Doctor Who: The Face Of Evil [DVD]

The Tardis lands in the middle of a Jungle Planet and the Doctor comes into contact with two warring tribes the Sevateem and the Tesh. Why does the Sevateem tribe worship a god called Xoanan and why do they believe the Tesh are holding him captive.The Doctor meets one of the tribe Leela who calls the Doctor The Evil One, after being on the planet for a while The Doctor seems to realise he has visited there before but done something that has made this world possible and with the help of Leela sets out to change events to make things easier for the two tribes to try to get along with each.This is the first story with Louise Jameson as Leela who becomes Tom Bakers second companion after Elisabeth Sladen left in The Hand Of Fear and she could not be more different and this is a great introduction for her.Leslie Schofield and David Garfield reveal in their commentary of both working with Patrick Troughton in his final story The War Games and is fascinating to hear there thoughts on the difference between him and Tom Baker.Can't believe I have left it so long to watch this gem and was not disappointed one bit, this is a must have for anyone's collection.We get commentaries from Louise Jameson (Leela) Leslie Schofield (Calib) David Garfield (Neeva) Mike Elles (Gentek) Harry H Fielder (Assassin) with the Producer Phillip Hinchcliffe along with Film Cameraman John McGlashanInto The Wild talks to Cast and Crew about the making of this story.From the Cutting Room Floor we get to see behind-the-scene glimpses of the actual film shoot.Tomorrows Times News Items about the 4th Doctors tenureLouise Jameson talks about her own experience of her role on the show.Other extras including Swap Shop, Toy Advert and more.

'The Face of Evil' sadly isn't one of the better remembered stories of the Philip Hinchcliffe era which is a shame as it's a superb story. The pace is slow but it's an intelligent script with some great ideas behind it.The story deals with the intriguing idea of the Doctor's intervention having an adverse effect on a civilisation; the Doctor was responsible for, albeit accidentally, driving Xoanon insane. There is also a pleasing element of mystery to the early part of the story as we see a primitive tribe with what appears to be the remains of advanced technology.The set design is creative; the story features a convincing jungle set but after two episodes the action shifts to the futuristic white corridors of the colonists spaceship which are also impressive sets. The chamber with three large screens that represents Xoanon is also very effective. The Sevateem are well realised with good costumes. The Tesh on the other hand are less impressive, they have silly costumes and a bizarre comical bowing ritual.After a downbeat performance in 'The Deadly Assassin' Tom Baker is back to his old self here cracking jokes and being eccentric in a very strong performance. Louise Jameson is superb as new companion Leela. Leela's characterisation is very different to other companions, she is portrayed as fearless, violent and extremely tough with the Doctor objecting to her acts of brutality. Leela is also shown to be ignorant but intelligent, the Doctor even describes her as a genius.There are some very memorable cliffhangers such as the one at the end of episode one where we see the Doctor's face carved Mount Rushmore style into a cliff face. The episode three cliffhanger where Xoanon torments the Doctor is harrowing.All in all 'The Face of Evil' is a clever, gripping, thought provoking story with pleasing twists and a great new companion.The main extra is 'Into the Wild' an informative 25 minute 'making of' documentary. 'From the Cutting Room Floor' is a selection of film trims from filming done for the story at Ealing.'Tomorrow's Times The Fourth Doctor' is about newspaper coverage of Doctor Who during the Tom Baker era. It is presented by Wendy Padbury. They cover William Hartnell's sad death in April 1975 and some of the reactions to it.'Doctor Who Stories: Louise Jameson' is 17 minutes of footage from an interview with Louise Jameson, conducted in 2003, in which she talks about her time on the show. There is also a short clip from a 1977 episode of 'Swap Shop' in which Louise Jameson is interviewed by Noel Edmonds.