Saturday, 30 December 2017

The Hand of Fear

(Series 14, Episodes 5-8)

Summary: Nutjob Eldrad is sentenced to obliteration but their hand ends up in a quarry on Earth, where it is found 150 million years later by one Sarah Jane Smith.  After absorbing radiation from a nuclear power plant, Eldrad regenerates into an androgynous bejewelled trickster who wins the Doctor’s sympathy.  The Doctor is sorely disappointed when he returns Eldrad to Kastria and they promptly morph into a lumpy, ranting man, so he concocts a cunning plan involving his scarf.  Sarah gets inexplicably narky with the Doctor and then regrets it when he gets a call from the Time Lords…

Watch it because: Until we meet again, Sarah.


Original Air Date: 2 – 23 October 1976.
Doctor: Tom Baker.
Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).
Writer: Bob Baker & Dave Martin.
Director: Lennie Mayne.
Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.

Saturday, 23 December 2017

The Masque of Mandragora

(Series 14, Episodes 1-4)

Summary: After giving Sarah a tour of the TARDIS, the Doctor follows the trippy Mandragora helix all the way back to Italy in the dark ages, where he encounters bromantic couple Giuilano and Marco who are embroiled in a Hamlet-esque tussle over the Dukedom of San Martino.  Science takes on superstition as a ball of light tries to take over the world.  Amid sacrifices, sword-fighting, catacombs and cults, the Doctor saves the day with a cheeky bit of impersonation.

Watch it because: The reveal at the masque…


Original Air Date: 4 – 25 September 1976.
Doctor: Tom Baker.
Companions: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen).
Writer: Louis Marks.
Director: Rodney Bennett.
Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe.