

I would have liked to have visited the actual spot where the Doctor Who production team filmed the Yeti. Sadly, this area lay far off the beaten track. So my wife and I confined ourselves to well-traveled roads, and enjoyed getting a taste of the area that had doubled for the remote Himilayas in "The Abominable Snowmen."

South of Snowdonia National Park lies the city of Cardiff, where the current Doctor Who production team is located. Perhaps we'll have to return to Wales someday, and see the locations the ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth Doctors have visited. I wonder if, by the time we travel there, the Yeti will have returned to Doctor Who? Fans of the Yeti can only live in hope.

Dragon Dave