8th January, 2009

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Doctor Who The Face of Evil [1963]

Doctor Who The Face of Evil [1963]
List Price: £11.99
Our Price: £24.99
Availability: N/A
Starring: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison
Average Customer Rating: Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5Average rating of 4.5/5

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Audience Rating: Parental Guidance
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 5014503667221
Format: HiFi Sound
Label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
Number Of Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: 2 Entertain Video
Release Date: 1999-05-04
Running Time: 103
Studio: 2 Entertain Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1975-09-29

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Editorial Reviews:

"The Face of Evil" (1976) was the fourth story in the 14th season of Dr Who. Tom Baker was well and truly established in the role of the heroic Time Lord, but the Doctor's popular assistant, Sarah Jane Smith played by Elizabeth Sladen had departed at the end of "The Hand of Fear". This story was inspired by HG Wells' The Time Machine (filmed in 1960) with its future society split in two: one group descended into primitive superstition the other surviving as a technological elite. Adding a crashed spaceship, a computer with multiple personalities and a mysterious carving of the Doctor, this would have been a routine adventure but for one thing; the first appearance of a new assistant played by Louise Jameson. An instant hit with the audience, Leela was a different kind of Dr Who companion. Confident, not adverse to violent self-defence, scantily-clad and unselfconsciously sexy, Leela was part-way between Tarzan's Jane and The Avengers' Emma Peel. Writer Chris Boucher acknowledged The Avengers influence, also noting that he named the character after Palestinian hijacker Leila Khaled! Leela stayed with the Doctor until the end of "The Invasion of Time" (1978). --Gary S. Dalkin


Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: Great intro for Leela....
Comment: 1: Tom Baker is excellent as the deranged Xoanon

2: Louise makes a brilliant entrance as Leela

3: The horda are cute.

4: The tesh are gits, but likeable ones, with their arm flapping!

5: Tom is great as ever as the Doc too.

6: The tribe have more developed characters than usual.

7: Great comic moments, especially how Leela runs into the TARDIS despite the Doc not really wanting to take her.

8: We for once get a sizeable chunk of story to see whats happened after the enemy has been thwarted, which is a nice change.

9: the staue looks impressive.

10: Good actual 25 min eps for a change!

Need I go on?

Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Bizzare...
Comment: The first couple of episodes are amazing- brilliant script, top notch acting from all the regualrs and the guest cast and some great directing from Pennant Roberts. Where it all goes wrong is in the last two episdoes. Roberts' flair seems to have died out and become extremelly dull and unadventurous, something that continued in the following three, or four if you include Shada, stories he directed. The script, too, seems to be stuck for ideas and the acting becomes a tad hammy from certain cast members and nowhere near as convincing as earlier, which is a real shame.

On the plus side, Leela joins.
On the down side, Leela joins...decide for yourself if this was a good or bad move.


Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: One of the best
Comment: This is certainly one of my favourite dr who stories. It makes a change from the monster stories and doesn't involve the doctor saving the world. Leela is a babe, much better than Sarah and the skimpy amazon outfit does it for me everytime! I think this is the start of the best dr who era with all of the next few episodes being extremely varied and ambitious.

Barnz


Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Leela's Debut? - NB!
Comment: Arriving in a marshy jungle on some distant alien world, the Doc is suprised when the savage natives, the Sevateem, recognise him as ''the Evil One'' despite the fact that he has never seen them before, nor set foot on this very planet. Or has he? On the run from the Sevateem, the Doctor finds that his only ally is Leela, an outcast from the tribe, and he begins to unravel a mystery inextricably linked to his own shady past...

A break from the gothic tales that populate Baker's early years, The Face Of Evil is blessed with an intelligent and thought-provoking, if somewhat slow, script and some brill performances. Baker's at his boyish best and Louise Jameson makes nice her debut as Leela, although she isn't as good as in her next story - bloody masterpiece The Robots Of Death. Speaking of that tale, it is worth mentioning that Face has often been overlooked in favour of Robots, Talons or The Deadly Assassin, but trust me, it's a worthy purchase.

James


Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: The Doctor faces past actions in a cracking Baker adventure
Comment: The Face of Evil is unusual in many respects. It finally gives us a story that examines the consequences of the Doctor's sometimes irresponsible actions. It gives us Leela, the savage who would just as soon knife someone as trip over and scream. And who can forget those strange cliffhangers? (Part 3 especially)

This is a weird and wonderful adventure set on an unnamed planet population by a savage tribe, the Sevateem, and a technologically advanced society who practice mind control, the Tesh. But by far the best character in this is Xoanon, the mysterious God of both tribes.

This is one of the best Fourth Doctor adventures you are likely to see, and a big round of applause for Chris Boucher, the writer, who also comes up with the Robots of Death and the Image of the Fendhal.


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