‘Hand Of Fear’ is probably most notable for marking the (first) departure of Sarah Jane Smith after two Doctors and an awful lot of screaming, although it’s also a pretty peppy story which traverses 150 million years and two galaxies.
The TARDIS materialises in a quarry on Earth (one of the few times in the series a quarry on Earth is just that) just in time for Sarah Jane to be buried in an explosion. When they dig her out, she is clutching a fossilised hand. The hand belongs to Eldrad, an alien super villain from the distant past. Apparently dead, the hand exerts a malign influence over Miss Smith, later using a massive dose of nuclear power to reconstitute itself into a rather foxy silicon based life form, a curvy, haughty charcoal briquette.
Forcing the Doctor to take her back to her own planet, Eldrad is killed by a trap set for her by the long dead people of her now empty world of origin. Undaunted, she reconstitutes herself into a much bumpier, even more bonkers male who, realising there is nothing left for him on his own planet, decides to return to Earth and conquer us instead, the cheeky bastard. The Doctor’s not having this, of course, so he trips him up with his scarf and sends him plummeting into a bottomless pit. End of.
Also notable for having one of only four appearances by the rather lovely, ornate wood-effect, secondary control room. The others being 'Masque of Mandragora', 'The Deadly Assassin' and 'The Robots of Death'.
ReplyDeleteSlightly off-kilter interpretations of the TARDIS control room, such as this and the Rani's from 'Mark of the Rani', are always a highlight.
Even as a kid I found Judith Paris unnervingly arousing as Eldrad. Am I normal?
ReplyDeleteBeast, you are abnormal - and very welcome here with the rest of us freaks.
ReplyDeleteJeffman, good point - as a kid I was always thrilled by these glimpses into the unseen world of the Doctor - I was always really fascinated by the Master's TARDIS, for instance.
According to Peter Haining's book: "The Key To Time", Tom Baker made the fossilised hand himself using a mixture of fecal matter and Guinness.
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