The Hand of Fear is the final story for Elisabeth Salden. After three years the most popular companion leaves the TARDIS. It was the right time for Sladen to leave because I think it was the logical conclusion. The character had started off as a journalist but after Tom Baker joined the show, she kind of lost that side of her character and she falls into what most companions start off as and that’s a screaming individual. Had it not been for The Masque of Mandragora peeking Elisabeth Sladen’s interest then this story would not be about.
The story starts off in a quarry, not an alien planet that’s filmed in a quarry but a quarry disguised as a quarry. Within minutes we are treated to a fanstastic explosion which sees a camera covered in rocks. The story starts on earth where Sarah Jane gets possessed by a ring and walks to a nuclear power station where the ring uses radiation to grow. It leads to a very impressed cliffhanger when the hand moves. Considering most people slate 1970’s special effects in Doctor Who, this one was done very well. The only problem comes when Eldrad walks out of the nuclear chamber. It’s a very poor outfit and does look ridiculous. It’s not made any better when Judith Paris is replaced by Stephen Thorne. It’s like Thorne has had to occupy the very same costume that Paris had. It’s a shame because I actually quite liked Thorne and felt his performance was somewhat better.
When the story is set on Earth then its more enjoyable than on Kastria. I think that the reason is that the acting on Earth is far more reliable. I found Glyn Houston as Professor Watson to be very good and was a joy to watch. Whenever he was on screen I felt that the story picked up. However for me the best honour belonged to Rex Robinson who starts off as a really nice guy but then meets a particularly nasty ending which I thought was a shame really. Robinson is one of those reliable actors that you could give any role and he would make it brilliant regardless of how bland they may be.
As this is Elisabeth Sladen’s final story its only right that she gets to dominate most of the early action. She is the one that gets encased in the falling rocks after explosion (though quite how she managed to survive remains a mystery), she is the one that gets possessed by Eldrad and so her exit at the end of episode four is well justified and not a silly one like the one Louse Jameson’s Leela would suffer. The final scene between Sladen and Baker is a very sad one and its because Sarah Jane is fed up and its only by a weird twist of fate that the Doctor pretty much forces SJ out of the TARDIS. Their final interaction sums up two people who would like to meet up again but probably never will.
The Hand of Fear is a very good story with a strong plot and some superb acting from both Sladen and Baker. You could understand why Sarah Jane wants to leave the Doctor because anyone in their right mind would have been sick of all the kidnapping and hypnosis after a year but its always been clear that Sladen has a respect for the show which I don’t think has been repeated by anyone before or since. When Elisabeth passed away, it was decided to repeat this story on BBC Four and it was the right decision because it shows every possible reason why Elisabeth was so well loved and respected. Ok, so the Eldrad costume was a bit silly but the story is a brilliant story that benefits from some fine writing but more importantly some very good acting. A good story.
The story starts off in a quarry, not an alien planet that’s filmed in a quarry but a quarry disguised as a quarry. Within minutes we are treated to a fanstastic explosion which sees a camera covered in rocks. The story starts on earth where Sarah Jane gets possessed by a ring and walks to a nuclear power station where the ring uses radiation to grow. It leads to a very impressed cliffhanger when the hand moves. Considering most people slate 1970’s special effects in Doctor Who, this one was done very well. The only problem comes when Eldrad walks out of the nuclear chamber. It’s a very poor outfit and does look ridiculous. It’s not made any better when Judith Paris is replaced by Stephen Thorne. It’s like Thorne has had to occupy the very same costume that Paris had. It’s a shame because I actually quite liked Thorne and felt his performance was somewhat better.
When the story is set on Earth then its more enjoyable than on Kastria. I think that the reason is that the acting on Earth is far more reliable. I found Glyn Houston as Professor Watson to be very good and was a joy to watch. Whenever he was on screen I felt that the story picked up. However for me the best honour belonged to Rex Robinson who starts off as a really nice guy but then meets a particularly nasty ending which I thought was a shame really. Robinson is one of those reliable actors that you could give any role and he would make it brilliant regardless of how bland they may be.
As this is Elisabeth Sladen’s final story its only right that she gets to dominate most of the early action. She is the one that gets encased in the falling rocks after explosion (though quite how she managed to survive remains a mystery), she is the one that gets possessed by Eldrad and so her exit at the end of episode four is well justified and not a silly one like the one Louse Jameson’s Leela would suffer. The final scene between Sladen and Baker is a very sad one and its because Sarah Jane is fed up and its only by a weird twist of fate that the Doctor pretty much forces SJ out of the TARDIS. Their final interaction sums up two people who would like to meet up again but probably never will.
The Hand of Fear is a very good story with a strong plot and some superb acting from both Sladen and Baker. You could understand why Sarah Jane wants to leave the Doctor because anyone in their right mind would have been sick of all the kidnapping and hypnosis after a year but its always been clear that Sladen has a respect for the show which I don’t think has been repeated by anyone before or since. When Elisabeth passed away, it was decided to repeat this story on BBC Four and it was the right decision because it shows every possible reason why Elisabeth was so well loved and respected. Ok, so the Eldrad costume was a bit silly but the story is a brilliant story that benefits from some fine writing but more importantly some very good acting. A good story.
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