Sometimes it’s the untold stories that are the most interesting. What immediately grabs one about Chris Boucher’s debut script for Doctor Who is he does something that had seldom happened in the show before. He speaks of an untold adventure within his story itself. The Doctor has once before visited the planet of the Sevateem and the Tesh and had something to do with the great computer Xoanon. It’s interesting when we get snippets of unseen untelevised adventures, as it leaves the mind free to dream up scenarios of what could have happened in these spoken of stories.
And the great things about the Face of
Evil most certainly do not end with just the mentioning of an unseen previous
adventure. First and foremost, there is the brilliant introduction of Louise
Jameson as Leela. What could I possibly say about Louise that hasn’t been said
before? I am a massive fan of female characters in any show who are shown to be
tough and able to take care of themselves. And the Sevateem Warrior Leela was
and still is one of the most ballsy women I have seen in any TV show. She was
not a screamer, she took the fight to the enemy, even if they were far deadlier
than she was. Louise always gave her a gritty and real edge that was always
superb to watch on screen. Her rather short and shabby leather costume too must
have been a reason why the number of Dad’s in Doctor Who’s audience went on the
increase Louise still to this day with Big Finish treats Leela with conviction
and zeal and right from her first story she grips the attention and is glorious
to watch on screen.
And it is not even greatly obvious that when she first joined Tom Baker in the show, they initially did not hit it off well. But now they seem to be the best of friends and this is great to see. It adds to their adventures no end. But as I say on screen one really never gets the feeling that they haven’t as yet hit it off. This to me displays what such quality actors they both were. They are excellent from the get go, already like a well-oiled team.
Tom is on fine form and leads the story brilliantly from the get go. His Doctor is never less than incredibly diverting and interesting to watch. He’s never predictable.
One slight oddity of the story though is Leela’s father is seen in the first scene. He then takes the test of the Horda and dies a horrific death in his daughter’s place and after all this she never speaks of her father ever again. I find this very strange indeed. But I am glad Big Finish have addressed this odd issue in their audio range as to me this always rang a bit strange. But for me that is the only strangeness in the script.
The realisation of the computer Xoanon is excellently done. One really feels this is a psychopathic and deadly computer we are seeing the Doctor face off against. And that he feels partially responsible for how Xoanon has turned out adds a great sense of depth to the storytelling. The multiple screaming voices of Xoanon in the Doctor’s ears in part three make for a cracking good cliffhanger. The eerie girly cries of “Who am I? Who am I?” really disturb and leave one hungry to see how the situation is resolved.
The Tribe of the Sevateem too are all superbly realised characters. Chris Boucher has a great grasp of character, just as strong as the late Robert Holmes. Victor Lucas as the leader Andor really sounds uncannily similar to Valentine Dyall in his vocal tones, and makes for a great leader of the tribe. Leslie Schofield too is equally excellent as the devious Calib. Brendan Price gives Tomas a human and decent edge that makes him another likeable member of the tribe. But it is definitely David Garfield as Neeva who steals the show as the shaman of the Sevateem. He is a joy to watch on screen, and only he could wear a cricket glove on his head and not look stupid! He gives Neeva his all, and he’s a brilliantly rounded character who dominates every scene he is in. The way he displays his faith in Xoanon being shattered too is excellent.
The Tesh come across as soulless and unnerving too. Leon eagles as Jabel is particularly nasty and single minded in his portrayal. His smug, self-assured manner makes him a character one loves to loathe. It is very amusing how after Xoanon is finally delivered from his madness that the tribe of Sevateem and the Tesh have to learn to come together and work something out for their future. It is also highly amusing to see how Leela actually basically thrusts herself into the TARDIS and the Doctor’s journey is space and time too. She is so wickedly naughty as Leela, not only fiercely loyal and dependable and lethal with a knife and Janus Thorn.
The set design of the story is very good too. The forests of the planet are reminiscent of the excellence of the alien jungle in Planet of Evil. And the stone carved face of the Fourth Doctor in the mountain is brilliantly achieved for the time. Perhaps, maybe the only slight problem is the scenes with the Tesh and Xoanon do seem a trifle over lit. But for once this does not impinge too much on how good the story is.
So, all in all, The Face of Evil stands as a great introductory script from Chris Boucher into the worlds of Doctor Who. It’s a very fine story indeed and definitely deserves the mantle of “classic”. And as an introduction to Leela it is almost flawless. I think it’s a crying shame that Chris would only contribute two more stories to the Tom Baker era after this story. He is a very gifted writer indeed who I feel could have given a whole lot more to the show. It is good to see he would contribute greatly to the BBC original novels range when it came about in the 1990s but I still would love to see more from him in the screen way.
The Face of Evil comes from Season 14. It’s a season rich with Doctor Who classics. Robert Holmes and Philip Hinchcliffe as Script Editor and Producer saw the show head in a more meaty, adult and gothic tone. It’s little wonder this era of Doctor Who is called the golden age of the programme. The Face of Evil ably proves why all on its own.
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