“The Face of Evil” is an adventure of the fourteenth season of “Doctor Who” classic series, which aired in 1977. It follows “The Deadly Assassin” and it’s a four parts adventure written by Chris Boucher and directed by Pennant Roberts.

The story

Leela (Louise Jameson) gets exiled from the tribe of Sevateem for her blasphemous statements against the god Xoanon. Her father sacrificed himself to save her life but she’s forced to leave her village. When she leaves, the shaman Neeva sends two men to kill her in secret.

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) arrives in the jungle of a planet and stumbles into Leela. He’s intrigued by this sagave girl, also because for some reason she thinks he’s the Evil One. Explanations must wait because in the jungle there are mortal creatures that are invisible.

Extras

This DVD contains several extras. There are typical contents such as production subtitles, a gallery of pictures from this adventure, the Radio Times Listings and a promo of the “Doctor Who” DVDs soon to be published.

There are various comments in the adventure alternative audio track by protagonist Louise Jameson, actors Leslie Schofield, David Garfield, Mike Elles and Harry H. Fielder, producer Philip Hinchcliffe and cameraman John McGlashan moderated by Toby Hadoke.

Into the Wild. A documentary nearly 25 minutes long about the production of this adventure.

From the Cutting Room Floor. Some trims of scenes from this adventure.

Tomorrow’s Times – The Fourth Doctor. The press comments to the Fourth Doctor adventures. Presented by Wendy Padbury.

Doctor Who Stories: Louise Jameson. The actress Louise Jameson talks about her role in the show in a 2003 interview.

Swap Shop. An extract from Louise Jameson’s appearance in “The Multi-Coloured Swap Shop”.

Denys Fisher Toys Advert. An advert of some “Doctor Who” gadgets.

1976 Typhoo Tea Doctor Who Promotion. A series of advertising images of tea bags packs with “Doctor Who” images gathered in a PDF file.

Chris Boucher was a science fiction fan but as a screenwriter he had worked mainly in the field of comedy. He tried submitting a story draft to “Doctor Who” production and, although it was deemed unsuitable, the author was invited to submit ideas better suited to the series.

Various ideas of Chris Boucher, producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes were put together to create the adventure that became “The Face of Evil”. At that point, it was known that the actress Elisabeth Sladen would leave “Doctor Who” but initially the idea was to introduce a new companion for the Doctor to replace Sarah Jane Smith at the end of the season. As a result, Leela was originally only one of the Sevateem tribe’s various members.

It was only when he read the first draft of the screenplay that Philip Hinchcliffe was struck by Leela’s potential and thought she would be an interesting companion. After the extraordinary Sarah Jane Smith era, the best thing was to create a completely different companion so a savage girl was ideal. ​​Robert Holmes’ idea to create between the new companion and the Doctor a relationship like the Eliza Doolittle / Pygmalion one could also be developed with Leela.

Tom Baker got fully immersed in the Doctor’s role and had a great relationship with Elisabeth Sladen. When the actress left “Doctor Who”, he stated that he’d rather not have another companions. Baker wasn’t happy when he discovered that Leela was to become the new Doctor’s companion, even more because the character seemed to be in many ways the Doctor’s opposite with her ease in using violence.

Louise Jameson had some experience as an actress on stage and with various roles on television but the role of Leela was her first as a protagonist. That was a golden age for “Doctor Who” so Leela’s introduction in the show had a considerable media coverage. The fact that she was a beautiful girl with a skimpy costume only increased the interest. 😉

Beyond her physical appearance, Leela proved to be a well-built character from the beginning. She’s a savage who’s ignorant in many ways but far from stupid. Louise Jameson was able to play Leela very well from the beginning with a body language that expressed the character’s almost animalistic instincts but also her curiosity. Her debut wasn’t easy also for Tom Baker’s hostility, as he didn’t want her, but she did a great job all the same.

Leela lives in a tribe that has various beliefs but she can’t have blind faith in the god Xoanon. A chance encounter with the Doctor changes her life but initially she’s suspicious because she thinks he’s the Evil One. The Doctor is in a strange situation because the Sevateem seem to recognize him as their worst enemy.

The idea was to force the Doctor to face the consequences of something he had done in his past. When he arrives on the planet of the Sevateem and meets the tribe, he must understand why he’s considered the Evil One slowly reconstructing the story of the Sevateem but also of their enemies, the Tesh.

Initially, the viewer is led to think that the shaman Neeva is the typical con man who uses a false god to control the tribe. The issue turns out to be more complicated with various consequences, also because the truth is also different from the one Neeva believed in.

The result is an adventure that has among its sources of inspiration “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells and the movie “Forbidden Planet”. The basic concept is the degeneration that led to the Sevateem to become savages and the Doctor must figure out what he did wrong in his past intervention. The social and religious themes are developed and when the Doctor faces Xoanon also the psychological ones.

The plot is well developed showing various positions among the Sevateem with various twists in the Doctor’s search for the truth. The Tesh are not at the same level, especially because their costumes seemed quite ridiculous. The Doctor would’ve been more effective being less detached but in “The Face of Evil” he seems more eccentric than ever.

Despite some flaws, I think “The Face of Evil” is a very good adventure that marks the debut of Leela, who in my opinion is an excellent Doctor’s companion from the beginning. The DVD contains extras that overall seemed good though not exceptional but it’s still worth buying for the serial.