The Hand of Fear: Part Two

I wonder if the hand will grow an arm, then another, and then become a body farm, imagine what it could grow, perpetually never letting go, though I prefer evacuation and alarm.

Review of all 4 episodes:

Sarah Jane Smith is thought by many, myself included, to be the greatest ever companion for The Doctor. It is incredibly sad to see her leave at the end of this story but this is a good send off for her. It is a great pity that she leaves in the final episode but the final scene between The Doctor and Sarah Jane is an extremely good, subtle and poignant farewell and she got this terrific adventure as her finale as a regular companion. Elisabeth Sladen is fabulous in her last regular story and the interactions with Tom Baker, who is also in top form, are perfect.

The start of episode 1 shows an alien world (Kastria) where a being called Eldrad who has been judged as a criminal is being supposedly destroyed. The Doctor and Sarah are then seen arriving accidentally in a quarry where rock blasting causes them to be buried by rubble. This opening couple of scenes does not indicate any greatness for this story, it is all looking pretty run of the mill. That is until Sarah reaches from under the rubble to take a hand she believes to be a rescuer only to find it is a hand not attached to a body. That moment is unnerving and quite intriguing. From that point on the opening episode gets better and better as it builds the suspense about the hand and its dangerous nature. It is, of course, the hand of the supposedly destroyed 'criminal' Eldrad and the TARDIS has clearly taken them where they need to be to deal with what happens. The hand has been in the ground for 150 million years but it now takes telepathic control of Sarah and makes her into a temporary (and convincing) villain. She takes the hand to a nuclear research centre station pursued by The Doctor.

There are believable, very well acted characters interacting brilliantly with our heroes. Glyn Houston as Professor Watson, Rex Robinson as Dr. Carter and Frances Pidgeon as Miss Jackson are convincing and wonderfully characterised. The story quickly becomes extremely interesting, gripping entertainment. The cliffhanger of episode 1 when the hand absorbs radiation and begins to move is brilliantly done and exciting.

The second and third episodes are absolutely marvelous, intelligent and thrilling. Eldrad is restored to a full female body and this alien being is a fabulous creation in every respect - visually superb, great voice, brilliantly acted by Judith Paris and full of interesting character, showing friendly and likable traits as well as threatening ones. The script expertly advances an intelligent plot with action and excitement side by side with clever and thoughtful ideas.

The final episode continues in the same fantastic way. Part way through the final episode it does have a few scenes that move away from the thoughtful, cerebral build up and turns into a more standard 'monster trying to destroy the universe' scenario. Eldrad changes into a male that looks pretty good but not quite as visually stunning or as impressively characterised as the female version. The male Eldrad played by Stephen Thorne does not have the fascinating character depth of the female version as he is revealed to be just another evil villain. It is a shame this less interesting choice for Eldrad's final scenes was made rather than the more nuanced character that had been there up until that point. It is more of a run of the mill villain finale for those few scenes but it is still exciting and a lot of fun.

As Part 4 turns out to be Sarah Jane's last episode as a regular companion (until returning in 1983's The Five Doctors, 2006's School Reunion and spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures) we get touching scenes where Sarah and The Doctor bid fond farewells. This is done with such class and poignancy and is so wonderfully acted by Tom and Lis that it ensures this final part maintains the top quality of the rest of the story.

It a pity in a way they could not have thought up a better finale to the Eldrad story, maintaining the more interesting female form but it was still a satisfying conclusion to a cracking adventure. Sarah's finale is done beautifully and if any character deserved a good farewell it is the delightful Sarah Jane Smith. Rest in peace Elisabeth Sladen, you played the best companion with sheer quality at all times.

My ratings: 10/10 for all 4 episodes.

Sarah walks into the reactor with the hand, clearly under some sort of influence she attacks all that go near her.

It's better than the first episode, it has a good atmosphere, and really does crank up the horror vibe, we have possession, a creepy hand, and nuclear power all rolled into one episode.

It's still one of my least favourite outings for Baker and Sladen, but I understand the appeal. The elements are all there, maybe I'm just not a huge fan of the story itself, I've heard Eldrad must Live enough times already.

The sets look terrific, full credit to the designers, the explosions work very well, and you have to love both Glyn Houston and Rez Robinson.

It's good, 7/10.