Doctor Who (TV Series) The Hand of Fear: Part Four (1976) User Reviews

Farewell Sarah Jane.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 27 February 2021]

On Kastria, Eldrad must reach the regenerative chamber, but obstacles have been placed in their way.

The conclusion of Eldrad's story was fairly disappointing I thought, it needed to be more complex, it was just a bit silly. The highlight of this episode though is Sarah Jane's departure, for many, the ultimate companion, she deserved a good send off, and she got one.

It has the feeling of being the end of one of the best eras in the show's history. Tom has been marvellous as always, and here he's so much the character of The Doctor, no sentimental goodbyes, he sees things differently to us mere humans. This is something that didn't translate well in new Who.

It has a vibe of Death to The Daleks about it, a shadowy figure sat watching events.

Eldrad is an interesting figure, we perhaps needed to learn a little bit more, guilty of genocide? For me, Eldrad was great in the form of Judith Paris, but very poor in the form of Stephen Thorne, that subtlety, and lack of obvious villainy has all gone, sometimes gender swaps don't work. He somehow feels so primitive, so simple.

I think the sets look pretty great. Production values have been pretty great throughout.

Farewell Sarah Jane, she had a nice send off, but deserved a better story. 7/10.

The Crystal Crazy...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 3 July 2022]

Quite a tangent as we cross the crystal maze, and enjoy a great companion's final plays, and we know that now and then, the writers strike gold with their pen, Elizabeth Sladen, always welcome, again and again...

Farewell Sarah Jane. A lot of wonderful highlights in this adventure and the sad departure of The Doctor's best ever companion.

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 4 December 2014]

Review of all 4 episodes:

Sarah Jane Smith is thought by many, myself included, to be the greatest ever companion for The Doctor. It is incredibly sad to see her leave at the end of this story but this is a good send off for her. It is a great pity that she leaves in the final episode but the final scene between The Doctor and Sarah Jane is an extremely good, subtle and poignant farewell and she got this terrific adventure as her finale as a regular companion. Elisabeth Sladen is fabulous in her last regular story and the interactions with Tom Baker, who is also in top form, are perfect.

The start of episode 1 shows an alien world (Kastria) where a being called Eldrad who has been judged as a criminal is being supposedly destroyed. The Doctor and Sarah are then seen arriving accidentally in a quarry where rock blasting causes them to be buried by rubble. This opening couple of scenes does not indicate any greatness for this story, it is all looking pretty run of the mill. That is until Sarah reaches from under the rubble to take a hand she believes to be a rescuer only to find it is a hand not attached to a body. That moment is unnerving and quite intriguing. From that point on the opening episode gets better and better as it builds the suspense about the hand and its dangerous nature. It is, of course, the hand of the supposedly destroyed 'criminal' Eldrad and the TARDIS has clearly taken them where they need to be to deal with what happens. The hand has been in the ground for 150 million years but it now takes telepathic control of Sarah and makes her into a temporary (and convincing) villain. She takes the hand to a nuclear research centre station pursued by The Doctor.

There are believable, very well acted characters interacting brilliantly with our heroes. Glyn Houston as Professor Watson, Rex Robinson as Dr. Carter and Frances Pidgeon as Miss Jackson are convincing and wonderfully characterised. The story quickly becomes extremely interesting, gripping entertainment. The cliffhanger of episode 1 when the hand absorbs radiation and begins to move is brilliantly done and exciting.

The second and third episodes are absolutely marvelous, intelligent and thrilling. Eldrad is restored to a full female body and this alien being is a fabulous creation in every respect - visually superb, great voice, brilliantly acted by Judith Paris and full of interesting character, showing friendly and likable traits as well as threatening ones. The script expertly advances an intelligent plot with action and excitement side by side with clever and thoughtful ideas.

The final episode continues in the same fantastic way. Part way through the final episode it does have a few scenes that move away from the thoughtful, cerebral build up and turns into a more standard 'monster trying to destroy the universe' scenario. Eldrad changes into a male that looks pretty good but not quite as visually stunning or as impressively characterised as the female version. The male Eldrad played by Stephen Thorne does not have the fascinating character depth of the female version as he is revealed to be just another evil villain. It is a shame this less interesting choice for Eldrad's final scenes was made rather than the more nuanced character that had been there up until that point. It is more of a run of the mill villain finale for those few scenes but it is still exciting and a lot of fun.

As Part 4 turns out to be Sarah Jane's last episode as a regular companion (until returning in 1983's The Five Doctors, 2006's School Reunion and spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures) we get touching scenes where Sarah and The Doctor bid fond farewells. This is done with such class and poignancy and is so wonderfully acted by Tom and Lis that it ensures this final part maintains the top quality of the rest of the story.

It a pity in a way they could not have thought up a better finale to the Eldrad story, maintaining the more interesting female form but it was still a satisfying conclusion to a cracking adventure. Sarah's finale is done beautifully and if any character deserved a good farewell it is the delightful Sarah Jane Smith. Rest in peace Elisabeth Sladen, you played the best companion with sheer quality at all times.

My ratings: 10/10 for all 4 episodes.

S14: The Hand of Fear: Interesting mix of ideas and silly horror – until the final episode does more wrong than right (SPOILERS)

[bob the moo · 7 February 2016]

This serial opens with a scene-setting few moments which really make little sense since they have no connection to anything until a little later. I guess it gives the serial a bed but at the same time they could just as easily have been delivered as a flashback or story-telling later in the serial. From this we jump directly into the Doctor and Sarah in the middle of one of those 1970's Government- made public service films warning about the danger of wandering around in quarries. Of course, as always happened to the children in such films, the pair get caught in the blast and rock- fall. However unlike the children, who normally just wound up cooked on a pylon, the result of the blast is the uncovering of a fossilized hand and a ring, which trigger the return of a millennia- long dead alien creature.

Opening this way sort of sets the tone for this serial, which is uneven but mostly interesting. The first episodes seem to have a traditional 'alien threat' aspect to them, and it uses Sarah herself as the threat while at the same time having that horror oddity of the reforming hand. The use of the nuclear power station was topical then I am sure, but still is today, and I liked how the risks of this environment were used within the drama. Following this the serial swings into more interesting territory, as Eldrad is revealed in full form. This is interesting for a couple of reasons; the first most obvious one is that this powerful alien is female – which shouldn't be something of note, but it certainly would have been back in the 1970's. This also stuck out in my mind because I remembered the new series being criticized for changing genders around in a supposedly PC way (the example being the time-lord going from an older white man into a black woman in a recent episode) but of course here is the same thing right in the heart of the classic series!

Anyway, more interesting is that Eldrad is not the Addams Family ripoff that she/he appears, but is actually a humanoid with a more complex story to tell. Meanwhile the humans, clueless as ever, stumble around proving all the higher beings right, with our weapons and urge to destroy. The final episode blows a lot though. First it transforms Eldrad into a version of the creepy Burger King mascot, and has him suddenly become all hammy in his performance. There are some decent twists around this, but they don't really have the time to build into real danger – and anyway, this cosmic threat is destroyed by tripping him up with a scarf. The second thing is the way Sarah Jane is removed from the show. Okay it is nice that an entire season is not spent building a narrative around this (as has been the case recently), but at the same time it seems so half-assed that it is hard not to be annoyed. Certainly compared to the exits of Susan, or Jo Grant, to name two, there does seem to be a lack of anything remarkable – indeed her exit just seems convenient and nothing more.

Sladen probably deserved better, and her work in this serial shows it, as she is more than just 'in trouble', and I did enjoy the oddity of her being such a threat to the nuclear plant all while dressed in such a ridiculous getup. On the whole though, this serial is a quite fun mix of silly horror and good ideas, even if that final episode really has too much that doesn't work as it should.

Great start, disappointing end.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 26 February 2008]

Doctor Who: The Hand of Fear: Part Four starts as Eldrad (Judith Paris) is stabbed by some sort of syringe containing acid, as a silicone based life-form the acid begins to melt her from the inside out. Her only hope is to be taken to the reconfiguration chamber by the Doctor (Tom Baker) & Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) & her body reconfigured. The Doctor & Sarah succeed but Eldrad is reconfigured into his true form & reveals that he is intent on ruling the Universe...

Episode 8 from season 14 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during October 1976, directed by Lennie Mayne one has to say across it's four episodes The Hand of Fear started out very promisingly but has really faded into a dull forgettable story. The script by Bob Baker & Dave Martin had a great opening with the mysterious severed hand that comes to life, the Nuclear power plant setting & an intriguing story but none of it has come to anything & serves as nothing but padding for another silly looking alien who shouts a lot & wants to rule the Universe story. Over the last couple of episodes there hasn't been any sort of kick, twist or significant plot development to keep the story going or keep the viewers interest maintained. The whole of Part Four is the Doctor & Sarah taking Eldrad to a room, her changing bodies & coming out with the clichéd megalomaniac speech about wanting to take over & rule the Universe, blah, blah, blah. the Doctor stops him, the end. A disappointing last couple of episodes, The Hand of Fear could have been great. As it is, it isn't.

Apart from how silly Eldrad looks when he assumes his true form the main thing of note in Part Four is that it marks the last appearance of Elisabeth Sladen as the likable journalist Sarah-Jane Smith who started her time travelling adventures with Jon Pertwee's Doctor during The Time Warrior (1973) from season eleven. At this point Sarah-Jane was the longest serving Doctor Who companion stretching across more than three whole seasons & eighty episodes (although Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon held the record for the most individual episodes appeared in), originally there were plans to kill her character off but the story feel through & here we get a slightly sad ending as the Doctor leaves her behind on Earth. I must admit I do like the character quite a lot & she has remained a popular companion who has since appeared in the K-9 and Company (1980) spin-off, in The Five Doctors (1983) twentieth anniversary story, the new Doctor Who series episode School Reunion (2006) & actually got her own spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007). Lots of great stories, lots of great moments & a great companion played almost to perfection by a great actress.

The Hand of Fear: Part Four is a disappointing end to what could have been a great story, unfortunately it's not a great way to say goodbye to one of the show's best companions either. Overall I will give The Hand of Fear a slightly above average six stars out of ten across it's four episodes.