"Doctor Who" The Hand of Fear: Part 2 (1976)

Director:

Lennie Mayne

Writers:

Bob Baker (writer) &
Dave Martin (writer)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

9 October 1976 (Season 14, Episode 6)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Second Part | Time Lord | Alien | Companion | Renegade

Cast

Tom Baker	...	Doctor Who
Elisabeth Sladen	...	Sarah Jane Smith
Glyn Houston	...	Professor Watson
Rex Robinson	...	Dr. Carter
Roy Boyd	...	Driscoll
Frances Pidgeon	...	Miss Jackson
John Cannon	...	Elgin

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G

Trivia:

This episode was watched by 10.2 million viewers on its original transmission.

Good Doctor Who story.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Doctor Who: The Hand of Fear: Part Two starts as Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) is trapped inside the nuclear power core reactor with the alien hand that soaks up all the radiation that it needs to regenerate. The Doctor (Tom Baker) manages to enter the core & save Sarah while security officer Driscoll (Roy Boyd) grabs the hand & the ring which possessed Sarah, now possessed himself Driscoll puts the hand into the radiation safe where it feeds off the samples & grows stronger. Eventually the possessed Driscoll takes the hand from the safe & heads back to the reactor core so the hand can finish regenerating...

Episode 6 from season 14 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during October 1976, directed by Lennie Mayne the first two parts of The Hand of Fear have been a really good mix of classic horror & sci-fi themes. The script by Bob Baker & Dave Martin which was called The Hand of Time & The Hand of Death in it's early stages before the production team settled on The Hand of Fear has been really good so far, it's certainly had a interesting story & the idea of a living hand although already used in several horror films is a creepy idea & since Doctor Who is primarily a sci-fi show it turns out that the hand belonged to an alien which is a nice angle. I also liked how Sarah the companion was used in The Hand of Fear, one criticism of Doctor Who as a whole is that the companions don't have enough to do in most stories except get into trouble & subsequently get saved by the Doctor. While that basic concept is here at least Sarah is central to the plot & gets a fair amount to do in this her last story as a regular companion.

The whole living severed hand creeping around is a pretty horrific idea & I would have thought The Hand of Fear scared more than a few kids back in 1976 when it aired & maybe even a few in these cynical times as well. The crawling hand effects are actually very impressive especially a great moment where it looks like the static hand prop is used but then suddenly moves at the last minute. I have to mention Sarah's costume here, she wears red & white striped overalls, socks & trainers & I think she looks awful although other's may say she looks cute. Either way her outfit is certainly unique & heaven knows what made her choose it.

The Hand of Fear: Part Two is another great episode in what has been a great story so far, well worth a watch.