The Face of Evil

 

The Face of Evil by Chris Boucher

I've always loved Leela. 

I'm not sure what it is about her in particular, but the character in general has always been a fascinating one to me. Leela does take a bit of influence from those before her, but for the most part, she serves as an impressively new figure in the series, and she would have to be. The audience were so dearly attatched to Sarah Jane, the only way they could possibly move on is with something completely different. And they certainly did. Leela was different. The only time she screamed in the entirety of her run was when a Rat was gnawing on her leg (Louise Jameson wanted Leela to be distanced as far as possible from the screaming hysterics of some companions prior.) Despite her primitive surroundings (which made her a good audience identification figure) she was also fiercely intelligent. Result? Leela possesses a balance that very few companions have. Some have gone as far as to call her a prototype for Ace - an action girl with a disobedient streak, a teacher-student mentor relationship with the Doctor. And whilst most prefer Ace, I find Leela has always been my preferred companion. I may be going on a bit about the brilliance and likability of the character, but that's more of an introduction. Because that's what the Face of Evil is - a stunningly good introduction to the character. Face of Evil is a "jump-on" story. You get them once in a while, even in modern Who, and they aren't always with a new Doctor. Consider Smith and Jones, Partners in Crime, The Pilot! Of course if you do start there there can be some continuity problems later on, but they are designed as stories that the audience is (re)introduced to the Doctor, and unlike a regeneration story, you see the Doctor in their prime. The Face of Evil is certainly prime Tom Baker - at both times brazen and off-kilter and broodingly macabre. And not only that, he's double billing as Xoanon, which gives us some really stunning cliffhangers. Part One ends with us seeing the Doctor's face carved into the rock - it's really gripping stuff the story throws at you. At the stories worst, it can be a bit of a runaround, or the tribal characters could be dull, but at it's best, Face of Evil is a perfect showing of Who, even if it's not a particularly ambitious one, it's from a team that knows exactly what it is doing. Many people will shriek and shriek that "ooh, it's Pyramids of Mars," or "No! How dare you! It has to be Talons!" But for me, Face is just the story that oozes the Hinchcliffe's eras themes the most. It's not even the best, or the most gothic. It feels...just, important! It looks really great for a classic serial, too - and it's got some sharp ideas about the Doctor actually influencing a people for once, as well as the fun mutation of language and people overtime. The Technicians becoming the Tesh for instance. I've always loved stories about the "telephone line game" of time, and how ideas gradually become more distorted. These are all good elements, and it would make a fine story, but Leela's introduction is the fabric that really ties it all together. Makes it work. The glue to these introduction stories is always the companion being thrust into this strange new world and Leela performs quite well at this. I mean, when doesn't she? It's the start of an exceptionally great era with Baker and Jameson at the helm - and people thought no one could ever replace Sarah Jane. Well, you can't. And they certainly knew that. But you get what I mean: 9/10