N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
The Hand of Fear is classic Bob Baker and Dave Martin Doctor Who. It’s crammed full of ideas – some of them great, some of them silly; it veers wildly in tone from one episode to the next and it has at its core a very unusual alien. It’s not hard to see that this came from the same minds that gave us The Claws of Axos and The Three Doctors.
“Well, I quite liked her, but I couldn’t stand him. “
Sarah, The Hand of Fear:
Part Four
The action covers 150 million years in its travels from deep space to a quarry to a nuclear reactor back to deep space and finally (but probably not) to South Croydon.
The disembodied hand, the location work, the make-up – particularly on Judith Paris as Eldrad – and the guest performances, especially Rex Robinson as Dr. Carter, Glyn Houston as Prof. Watson and the aforementioned Judith Paris are excellent. I even like Stephen Thorne’s full-on roar-athon in Part Four, although I did half-expect him to start saying ‘maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh’ at one point.
“Till we meet again, Sarah.”
The Doctor, The Hand of Fear:
Part Four
If that’s not enough it also has one of Doctor Who‘s finest leaving scenes (and there’s stiff competition there with Susan, Ian and Barbara, Victoria, Jamie and Zoe and Jo Grant all having powerful, emotional farewells).
We’ve gotten used to big goodbyes in 21st century Doctor Who, but Sarah’s leaving scene is a masterpiece of understatement.
Let’s leave aside that it’s not clear why the Doctor asserts that he can’t take Sarah with him to Gallifrey: from Sarah’s rant about life aboard the TARDIS, to the shock of the Doctor’s message from Gallifrey, to Sarah’s packing her bags and the Doctor’s confusion as to how she ‘knew’, to his (probably) not dropping Sarah off in the right town, let alone street, her final moments with the Doctor are worth the price of entry alone. (Hey, it’d be worth it for the melancholic joy of Sarah’s ‘That’s my home.’)
I’m too young for Sarah Jane Smith to be my companion. (I was only two when she left the TARDIS.) Nevertheless, it’s easy to see why she’s regarded as one of the Doctor’s greatest travelling companions. Brave, intelligent, unafraid to plumb the deepest depths of the TARDIS wardrobe – what’s not to like! The foreknowledge that she’ll be back (albeit many years later) softens the impact of her departure somewhat, but back in 1976, they didn’t know that. And for now I have to pretend that I don’t either.
"I think this story shouldn't have been called The Hand of Fear because only the first two episodes have the 'hand' in them … they should have chosen a title that was about the whole story." (How about The Hand of Eldrad? – UT)"
"It's Sarah Jane's last story as the main companion. It doesn't feel like she was the companion for long but she was." (I agree, it's flown! – UT)
Son of UT Rating: 8/10
