An intelligent script, an underrated tale...and something new for the dads...

There’s a common rule of thumb for dinner parties – and that’s never talk about politics or religion. Well, unless, you want the risk of a full-scale food fight breaking out.

No matter what, people will always have different views on both subjects, and more to the point, some will feel more passionately about them than others. Try and come up with some pithy, throwaway joke about politics or religion, and there’s a fair chance that at least one huffy dinner party guest will end up screaming at you.

In Doctor Who, however, talking about politics and religion is fair game, and in particular in The Face Of Evil, the first story from the pen of future Blake’s 7 guru, Chris Boucher.

"The Face Of Evil is more than a good springboard for Boucher’s future offerings, combining intrigue with a thoughtful look at the arguments for and against religion and politics"

The Face Of Evil always tends to get overlooked in what’s regarded as the Big Daddy of Gothic Doctor Who. There’s less emphasis on body horror and killing characters off in the nastiest fashion (even if a hapless Sevateem codger gets mercilessly eaten by a pit full of Horda in the first three minutes). Instead, The Face Of Evil offers one of the most literate and thought-provoking tales in the Doctor Who canon.

It helps of course that it’s written by Chris Boucher. Fans of Blake’s 7 will know that Boucher was responsible for some of the most multi-layered, intelligent episodes in the series. The Face Of Evil is more than a good springboard for Boucher’s future offerings, combining intrigue with a thoughtful look at the arguments for and against religion and politics.

In fact, there’s less emphasis on the politics side, but any scene with rattlesnake Calib in features more political scheming than your average edition of Question Time. Constantly plotting to overthrow Andor and Neeva from power, Calib is always on the lookout for any blunder at the top. He’s fortunately rewarded when The Doctor turns up – or as the Sevateem seem to know him – The Evil One. Neeva offers the rash advice to Andor that they say that The Doctor has been destroyed, when in fact, he’s managed to escape. Calib, however, uses the truth to try and usurp Andor from the rather rickety throne, a plot that becomes academic when Andor’s eventually killed by a giant floating Doctor head.

By the end of the story, Calib’s desperately angling to be at the top of a Sevateem pile, although this of course will never happen, since he has all the morals of a bank-robber. With his perma-sneer face and voice of a misanthropic TV critic, Calib lacks the people skills required to be a good politician. Actually, scrub that, since politicians don’t really seem to like people that much anyway. Why else would you contemplate getting rid of free milk in schools?

"What Boucher cleverly does is to look at religion in a manner that’s not black and white, but in one that’s injected with shades of grey"

If Calib is Face’s spokesman for politics, then Neeva is the conduit for religion. Neeva’s well into this religious lark, y’know. He keeps in contact with his god, who’s called Xoanon. For years, I always thought this was pronounced as Ex-oanon, but in fact, it’s pronounced as Zoanon. He also keeps in contact with Xoanon via a totem pole stick thing with a helmet on. He’s also in charge of a series of doomed attacks to breach what’s known as The Wall – a great big black void – so that the Sevateem can rescue Xoanon from the clutches of the Tesh. Naturally the Sevateem fail every time.

Now, religion in The Face Of Evil is very much seen from an outsider’s point of view. Particularly, Neeva, who comes across as one of those slightly crazed TV evangelist types. Neeva spends practically all of his time bellowing about his great god, when not donning slightly eccentric headgear and then planning to blow The Doctor up with what looks like a child’s Fisher Price radio. So he looks a bit of a fool. But interestingly, after he’s found out that the god concept isn’t what he thought, Neeva is both seen to be intelligent and determined. He acknowledges that The Doctor gives the command to lead the Sevateem into the survey ship (“I underestimated that man!” says The Doctor), and later goes on a somewhat foolhardy mission to destroy the “false god”. Inevitably, he’s vapourised by Xoanon, although inexplicably, his gun isn’t even singed.

"While the “mad computer” concept had been used before in various films and books, Boucher cleverly looks at how The Doctor’s intervention led to the computer developing a dual personality"

What Boucher cleverly does is to look at religion in a manner that’s not black and white, but in one that’s injected with shades of grey. On the one hand, there’s the line: “With proof, you don’t need to believe”, but on the other, Boucher doesn’t end up portraying any of the characters as downright silly or caricatured.

Xoanon itself is seen as a very well studied take on schizophrenia. While the “mad computer” concept had been used before in various films and books, Boucher cleverly looks at how The Doctor’s intervention led to the computer developing a dual personality. The Sevateem and the Tesh represent the two sides of Xoanon’s mind. All that madness and rage that’s pent up inside Xoanon is played out in the struggles between the two sides. The Tesh represent the intelligence while the Sevateem represent brute force. Xoanon wishes to combine the two – on occasion, the computer says that “We must become one” – but the brains and brawn can only be combined via conflict. Again, very intelligently presented by Boucher, and what’s more, it shows the hero of the piece in a less than flattering light.

Essentially, the whole problem is down to The Doctor. He’s the one that absent-mindedly programmed the Mordee computer. It’s never mentioned on screen, but in the novelisation, it’s said that The Doctor slipped away during the crazy days of Robot, when his regeneration hadn’t really calmed down enough. Nevertheless, that desire for adventure and curiosity was too strong to ignore, so it’s questionable if The Doctor really had learned his lesson from Planet Of The Spiders .

The concept of Xoanon translates quite well to screen, mostly through glowing floating Tom Baker heads. I must confess though that for some bizarre reason, I’ve always found disembodied heads really funny. Even the early 80s titles crack me up as floating Baker and Davison heads whiz towards the camera. So for me, there’s a whole load of laughs to be had as the floating Baker head starts bellowing a whole load of gibberish in part four: “DESTROY!!! FREE!!!” And that’s surely got to be the almightiest example of the Baker Bellow, as Xoanon roars out: “NOOOOOOOOO!!!!” after The Doctor frees his own brain from the equation (while wearing a futuristic colander on his head). Listen to Tom’s voice in the following scenes – it sounds just a little hoarse. The rumours that the BBC studios needed new plates of glass that day remain unproved…

"You can imagine the reaction that Leela would get today, considering that certain newspapers keep spluttering in pompous outrage about the length of Karen Gillan’s skirts in Doctor Who"

Nevertheless, that cliffhanger to part three is executed really well, and the concept of Xoanon shouting “WHO AM I???” in a kid’s voice is really rather freaky. Excellent voiceover work too, from Baker as well as Pamela Salem and Rob Edwards. It’s generally a good debut from director Pennant Roberts (who’s sadly joined the list of late Who directors, recently). He brings out the mystery of Xoanon well, and the Ealing film scenes of the jungle are well shot. His earlier stories also tend to boast some good ensemble casts, and Face is no exception. David Garfield, Brendan Price and Leslie Schofield all turn in strong performances.

Perhaps the greatest legacy of The Face Of Evil is the introduction of new companion Leela. It’s a bold move to introduce a leggy savage as The Doctor’s new sidekick, but the ploy works for several reasons. For one thing, it certainly got the dads drooling over their beans on toast as Leela bounds around in her skimpy leather leotard and throwing hapless goons around like footballs. You can imagine the reaction that Leela would get today, considering that certain newspapers keep spluttering in pompous outrage about the length of Karen Gillan’s skirts in Doctor Who. But back in 1977, it was all comparatively innocent, especially since The Doctor was portrayed as a teacher and a mentor rather than an ageing Lothario. And judging from the high viewing figures of the time, more dads were tuning in to see Leela’s fish-out-of-water hi-jinks along with their kids.

It also helps that Roberts cast RSC actress Louise Jameson as Leela. Jameson adds an awful lot to the character of Leela, resulting in a companion that’s both likeable and intelligent. There’s never a duff performance from Jameson, even when certain writers reduce Leela to the level of a comedy savage. And despite the alleged behind-the-scenes tensions with Tom Baker, there’s a really good on-screen chemistry between The Doctor and Leela. It’s more of a mix this time around between exasperated tutoring and growing respect.

"There’s never been a companion like Leela. For once, The Doctor is educating an alien rather than an Earthling"

And that’s another thing that makes Leela such a successful companion. There’s never been a companion like her. For once, The Doctor is educating an alien rather than an Earthling, and it’s fascinating to see Leela grow up and learn about the world and its customs during her nine stories. The Doctor may get angry at her primitive ways, but deep down, he respects and trusts Leela, to the point in The Invasion Of Time when he hands over the Key Of Rassilon to her to guard it with her life – only because she has proved her loyalty and worth. That said, the concept of the learning savage does become a bit flawed towards the end, but that’s another ramble for another time.

The Doctor himself gets a good adventure, and Big Tom’s on form throughout, both as the Time Lord and the creepy manifestation of Xoanon. As The Doctor, he gets some notable sequences and quotes, such as the scene in which he threatens a Sevateem tribe with a deadly jelly baby. It’s been quoted in his autobiography that he didn’t like the original version which contained violence, and so thought of an amusing alternative that instead of alienating kids, would amuse and entertain them. Clever stuff, and what’s more, there’s a whole host of classic Doctor lines: “You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views, which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering…”; “Never be certain of anything; it's a sign of weakness…”; “I feel a bit silly talking to a tree…” A mix of the humourous joker and wise sage, The Face Of Evil’s portrayal of The Doctor sums him up perfectly.

It’s a shame that The Face Of Evil tends to get overlooked. It’s the last one of season 14 to come out on DVD. It’s always lost in a sea of killer robots, cadaver Masters and screeching Chinese gods, but for the perfect combination of intelligent scripting and unpredictable intrigue, it’s unbeatable.

John Bensalhia limbered up for this mammoth task with a full four-series review of Blake's 7, and writes professionally and recreationally all over the web. Check out his portfolio of work at Wordprofectors.

Check out John's previous Doctor Who review, The Deadly Assassin