Temple of Light, Wood was inspired by the Aztec temples of South America. Casting and characters The script for the third episode was structured to omit Barbara, as Jacqueline Hill was scheduled to take a week's holiday; she retained a credit in Radio Times, but not on-screen, as was common when the regular cast was absent. Hill formally complained on 1 March 1965 and requested that her credit be reinstated for overseas sales, but this was not acted upon. Lambert felt that Barbara's occupation as a schoolteacher meant that she should often work to save the day, as in The Web Planet. All guest characters in the serial are non-humanoid. Casting interviews for The Web Planet took place on 8 December 1964. Martin wanted special choreography for the insects, hiring Australian mime artist Roslyn de Winter to develop the delivery of the Optra and the hand gestures of the Menoptra; de Winter was also cast as Vrestin. For the Menoptra, the production team sought actors with dancing experience; one actor who auditioned was Peter Purves, but Martin felt that his talent would be wasted in the role and kept him in mind for later. Catherine Fleming, who voiced the Animus, stood on set with a microphone and a script to read her lines. The three established Dalek operators—Jewell, Kevin Manser, and Gerald Taylor—were cast as the main Zarbi, alongside John Scott Martin in his first appearance on the series. Ian Thompson and Barbara Joss were cast as the Optera; Thompson had worked with Martin in the past, and Joss was an experienced dancer from Australia. Thompson and Martin collaborated to create the creatures' dialogue and behaviour. Arne Gordon, who ran an antique stall in Portobello Road, was cast by Martin as she had large eyes suitable for an insect. Martin also cast Martin Jarvis as Hilio, having met him during his performance of Poor Bitos in the West End alongside Martin's girlfriend Suzanne Neve. Jolyon Booth, cast as Prapillus, was an old friend of Martin's, while Jocelyn Birdsall, cast as Hlynia, had worked with Martin on stage in 1952. Maureen O'Brien enjoyed working with Martin—The Web Planet was their first collaboration—due to his intelligence and their shared political outlook. Filming Model filming for the serial began on 4 January 1965 at BBC Television Film Studios on Stage 2 and lasted for several days. It included several model shots, including the