Month: February 2007

The Hand of Fear
by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
Story #87

Starring Tom Baker as The Doctor
and Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith.

Farewell Sarah Jane, until we meet again.

Synopsis
The Doctor and Sarah arrive in a quarry. No, really, in an actual quarry, not a quarry pretending to be an alien planet. Too bad they arrive just as a charge is detonated, bringing it all down on Sarah. Sarah is relatively unharmed, but is unearthed clutching a strange fossilized hand.

Sarah, unconscious, is taken to the nearby hospital where she begins behaving oddly. The hand, when exposed to radiation, proves to be alive. Sarah, in possession of – and in the possession of – the ring that was on the hand, steals the hand and takes it to the nearest nuclear reactor.

She infiltrates the reactor and sets in motion the events that allow the hand to regenerate into Eldrad, a female, silicon-based lifeform.

Eldrad is somewhat standoffish, but since the humans have attacked her, the Doctor makes allowances for some of Eldrad’s behavior. Eldrad spins a tale of woe, about how her planet was invaded and she was betrayed by her people and sentenced to destruction, but the destruction failed. She convinces the Doctor to return her to her home world.

When they arrive, the world is dead, and traps have been laid to destroy Eldard in case she returns. The traps almost succeed, but just before death, Eldrad manages to use a machine to regenerate once again. This time Eldrad assumes his real form, as a male. His earlier body was patterned after Sarah Jane.

Finally all things are revealed, Eldrad craved power and wanted to rule the universe. His people revolted against him and, to prevent any chance of his return and starting again, they destroyed themselves, utterly, leaving Eldard the last of his kind.

The Doctor and Sarah escape, leaving Eldrad at the bottom of a chasm.

As they leave, the Doctor receives a telepathic summons to return to Gallifrey and he is forced to leave Sarah Jane behind on Earth.

Analysis
For Sarah’s final episode, this was a bit of pedestrian story, made more credible by some quality performances from the regular and guest cast. Sarah’s creepy possession has spawned her most memorable line, “Eldrad must live!” Which, to this day, she’s asked to repeat by fans.

For such a beloved character, even in her day, this was another unsatisfactory departure with no forewarning, tacked on the end of the story. Perhaps, if you’re traveling through time with the Doctor, that’s how it would really be – never knowing if this would be your last day in the TARDIS. Still, it’s unsatisfying for the audience and explains why Sarah Jane has been brought back time and again. (First in K9 and Company, then again in Doctor Who for “School Reunion” and now in her own Sarah Jane Adventures.)

DVD
The quality of the disc is good, but nothing extraordinary. The 1970s-1980s Doctor Who’s don’t seem to get a lot of restoration work, probably because of the better preservation of the originals and the need to marshal their resources to work on the older, more degraded episodes from the 1960’s.

There are still a plethora of DVD extras, including some promotional material from the time the episode was aired, plus new commentary by Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, and a 50 minute documentary on Sarah Jane’s time in the TARDIS.

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“Doctor Who – The Hand of Fear (Episode 87)” (BBC Warner)

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