The Hand of Fear is a promising story let down by its weak second half and some questionable acting and production choices. It is remembered solely for it's final, iconic five minutes.
Story: 7
After an opening sequence in space, featuring what is quite possibly some of the worst costume design in television history (creatures wearing blankets like kids playing ghosts? Okay!) and overly shouting aliens, we are introduced to the Doctor and Sarah materializing in a quarry. And yes, this time, perhaps ironically, it is a real quarry.
The focus then shifts to a hospital and a nuclear power station (filmed at Oldbury Nuclear Power Station in Gloucestershire) and becomes more of a copy of a Third Doctor adventure featuring UNIT. That might not be a coincidence, however, as UNIT was originally supposed to appear in this story, with the Brigadier being killed off at the end. This is also were the titular hand comes into play, in a manner very similar to The Lord of the Rings.
The second half is a pointless venture through a maze of dangers, a terrible plot twist and loads of over-dramatic acting and a rushed defeat of the baddie so that we can move onto Sarah's exit.
Acting: 7
The real star of the show is Elisabeth Sladen. She spends a big part of the first half of the story possessed by Eldrad and unlike the previous times external forces have controlled her, this time Sladen perceives it very well. Sladen's mechanical acting is a joy to watch. Tom Baker returns to a more down to earth performance here, after a few experimental stories. The Hand of Fear focuses a lot on the Doctor's diplomatic side as evidenced by his desire to use the oldest weapons of the Universe: "speech, diplomacy, discussion". Most of the guest cast is nothing out of the ordinary, but Glyn Jones is the clear winner here, playing a character with an actual personality, albeit a quite shallow one.
The Doctor: 10
The Doctor shows how much he cares for Sarah by truly being worried about her. At the same time, he shows his alien side by not always hearing or understanding her, particularly at the end of the story. Tom Baker put's in one of his most emotional performances during Sarah's exit. His feelings towards her exit translate perfectly to how the audience feels about it all - for once we are supposed to side with the Doctor here.
The Companions: 12
Sarah Jane has a great final adventure, despite being possessed yet again, and gets the exit scene she deserves. It's the single finest moment of the story. It's a very low-key scene, not glossed over or rushed through, even if it ends on a slightly silly tone.
The Monster/Villain: 6
I quite like the villain of the story, Eldrad. She is magnificently designed by Christine Ruscoe (no, really, she looks awesome) and brilliantly played by Judith Paris (one of the very few females to be cast as a villain). There is a calm, yet powerful atmosphere in the air whenever Paris speaks her lines. Overall speaking an amazing delivery all the way through. She is insanely likeable, like a darker companion, and must be one of the few villains to get a trip in the TARDIS. The concept of a villain who needs help to get back home and has a conscience of some sort is quite new to the classic era but has been frequently used in the revived series, for instance in Hide (2013). The same goes for Eldrad being the last of his race, something that the Doctor also will be for the most of the revived series.
Eldrad is ruined when the actor (for a reason I still do not quite understand) is changed from Paris to Stephen Thorne (Omega from The Three Doctors and Azal from The Daemons). Baker and Martin have a thing for megalomaniac villain with booming voices, because Thorne's performance here is not just an attempt at a Brian Blessed impression, it is also very close to his earlier performance as Omega. Eldrad's motives and personality shift as well and the character becomes a boring, worn-out villain with a wish to invade Earth. A pitiful waste of an interesting and otherwise quite memorable villain.
Production: 9
Director Lennie Mayne's visionary work comes into play quite well in this story. The first two episodes feature some very interesting shots, camera angles and zooming techniques. Mayne utilizes a lot of sweeping shots and close-ups as well as a fisheye lens, a mirror and unusual angles, to name but few techniques. While these are nothing more than playful experiments for most of the time, they help the story to stand out. Mayne stops using these techniques after Episode Two, however, which is a bit of a shame.
The story is quite light in its initial episodes. The cliffhangers for the first two episodes are very juicy, particular Episode One's, featuring the petrified hand becoming alive in a sequence which is very well realized. Even though the concept of a moving hand is quite silly, it works quite well in this story and looks very convincing even by today's standards.
The chase sequences in the first two episodes are good little bits, toppled by Dudley Simpson's alternating tension-filled score and more typical Doctor Who music. There is an effective use of close-ups and voice-overs present here as well, making the atmosphere quite creepy at times.
Christine Ruscoe's amazing costume design is like gone with the wind when the new Eldrad is introduced. His costume looks like a repainted jacket and limits Thorne's performance significantly. The set design is also a disappointment, with Kastria having a very cheap and ugly look. Everything is made worse by an incredibly stupid way of getting rid of Eldrad.
Pacing: 6
Most of the problems lie within the last two episodes. It is here where things get dragged out and boring. Most of Episode Three is just about the Doctor and Sarah dragging Eldrad from point A to point B while trying to overcome incredibly stupid obstacles. These long scenes are alternated with a hooded blanket ghost watching a screen. Very intense, indeed.
Atmosphere: 7
The Hand of Fear is somewhat of a rollercoaster: it has a good beginning and the middle part is quite thrilling, but there is a huge drop right at the end after which it is no fun anymore. When compared to the most recent companion departures (such as the very emotional departure of Jo Grant in The Green Death or Jamie and Zoe's departure in The War Games) Sarah's last adventure with the Doctor is sadly not the best of the bunch. The serial is overshadowed by a plot that has a very promising premise but that somehow manages to lose that premise somewhere along the way.
The last five minutes of Episode Four is entirely occupied by the departure if Sarah. This is done in a very straightforward and quite mundane way, without big tears or dramatic speeches. It works quite well, though and gives Sarah a worthy ending. The popularity of the character would be so high, that Sladen would reprise her role in the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors, as well as in several episodes of the revived series. She would even star in her spin-off show, The Sarah Jane Adventures, until the death of Elisabeth Sladen in 2011.
Impact: 10
The Hand of Fear is a good story for the first half, but not a very good story for the rest of it. It serves as a conflicted exit for Sarah's adventures in the TARDIS, and would it not be for the final five minutes of the serial, it would be easily forgettable.
Replay Value: 6
I'd happily watch the first half and the final minutes if this story many times, but I really can't stand the last two episodes.
Random Observations:
From the file marked "I Don't Believe in Coincidences": The Kastrians were originally going to be called Omegans, but script editor Robert Holmes asked writers Baker and Martin to change the name of the race as a character called Omega had already appeared on Doctor Who - ironically in a story written by Baker and Martin!
The award for Best Supporting Character In Anything Ever must go to the guy who is seen flailing hysterically early in Episode One and screaming "NO MIKE! MIKE NO!". He puts his entire heart into the performance.
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParent2020-06-24T06:19:36Z
The Hand of Fear is a promising story let down by its weak second half and some questionable acting and production choices. It is remembered solely for it's final, iconic five minutes.
Story: 7
After an opening sequence in space, featuring what is quite possibly some of the worst costume design in television history (creatures wearing blankets like kids playing ghosts? Okay!) and overly shouting aliens, we are introduced to the Doctor and Sarah materializing in a quarry. And yes, this time, perhaps ironically, it is a real quarry.
The focus then shifts to a hospital and a nuclear power station (filmed at Oldbury Nuclear Power Station in Gloucestershire) and becomes more of a copy of a Third Doctor adventure featuring UNIT. That might not be a coincidence, however, as UNIT was originally supposed to appear in this story, with the Brigadier being killed off at the end. This is also were the titular hand comes into play, in a manner very similar to The Lord of the Rings.
The second half is a pointless venture through a maze of dangers, a terrible plot twist and loads of over-dramatic acting and a rushed defeat of the baddie so that we can move onto Sarah's exit.
Acting: 7
The real star of the show is Elisabeth Sladen. She spends a big part of the first half of the story possessed by Eldrad and unlike the previous times external forces have controlled her, this time Sladen perceives it very well. Sladen's mechanical acting is a joy to watch. Tom Baker returns to a more down to earth performance here, after a few experimental stories. The Hand of Fear focuses a lot on the Doctor's diplomatic side as evidenced by his desire to use the oldest weapons of the Universe: "speech, diplomacy, discussion". Most of the guest cast is nothing out of the ordinary, but Glyn Jones is the clear winner here, playing a character with an actual personality, albeit a quite shallow one.
The Doctor: 10
The Doctor shows how much he cares for Sarah by truly being worried about her. At the same time, he shows his alien side by not always hearing or understanding her, particularly at the end of the story. Tom Baker put's in one of his most emotional performances during Sarah's exit. His feelings towards her exit translate perfectly to how the audience feels about it all - for once we are supposed to side with the Doctor here.
The Companions: 12
Sarah Jane has a great final adventure, despite being possessed yet again, and gets the exit scene she deserves. It's the single finest moment of the story. It's a very low-key scene, not glossed over or rushed through, even if it ends on a slightly silly tone.
The Monster/Villain: 6
I quite like the villain of the story, Eldrad. She is magnificently designed by Christine Ruscoe (no, really, she looks awesome) and brilliantly played by Judith Paris (one of the very few females to be cast as a villain). There is a calm, yet powerful atmosphere in the air whenever Paris speaks her lines. Overall speaking an amazing delivery all the way through. She is insanely likeable, like a darker companion, and must be one of the few villains to get a trip in the TARDIS. The concept of a villain who needs help to get back home and has a conscience of some sort is quite new to the classic era but has been frequently used in the revived series, for instance in Hide (2013). The same goes for Eldrad being the last of his race, something that the Doctor also will be for the most of the revived series.
Eldrad is ruined when the actor (for a reason I still do not quite understand) is changed from Paris to Stephen Thorne (Omega from The Three Doctors and Azal from The Daemons). Baker and Martin have a thing for megalomaniac villain with booming voices, because Thorne's performance here is not just an attempt at a Brian Blessed impression, it is also very close to his earlier performance as Omega. Eldrad's motives and personality shift as well and the character becomes a boring, worn-out villain with a wish to invade Earth. A pitiful waste of an interesting and otherwise quite memorable villain.
Production: 9
Director Lennie Mayne's visionary work comes into play quite well in this story. The first two episodes feature some very interesting shots, camera angles and zooming techniques. Mayne utilizes a lot of sweeping shots and close-ups as well as a fisheye lens, a mirror and unusual angles, to name but few techniques. While these are nothing more than playful experiments for most of the time, they help the story to stand out. Mayne stops using these techniques after Episode Two, however, which is a bit of a shame.
The story is quite light in its initial episodes. The cliffhangers for the first two episodes are very juicy, particular Episode One's, featuring the petrified hand becoming alive in a sequence which is very well realized. Even though the concept of a moving hand is quite silly, it works quite well in this story and looks very convincing even by today's standards.
The chase sequences in the first two episodes are good little bits, toppled by Dudley Simpson's alternating tension-filled score and more typical Doctor Who music. There is an effective use of close-ups and voice-overs present here as well, making the atmosphere quite creepy at times.
Christine Ruscoe's amazing costume design is like gone with the wind when the new Eldrad is introduced. His costume looks like a repainted jacket and limits Thorne's performance significantly. The set design is also a disappointment, with Kastria having a very cheap and ugly look. Everything is made worse by an incredibly stupid way of getting rid of Eldrad.
Pacing: 6
Most of the problems lie within the last two episodes. It is here where things get dragged out and boring. Most of Episode Three is just about the Doctor and Sarah dragging Eldrad from point A to point B while trying to overcome incredibly stupid obstacles. These long scenes are alternated with a hooded blanket ghost watching a screen. Very intense, indeed.
Atmosphere: 7
The Hand of Fear is somewhat of a rollercoaster: it has a good beginning and the middle part is quite thrilling, but there is a huge drop right at the end after which it is no fun anymore. When compared to the most recent companion departures (such as the very emotional departure of Jo Grant in The Green Death or Jamie and Zoe's departure in The War Games) Sarah's last adventure with the Doctor is sadly not the best of the bunch. The serial is overshadowed by a plot that has a very promising premise but that somehow manages to lose that premise somewhere along the way.
The last five minutes of Episode Four is entirely occupied by the departure if Sarah. This is done in a very straightforward and quite mundane way, without big tears or dramatic speeches. It works quite well, though and gives Sarah a worthy ending. The popularity of the character would be so high, that Sladen would reprise her role in the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors, as well as in several episodes of the revived series. She would even star in her spin-off show, The Sarah Jane Adventures, until the death of Elisabeth Sladen in 2011.
Impact: 10
The Hand of Fear is a good story for the first half, but not a very good story for the rest of it. It serves as a conflicted exit for Sarah's adventures in the TARDIS, and would it not be for the final five minutes of the serial, it would be easily forgettable.
Replay Value: 6
I'd happily watch the first half and the final minutes if this story many times, but I really can't stand the last two episodes.
Random Observations:
From the file marked "I Don't Believe in Coincidences": The Kastrians were originally going to be called Omegans, but script editor Robert Holmes asked writers Baker and Martin to change the name of the race as a character called Omega had already appeared on Doctor Who - ironically in a story written by Baker and Martin!
The award for Best Supporting Character In Anything Ever must go to the guy who is seen flailing hysterically early in Episode One and screaming "NO MIKE! MIKE NO!". He puts his entire heart into the performance.
Score: 80/120