Very much like a hammer horror movie, which i rather enjoy. One part you might think wow the Doctor did that: he passes a gun to a man who wants to shoot himself.

Whilst I was pleasantly surprised by the Invisible Enemy, I was ultimately let down by Image of the Fendahl.

I think Tom Baker was definitely not used properly in this story - Dull, boring and serious. He got a few silly moments, such as offering the jelly baby to the Fendahl Skull, but apart from that, there wasn't much to go off. However, when it needs to be serious, his tone matches it so well - the way he respects Stael's wishes and lets him kill himself so he doesn't become a Fendahl is something truly dark and I did not expect that at all! You can tell the rift between the Doctor and Leela still healing from the Fourth Doctor Adventures, with the Doctor still scolding her every now and then. Despite this, Leela still gets to be the action hero and is immensely entertaining throughout. Poor K-9 gets sidelined already - I was hoping for more from his second story.

So the Fendahl were the main reason I was excited for this story - They obviously warranted a return in Big Finish's eyes against both the Eighth Doctor and Torchwood! But they don't actually show up properly until the final part - something I've noticed in Williams' stories so far. I guess he's trying to focus the monsters on their stories rather than their designs - but in this case, I think the design is better than the monster (The slug thing, not the gold lady) because I just didn't get what they wanted - they were killing some people for... some reason, and then wanted to turn other people into slug monsters... somehow... I don't know if there was something I missed, I just was letdown.

Back to Earth - *again*! This cosy little village with the church reminded me of Foe From The Future, and I wonder if the series had originally planned to film there in the first place. Because a lot of it was on location, the camera quality was a bit poorer, something which can't really be helped because it's 1977 but you get my point. I do think that the Priory itself was also dull and bland, because there was nothing that made it stand out.

Were there any proper special effects in this story? I don't think so, aside from the transformation which was just a fade. Whilst I think this is because Williams is trying to make it story-based instead of visuals-based, it means that there's nothing that makes it distinguishable from other stories.

You can tell that I'm not a fan of this story. This does make me think that this is probably the worst season of Tom's run due to its forgettable and subpar stories (Apart from Fang Rock and Invisible Enemy), but I'll continue on and I'll hopefully be proven wrong.

A good bit of classic occult/folk horror Who, with a bit of an eldritch flair. Nothing especially groundbreaking here in terms of plotting or villainy, and the plot drops off sharply for a bit while the Doctor and Leela go try to investigate the creature's planet of origin in the TARDIS, but it had some great design work, some fun side characters, a nicely unsettling atmosphere, and some good Doctor-companion relationship. I enjoyed it immensely.

This is a stronger story then a lot of people give credit for I love it not as much this watch round but it was still fun

• Stylistically I like this story
• The Fendalh I think is a fascinating foe, I would have loved to have learned more about them, the design is interesting
• Leela is awesome in this story
• Side cast does a great job too, keeping up the drama and being useful
• I just love the atmosphere of this story, this is how envision a classic doctor who perfectly

Chris Boucher is really one of the greatest Who writers huh. Absolutely adore gothic horror vibes in the last two episodes (I wasn't particularly impressed by first two episodes, but they made a REALLY good job at the end of the serial imo)

An enjoyable episode but nothing groundbreaking. I think the "small English town with a superstitious old witch and a cult that are secretly worshipping what is actually an alien" trope was done better in The Dæmons, and at least that one had a fun villain.

I like the design of the Fendahl - I almost want to cosplay her - and Fendahleens, even if it was very similar to the design of the Drashigs.

Leela's new dress didn't fit her properly at all, and the bun wasn't a great look either. I'm glad they seemed to reset back to her old look at the end.

As is the nature of any long-running show, there were plenty of things I felt other episode of Doctor Who had done both better and worse than this one. Nothing is truly original, but it's amazing to see the same plots and tropes repeat on the same show to such varied results.

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Invisible Enemy

More strange happenings in a small English town.  It's a trope that feels a bit overdone, however this story still manages to feel fresh.

The Fendahl is certainly a creepy villain, but not much explanation is given to their motivations and the Doctor's fear doesn't match the villains supposed abilities.

Still, the location filming looks really great and the supporting cast are quite entertaining.

Unfortunately, K9 is absent in the actual story as John Lesson hadn't actually been recruited for the series at that point.

Next Story: The Sun Makers

This story starts poorly. The on location direction is far superior than the stuff done in the studio. I understand the benefits of being on film, but the director (George Spenton-Foster) feels totally out of their comfort zone, arriving at awkward performances. I’m all for more “stage theatre” inspired acting, but at points in this production I have absolutely no idea why certain actors are facing in certain directions, often completely away from the people they are supposed to be talking to.

Although we've been told about what the Fendahl is all about and what it wants, we're not given much of a reason to care. The drama feels detached from any of the character's experiences. They manage to build to a terrifically tense (if a little unearned) cliffhanger which is then totally let down by the resolution for the doctor being completely flat at the beginning of episode two when he ambles away from the apparent threat.

Leela and The Doctor are easily the best thing about this story, I particularly like the "tea and fruit cake" scene. I know it’s a minor point, but Leela’s classic look is really off in this one too, the bun does nothing for her, which probably accounts for why her look is completely reset at the end of the story.

Having said all this, there is enough plot and intrigue to keep the show moving along at a fair pace. It's a small cut above The Invisible Enemy if nothing else.