The Hand of Fear - Episode 1

The next four days aren’t going to be very happy ones because this story marks the end of Elisabeth Sladen’s time on the show. Today’s episode is her 71^st episode and by the end will be on 74 and tied with Jacqueline Hill in all time appearances. Although by the time she makes her final appearance in show I think she will have overtaken both Katy Manning and William Russell.

As opening scenes go, the one for this episode is rather good and gives the story an epic feel to it. It almost felt like an annoyance that the focus of the story was shifting back to earth. When it does go to earth it’s a rare thing of them filming in a quarry which is suppose to be a quarry and not an alien landscape. The shot of the rock exploding and it all falling on the camera is one of the most impressive shots that I have seen in Doctor Who (that didn’t require CGI). The fact that Sarah is caught in the falling rocks should have been a big indication that Elisabeth Sladen’s involvement in the show was about to come to an end. I’ve heard that Sladen wanted to go out with a bang and that’s about as close as she would get.

Eldrad Must Lie is the line the Sarah Jane utters and this is where Sarah’s hypnotism really begins. Her new menace is either undermined or enhanced by the Andy Pandy vibe of her costume. Personally I think that it slightly undermines it but not to an extent that ruins the story. It’s largely due to Elisabeth Sladen that it works to the extent that it does. It’s mainly down to the stare that Sladen uses for most of the episode, she is cold and is far from the Sarah that we all know and love. Not since the early days of her time on the show has Elisabeth Sladen been allowed to do something different with the character. Tom Baker is almost the companion in this episode as his performance falls below Sladen’s and that is perhaps as it should be in this story.

When the story moves to the nuclear base it just increases how epic this story feels. The idea that they were filming in a proper nuclear base just seems made by today’s standards because there would be so much red tape and security checks that it wouldn’t be worth doing it now so to be able to get away with it in 1976 is something that adds a great deal of excitement to the serial. Ok so some most of the scenes in this setting are filmed in a studio but just the sight of what we get in this episode and what we will get in future episodes.

The effect of the hand growing back its fingers and moving around is a great one and makes for a great cliffhanger. After being slightly bored with the previous story, I am happy to say that I have had my faith restored in the show and this opening episode does everything that a companions final episode should be and I think that the final three episodes will be a fitting send off to one of the most loved companions in Doctor Who history.