Doctor Who: 10 Great Fourth Doctor Stories

7. The Face of Evil (Story 089, 1977)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP9hSO40gv8 Ever wonder what happens after the Doctor leaves a planet? He shows up, topples the dictator, repels the aliens, and then goes away, leaving someone else to clean up the mess. Usually there€™s a little rebel group or something. We assume it all goes well, as does the Doctor. But what if it didn€™t? What if the Doctor accidentally changed things for the worse? That€™s what happened here. The Doctor, in an adventure we have never seen but which begs for an audio adaptation (are you listening, Big Finish?), arrived at a distant planet, mucked about, toppled the dictator and left. Now he comes back centuries later only to find that things haven€™t gone as planned and the place is ruled by an evil god. The mere fact that this story shows us what might happen if the Doctor was wrong about his actions makes it worth watching. The real icing on the cake, however, is that it introduces the character of Leela (Louise Jameson), a warrior woman who joins the Doctor at the end of the tale. She€™s someone who stands out in stark contrast to the previous companions, especially the female ones, and brought a real new feeling to the TARDIS (and, judging from her costume, probably brought some new feelings to many young boys in the audience). While the scene of the Doctor being attacked by a giant version of his own face (€œStand by for a message from the Big Giant Head!€), is pretty hilarious, the rest of the story holds up well and is a sheer delight to watch.