The Face of Evil - Episode 2

I’ve done something different with todays episode and that is I am watching it and then leaving it a few hours before I write this review. I was hoping that it was have a good effect on me but I’m afraid to say that this didn’t happen. As much as I am enjoying what I am seeing in this episode. I would be lying if I said that I thought that it was particularly good. I think that as normal adventure its perfectly fine but its nothing spectacular. This is the first episode where the name Xoanon becomes part of the plot and a bit more explanation is made about why the Doctor has had the impact he has had on this planet.

I still think that Louise Jameson is giving the character a good try and being involved in the story and I like how she hasn’t screamed or really done anything stupid. As much as I dislike the outfit that she is wearing, I cant fault what is being done with the character in terms of what would be considered classic companions traits such as screaming but whereas in the past it would be annoying that the likes of Jo and Jamie would ask stupid questions, its sort of expected from Leela as she is being introduced as someone who isn’t that smart.

The effect of the Xoanon Doctor appearing was rather good and it was only made good because Tom Baker pulls the most extraordinary face which does look quite scary. Tom Baker’s humour does show itself again in this episode but this time it feels like its more at the expense of the locals. There is one bit where the Doctor is using a cricket metaphor which in the scene that he uses it is a bit odd.

The thing is that this story really is struggling to maintain my interest and I think even if you watched this long after ‘The Deadly Assassin’, this story would look a bit slow and I worry that the final two episodes will be hard to watch. It’s a shame because as I mentioned earlier, its not a terrible thing to watch because there are things in it that are making it watchable but I think that it is just lacking that final punch to make it a well like story.