Stories Television Doctor Who Season 14 Classic Who S14 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Face of Evil 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 3 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 7 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, January 1, 1977 Production Code 4Q Written by Chris Boucher Directed by Pennant Roberts Runtime 100 minutes Story Type New Companion Introduction Time Travel Future Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Time Travel Pivotal, The Doctor Falls, AI gone wrong, Spaceship, Consequences, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Doctor Doppelgänger, Mistaken Identity Inventory (Potential Spoilers!) Jelly Babies Synopsis The Doctor arrives on a planet where two tribes, the savage Sevateem and the technically brilliant Tesh, are at war. He meets Leela, an exile from the Sevateem, and discovers that their god of evil is apparently himself. Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save 4 Episodes Part One First aired Saturday, January 1, 1977 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Chris Boucher Directed by Pennant Roberts UK Viewers 10.7 million Appreciation Index 61 Synopsis An unnamed planet, the distant future. Arriving in a place that seems oddly familiar, the Doctor finds the savage Sevateem tribe battling to free their captive god, Xoanon, from the Evil One and his Tesh servants. But can the whole situation really be the Doctor's fault? Part Two First aired Saturday, January 8, 1977 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Chris Boucher Directed by Pennant Roberts UK Viewers 11.1 million Synopsis The Sevateem launch another attack to try to free Xoanon as the Doctor tries to figure out his role in their past. But his only chance to win their trust is to face a deadly test. Part Three First aired Saturday, January 15, 1977 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Chris Boucher Directed by Pennant Roberts UK Viewers 11.3 million Appreciation Index 59 Synopsis The Doctor has broken through the barrier and found the Tesh. But he comes to an awful realisation about Xoanon. Part Four First aired Saturday, January 22, 1977 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Chris Boucher Directed by Pennant Roberts UK Viewers 11.7 million Appreciation Index 60 Synopsis The Doctor tries to fix the mad computer Xoanon. But it is determined to stop him – even if it must destroy the entire world! Show All Episodes Characters Fourth Doctor Leela First Appearance Xoanon Show All Characters (3) How to watch The Face of Evil: Watch on iPlayer Blu-Ray The Collection – Season 14 DVD The Face of Evil VHS The Face of Evil (VHS) Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 3 reviews 19 December 2024 · 209 words Review by dema1020 Spoilers 1 This review contains spoilers! Leela's first episode does a lot right. Her character is well realized even if there's a clear element of sexualization going on here. I love her character's agency and the way she winds up joining up with the Doctor. It feels very her. The actual story going on with the Sevateem and Tesh is alright. It's a lot more interesting as first when it is a bit more mysterious compared to near the end where events feel like they start to drag out a bit. The angle of this involving a past adventure with the Doctor, one never mentioned or shown before, is novel for its time but isn't really used in a way that felt extremely meaningful. Yet I like the energy Leela and the Doctor bring to the table almost immediately. This is a great introduction for her and really shows off Louise Jameson nicely. This is one of the better examples of performers elevating a middling story I have encountered in the show thus far. Our leads are just so pleasant and fun to watch that little else feels like it matters all that much. Even if they do make the insane mistake of changing the character's eye colour to not match that of the actor's. Like Liked 1 23 September 2024 · 59 words Review by AndyUK Spoilers 2 This review contains spoilers! It's okay. I like the idea of exploring the impact of one of the Doctor's past adventures (even if it would've been better had we actually seen that story) though it never really goes anywhere that exciting with it, and the tribe stuff is a bit dull. Couple of cool cliffhangers with Tom Baker being the 'Evil One' though Like Liked 2 8 May 2024 · 261 words Review by 15thDoctor Spoilers 4 This review contains spoilers! Up until this point in the show’s history, there has has only been one other time we’ve had two such strong stories back to back. 1966’s The Tenth Planet into Power of the Daleks, which was 10 months ago in this marathon. Doctor Who is a naturally uneven show, so on the rare occasions that it manages to be consistently flawless I find myself in awe of the producers. Leela is magnificent. They had a hell of a job following Sarah-Jane but they managed it. Four companion free episodes buttered us up for someone new. Having someone from an entirely different culture who retains some of that culture and does not come across as contemporary the moment they step through the TARDIS doors is also a rarely used and brilliant move at this point. Leela follows in the tradition of several 1960s companions, particularly Victoria, Zoe and Jamie. The story is of a survey team and a tech team who for generations have been manipulated by a sentient, malfunctioning computer which was set on the wrong course by The Doctor many years before. I mean. Read that pitch. It’s perfect. The survey team becomes the tribe, prized for their brawn and reflexes, the tech team become a learned book smart race. The computer has a plan to use the best example of each species in a eugenics experiment. Bloody hell. Now THAT’S science fiction. First time Who writer Chris Boucher can stay based on this performance. In fact - he is back next week! Like Liked 4 Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating309 members 3.73 / 5 Trakt.tv AVG. Rating348 votes 3.85 / 5 The Time Scales AVG. Rating163 votes 3.80 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 591 Favourited 43 Reviewed 3 Saved 2 Skipped 0 Owned 11 Related Stories The Fourth Doctor Adventures S3 • Episode 4 The Evil One Rating: 3.12 Story Skipped Audio Drama More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who and the Face of Evil Rating: 3.64 Story Skipped Book More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite DOCTOR: The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don’t alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering. — Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil Show All Quotes (7) Open in new window Transcript Needs checking Part One [Meeting hall] (In a wicker and wood hall, a scantily leather-clad tribe of people meet to decide the fate of a young woman.) CALIB: You are the leader, Andor. It is for you to decide. But there can be but one punishment for such a heresy. Banishment. (The leader is sitting on a throne which looks like it has some high-tech origin.) Show Full Transcript Open in new window
