story was "fun". He noted that some of the cliffhangers were "unusually feeble", but the first was one of the best. DVD Talk's John Sinnott gave the story three out of five stars, writing that it was "enjoyable" despite "not the great sendoff that Pertwee should have received" with padding and weak special effects. Reviewing the serial for SFX, Ian Berriman rated the serial three and a half out of five stars and described it as "a mix of the fresh and the hokey". While he noted that some of the plot was repetitive and traditional, he praised the inclusion of Buddhism. In 2010, Alasdair Wilkins of io9 called the story a "mash-up of a bunch of different types of Third Doctor stories", but the plot was not enough to stretch out over six episodes and so a lot of unnecessary elements were added. However, Wilkins felt that it was a good thematic end for the Third Doctor, and named it the third best regeneration of the Doctor but the third worst regeneration story. In 2009, SFX listed Sarah Jane with the spider on her back as the tenth scariest Doctor Who moment. Commercial releases In print A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in October 1975 as Doctor Who and the Planet of the Spiders. The novel's prologue shows Jo Grant and her husband Professor Jones in the Amazon jungle following the events of The Green Death. Harry Sullivan is referred to as Doctor Sweetman. Home media The serial was released on VHS in April 1991 as a double pack. It was released on DVD in the UK on 18 April 2011, and in the USA and Canada on 10 May 2011. This serial was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files in Issue 110 on 20 March 2013. References External links That Doctor Who Episode with the Hovercraft Chase: A Retrospective — A tongue-in-cheek analysis of Planet of the Spiders Part Two. Planet of the Spiders on BBCWorldwideTV YouTube channel Target novelisation Third Doctor serials Doctor Who serials novelised by Terrance Dicks 1974 British television episodes Fourth Doctor serials Spiders in popular culture