The Hand Of Fear (1976) Review

Anyone else think Possessed Sarah is sexy?

The Hand Of Fear is a decent way to waste time, a story for a rainy day. There's nothing particularly substantial about it, but it's also pretty well made. 

PLOT

After being hit by an avalanche of rocks in a quarry, Sarah discovers a petrified hand that possesses her and numerous other people around her to fill it with radiation to regenerate into Eldrad, the power-mad architect of Castria who plots to return to his would-be domain after millions of years. 

ANALYSIS

Beyond the final few minutes, there's not much to say. There's nothing to complain about and nothing to praise either beyond the direction. The direction is great. The handheld camera movements create a very surreal atmosphere which at least makes the story memorable. 

The plot makes little sense to me. A whole hand surviving the obliteration of a starship? If the hand was tough enough to survive, why nothing else? Or is the Nose Of Fear soaking up radiation on Skaro? Also, would a whole race really agree to kill themselves just because the living conditions suck? That's just nonsense(but made for a good reveal).

But let's talk about the last few minutes. I was a little thrown off by Sarah's random hissy fit until they revealed she wasn't planning to leave until the Doctor made her. That was actually kind of cute. 
Also, is it just me or does Sarah seem a little mad at the end, talking to the dog and carrying a tennis racket and a teddy bear? Her clothes are bizarrely childish in this story as well. Did the clothes designers go on strike and Tom Baker stepped up to fill the role? 

CHARACTERS

Sarah's been acting very girlish these past two seasons, at least it seems that way to me. And I mean, GIRLISH. Like 10-year old girlish, with all the giggles and hissy fits and pouting and all that. It's just bizarre. Not that I mind, but it's just an odd acting choice on Sladen's part. It's kind
of like Jo, but at least she was "kooky" from the start.

It took me a few minutes to recover from just how hilariously bad Eldrad's costume is(why do all the Bob and Dave stories have such horrid designs??), but I actually found her likable. I felt the twist coming a mile away, but her performance briefly convinced me it wasn't going to happen.

Then she turned into Stephen Thorne, who basically repeated his "parody of Shakespeare" performance from The Three Doctors, which was fun to watch at least. 

I liked Professor Watson a lot. If it was still the UNIT years, I would've immediately hired him as a regular. He has a great chemistry with the leads and although he's a bit stubborn, he's ready to believe what he sees. He's like a combination of the Brigadier and that chap from The Sea Devils who worked for The Master. I also thought it was great we saw him call his family.

Dr. Carter was also really likable and it's a shame he died. He and Watson both didn't really spice up their roles, so to speak, but they gave it 100%.

NOTES

*I love the little "aww" Sarah makes when the Doctor throws the ring into the abyss. Like, "Aww, that was a nice ring. Why'd you throw it away?"

*Where did the Doctor get a fake ring anyway? He said something about being a magician, did he have a ring in his magician's kit or something? I didn't really get it.

*Since when is it a Time Lord's duty to prevent alien invasions? Isn't that exactly the sort of meddling that got the Doctor put on trial? I thought Time Lords didn't interfere in things.

*Why does the Doctor HAVE to obey the call to Gallifrey "as a Time Lord"? Does that mean that he now considers himself to be part of their society again? I know he doesn't want to piss them off again, but then why does he say "as a Time Lord" instead of "so I wouldn't piss them off again"? If it was another Time Lord duty like preventing alien invasions, wouldn't the First and Second Doctors have to obey as well? Why didn't the Time Lords try that? 

*I've changed my mind about the second control room. I don't like it. It's dark and it's dead. It feels like they're huddling in an old cabin with no electricity(as far as I can tell, there is none actually. None of the buttons make sounds, the rotor is nonexistent and the doors are opened by the actors.
I bet the scanner is opened by people as well. Just about the only cool things about it are the fact that the console doubles as a table and that the panels open up.

*Why is he using the second control room anyway? In the last story, it felt like he was testing it out for nostalgia or maintenance. It felt like a one-off. Why is he still there?

*Hey, it's Sarah's yellow rain jacket from Season 12 she's holding at the end!

*I know Sarah had that powerful ring, but it was ridiculously easy for her and the other fellow, Driscoll to gain access to a nuclear reactor.

*I love how Sarah knows the names of all the Doctor's tools whilst Clara is all "sonic screwdriver. Point and think, yeah?". Clara Os-win(ugh, that joke still hurts) Oswald will never have anything on Sarah Jane Smith.

BEST QUOTE

"Eldrad MUST(high-pitched) live." Could it be anything else?

CONCLUSION

Pretty good.