 In her autobiography, Sylvia Anderson called the episode's theme of danger posed by hazardous waste "very much a contemporary problem".Tom Fox of "Starburst" magazine gives the episode three stars out of five, calling the Sidewinder a "great but hilariously awkward invention" and likening it to the giant mechanical spider in the film "Wild Wild West" (1999).Simon Archer and Marcus Hearn describe "Pit of Peril" as one of several early "Thunderbirds" episodes that focus on "seemingly inescapable dangers on land, under the sea and in the air".