Day 224 — August 12th 2021
The Face of Evil Parts One and Two
The Face of Evil — Part One
Oh I’ve not enjoyed the last few days. You may have noticed that it’s been a run lately of very poorly-rated episodes for me — one of the longest stretches of low-rated episodes in the entire marathon so far. Part of me feels bad for The Hand of Fear and The Deadly Assassin, because I know they’re highly rated by some people, but they both did very little for me, and as such haven’t been a lot of fun to either watch or write about.
And as I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I don’t like it when I’m not enjoying Doctor Who! I love Doctor Who! This silly old show has been a source of entertainment for me for almost 20 years, and I‘d love nothing more than to give every single episode a perfect 10. It’s had me on edge about how this story would fare when the time came. The last time I did a big marathon this came out as my favourite Tom Baker serial. I seem to recall I got a bit of flak for it at the time (‘How on Earth can you think The Face of Evil is better than [insert story of your choice]?!’) but I didn’t care. The beauty of rating each episode individually and calculating the score as an average is that it gives me a truer indication of how I’ve felt across the whole story. It stops a poor final episode from dragging down a story with a strong first three quarters, and in the opposite direction it stops a beautiful final scene (as in The Hand of Fear) from tricking me into a higher score when the rest of the story has left me cold.
But I worried about how I’d feel when I got to this one. The Tom Baker era has performed incredibly strong so far for me — four stories have already made it into my Top Ten (three of them tied in fifth place with an average score of 8.5/10, and another in ninth place) so this would have to be something pretty special to leapfrog over any of those. And given that the last four days have produced two stories that have arrived in my bottom four, there was a risk that I just wan’t in the right head space to find enough to enjoy this time around.
I needn't have wasted any time being concerned, though, because this opening episode is incredible. I’ll put you out of your misery right here and announce that I’ve given it a 10/10, and also say that it’s one of the highest tens that I’ve given out so far. Everything about this episode is brilliant, and I love it. Even if the rest of the story dives off a cliff and the scores go right down to ones and twos, at least I can see why I remember this one so fondly from last time around.
During Season Thirteen, I commented that Robert Banks Stewart was probably the person with the tightest grip on how to write for Tom Baker’s Doctor Who. He balances the humour and the darkness perfectly, and the dialogue he puts on the page brings out the best in Baker’s performance. This story marks the debut of Chris Boucher to the world of Doctor Who, and he’s already joined Stewart in that ‘winner’s circle’, because his version of Doctor Who here is absolutely the same character I loved so much in Terror of the Autons and The Seeds of Doom. Baker’s never given us a duff performance yet, but he somehow feels reenergised here, and I suddenly realise how tired he’s seemed in the last few stories. The tale we often hear is that he was unhappy about the departure of Elisabeth Sladen and was absolutely against the idea of Louise Jameson joining the show, but the evidence on screen is that he’s bolstered by the idea of entering a new era.
In this episode he’s flippant and silly — both on his own when he just behaves that way and when trying to disarm and charm Leela at various times — and also dark and brooding in equal measure. The best example comes through the two different appearances of Jelly Babies. First we’ve got part of his introduction to the new companion;
Doctor Who: ‘Leela. A nice name, Leela. I never met anyone called Leela. Would you like a jelly baby?’
Leela: ‘It’s true, then! They say the Evil One eats babies.’
Doctor Who: ‘You mustn’t believe all they say. No, these are sweets. They’re rather good. Go on, have one.’
Doctor Who is rather paternal with Leela throughout the episode, and while it could be seen as treating a savage in a patronising manner, I think it comes across more as someone who’s trying to be kind and to understand the person he’s just met. Crucially, it’s a different dynamic to the one we’ve had with Sarah Jane over the last few seasons, and as much as I’ve loved that it feels the right time for a change.
Later in the episode, the Jelly Babies make a return as Doctor Who tried to get himself out of a sticky situation;
Sevateem Warrior: ‘The Evil One.’
Doctor Who: ‘Oh dear, you too. Well then, tread softly, gentlemen, or I’ll turn you into toads. That gesture you did. Yes, that’s the one. It’s presumably to ward off evil. It’s interesting because it’s also the sequence for checking the seals on a Starfall Seven spacesuit. And what makes that particularly interesting is that you don’t know what a Starfall Seven spacesuit is, do you? Now drop your weapons, or I’ll kill him with this deadly jelly baby.’
I’ve said before that I’m not a big fan of Doctor Who being dark and brooding and menacing, but there’s something dangerous about the character in this scene which really appeals to me. A look in his eye where you suspect that maybe he really could be the ‘Evil One’ they’re all so worried about after all.
I’ll talk about the direction more with a later episode (otherwise this entry will risk being one massive love-in for the story that goes on and on) but it helps that the scene quoted above is shot so well, and Baker himself is especially nicely framed.
One last thing on the subject of Tom Baker before I move on to praise something else; doesn’t he just look great in this story? Somehow this is the peak of his Doctor Who image. The coat, the scarf, the hat… his hair is just the right length and the entire ensemble looks great among the jungle backdrop. Yeah, I don’t think he ever looks better in the role than he does in this one.
Let’s use that as a springboard to talk about the next thing I love in this one; just how fantastic is that jungle set? Everyone (myself included!) praises the gorgeous design from Planet of Evil, but this is every bit as good, and every bit as alien, without looking anything like that earlier design. It helps that it’s been shot really well, too, with moments like the arrival of the TARDIS managing to feel at once like something straight out of a Hartnell episode and also ten times better than any TARDIS arrival we’ve seen in ages.
This story is Pennant Roberts’ first directing credit on Doctor Who, and he’ll be with us for a long time yet, right through to Colin Baker’s time in the TARDIS. It’s a bold start, and shows that there’s still direction to be excited about even with veterans like Douglas Camfield and David Maloney bowing out around this time.
I could go on and on and on here, so I’m going to quit while I’m ahead and simply say how pleased I am that there’s still episodes like this which can come along and be perfect for me. It’s lovely to be back to loving the series after a few days of being pretty negative on the subject…!
The Face of Evil — Part Two
Leela! I went through that whole first episode without discussing the most important feature introduced in it — our new companion! I’ll confess to feeling a bit of trepidation about Leela joining the programme. I enjoyed Jo so much, and Sarah Jane even more, and for some reason I had it in the back of my mind that Leela just wasn’t quite as good, and that I risked being a bit disappointed.
That was nonsense, though, because she’s brilliant from the very first moment she appears, and Louise Jameson is putting in one hell of a performance. I think it’s fair to say that she’s one of the best actual actresses we’ve had as a companion in the series, and it helps that she’s being given so much to work with here. In the opening two episodes alone we get to see Leela going through loads of emotions. She starts off — in her very first scene — as brash and headstrong. Heck, we open with her on trial for speaking out against the laws of her tribe! She argues with the people who try to sentence her and lets us know that she won’t stand for any rubbish.
And then moments later she’s on her knees begging for forgiveness because she can’t bear the thought of her father being punished in her place. The scene could be read as a bit of a cliche, but I think it works marvellously. It tells us so much about the character with very little work, and I think that’s the sign of Chris Boucher’s skill as a writer.
Before the episode is over we’ve seen her quite capably kill a man, and even this episode gives her new things to do; breaking back into the tribe by cutting a hole in the wall of the tent, and cowering on the floor when she thinks she’s hearing the voice of a God she was so sure didn’t exist. The script is serving Leela well, and Louise Jameson is really running with the part. That sequence of her cowering is played almost entirely with her in the background, but she draws the eye even with Tom Baker doing his thing at the front of the screen.
I think that’s where the real beauty lies with this character, though; the relationship with Doctor Who is so brilliant. I’ve already said that he’s got quite a paternal bearing towards her, and I think they’re working together so well right from the off. I’m especially fond of the moment that Leela comes up with a thought that the Time Lord has entirely overlooked;
Leela: ‘Doctor?’
Doctor Who: ‘Yes?’
Leela: ‘You know you said nothing could get within that barrier?’
Doctor Who: ‘Yes.’
Leela: ‘Not light or anything.’
Doctor Who: ‘No.’
Leela: ‘But Xoanon is inside it.’
Doctor Who: ‘Yes.’
Leela: ‘How do we hear his voice?’
Doctor Who: ‘Well, it’s quite simple. We... You’re a genius. A genius.’
Leela: ‘What did I say?’
It plays back into that idea of the characters being written so well here, and it’s just so much fun to watch them interacting together. It’s such a different dynamic to the one I’ve been used to and that really does make all the difference.
Tom Baker — and indeed Doctor Who — continues to be on fine form in this one, and I think there’s moments in here which will end up among my favourite for this incarnation forevermore. His expression of something silly being ‘flapdoodle’, smiling and waving like a madman while in the middle of an execution sentence, and especially the way he keeps score of an argument between two of the guest cast using tennis terms — ‘fifteen — love’.
I love the way he gains the upper hand upon re-entering the camp, taking a seat in the main throne and throwing some brilliant shade at his opponent;
Doctor Who: ‘Good evening, gentlemen. You know, I never thought you’d get here. Good heavens, look at that. Now then, down to business. I’m beginning to think you don’t like me. Ah, Neeva. Is it really you? They told me you were dead. Or was it the other way round?’
I’m starting to suspect (whisper it) that Chris Boucher might actually be the person who writes the Fourth Doctor Who the best — even above and beyond the much-lauded Robert Banks Stewart. The truth is that I could sit here and type out almost every moment Baker features in this episode as a highlight, because I love them all. It even gets a bit meta in places, such as when Neeva puts on a ridiculous hat made of a glove. It’s the kind of thing that — in a story I wasn’t enjoying — I’d be calling out as ridiculous and stupid, but the script gets there first;
Doctor Who: ‘I like the hat. Very fetching.’
Leela: ‘That was the Hand of Xoanon.’
Doctor Who: ‘That was an armoured space glove.’
And then there’s the cliffhanger, in which Doctor Who and Leela make it through the jungle and look out across the mountains… to see a giant carving of Doctor Who’s face among the rocks! Hah! That’s brilliant. It’s the kind of bonkers image that only Doctor Who could get away with, and I love it.
I’ve agonised over the score on this one, but think I’m going with a 9/10 overall. It was very close to creeping higher, though.
