Product Details

• Actors: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson
• Directors: Pennant Roberts
• Writers: Chris Boucher
• Producers: Philip Hinchcliffe
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: March 13, 2012
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001QCWQ5I
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,035 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Doctor Who: The Face of Evil (Story 89)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Doctor Who: The Face of Evil introduced one of the most unusual of the time traveler's companions: Leela (Louise Jameson), an intelligent but savage woman from a jungle planet, a fierce fighter who looked good in a skimpy leather outfit. The Doctor (Tom Baker) finds himself caught between two tribes, one primitive and physical, the other effete and possessed of mental powers. Leela, who's been cast out of the primitive tribe for heresy, teams up with the Doctor as he discovers his face carved in stone on a mountainside--and realizes that the root of the problem may be his own past actions. Though the sets, special effects, and a few plot turns of The Face of Evil require some suspension of disbelief, this story has fantastic elements: the roaring invisible monsters (which may have inspired the similar monster on Lost), the rituals of the two tribes, the Doctor's confrontation with a computer with a split personality, and Leela herself. But above all is Baker, one of the all-time greatest Doctors. Intelligent, capricious, yet driven by a clear moral sense, Baker projected an unmistakable impression of being more than human yet still relatable. This story falls smack in the middle of Baker's seven-year tenure, when his grip on the character is assured but he hasn't yet begun to chafe at it. The extras on this DVD are abundant: outtakes, photos, a detailed making-of documentary, a wonderful interview with Jameson, an examination of the media response to Tom Baker's Doctor, a 1970s talk show featuring Jameson, and a commercial for Doctor Who action figures! --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

When the TARDIS arrives on a jungle planet, the Doctor encounters two warring tribes, the Sevateem and the Tesh. The Sevateem worship a god called Xoanon and the Tesh are supposedly keeping Xoanon prisoner... But why do the Sevateem call the Doctor the Evil One? And what are the invisible creatures in the jungle? The Time Lord, with the help of a girl called Leela, is about to find out.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 63 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential "Who"˙ December 26, 1999

By James J. McIlhenney

Format:VHS Tape

Without a doubt this is one of the best adventures from the Tom Baker, or any, era. The fourth Doctor was really hitting his stride in this one, and it is a true classic. The Doctor proves his long-running theory that if you travel though time and the universe long enough, you will eventually run into yourself. In its original serial form, this adventure featured one of the best and most surprising end-of-episode cliffhangers in the history of the series. The Doctor's interaction with the primative tribe he encounters is priceless; and the sarcasm, wit, and one-liners that the Doctor's fourth incarnation is known for flows freely. The "lush" jungle sets, and production values in general, are good by Dr. Who standards. As if all of this weren't enough, the Doctor gets a sexy new travel companion in this one, Leela, who scampers around half naked most of the time, but who contrasts beautifully as the enlightened savage to the Doctor's quirky intellectual. The only bad thing about this Who adventure is that it took so long to finally come out in video.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The very powerful & the very stupid have one thing in common April 3, 2002

By Peter Vinton Jr.

Format:VHS Tape|Amazon Verified Purchase

Coming right on the heels of THE DEADLY ASSASSIN, THE FACE OF EVIL shifts the series away from its earlier, "cozy" format, and in a pretty permanent sort of way. I often wondered why so few episodes dealt with the consequences of the Doctor's meddling in the affairs of other civilizations --this one takes the form of the Doctor confronting the spectacle of his own face carved into the side of a mountain on the scale of Mount Rushmore.

Originally titled "The Day that God Went Mad," this serial takes us into an unnamed planet in the distant future, where two tribal factions are locked in an eternal (and ultimately futile) struggle, even though neither side has ever seen its enemy. The inherent danger offered by organized religion is taken to task in a way few episodes before (or since) were up to challenging: as usual, the local God has a perfectly logical, scientific explanation, but there's no explaining this to his devoted followers, particularly the quick-thinking high priest.

The episode is of course noteworthy because it introduces Leela, as portrayed by Louise Jameson, who remains one of the most popular companions of one of the most popular Doctors. Tom Baker carries off another brilliant performance, cheerfully spouting nonsense even as crossbows and poison darts are pointed in his direction. The episode also has the advantage of being part of Season Thirteen, which is definitely Tom Baker's high point as the Doctor. There is stark contrast between the aggressively savage Sevateem and the quietly fanatical Tesh, and it is this contrast which leads the Doctor to the story's climax: the local God is a divided personality and must be made whole --and the Doctor himself is the original cause of the problem! Besides Ms. Jameson, my favorite character in this serial is Neeva (David Garfield), the High Priest who starts out as Xoanon's most devoted and vocal follower, but who proves to be quite the jaded cynic when all is said and done. Worth your time if you're a Tom Baker fan, but can be safely left off your Top Ten Greatest Doctor Who Stories Ever list.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Then I saw my face and now I've got Leela June 30, 2002

By Junglies VINE™ VOICE

Format:VHS Tape

This story is another in the darker period of Doctor Who. Having jettisoned the increasingly Andy Pandy jump-suited Sarah Jane Smith before an apparently final battle with the Master, the Doctor foregoes his Presidency to return to roaming around the Galaxy.

The plot has been laid out by several reviewers before me and I will not travel that well trodden road any further. Suffice to say that the character of Leela clearly is intended to attract an older audience but at the same time, the darker stories required a much stronger character than the Sarah Jane Smith types in order for the plots to work. Leela is certainly that, a savage killer, brought up to kill or be killed, she is uneducated but not stupid. She has an instinct which saves them more than once and is yet very protective of the Doctor.

Part of the charm of this character was that she served as a role model for many other female actresses in British drama as an independent person, capable of holding her own with men.

The story is the first to acknowledge that time travel can have unintended future consequences which alters the future in a way never thought of. The two tribes are also symbolic of the way our modern society has developed into an environmental side as opposed to a scientific, technological side. The monster, not by accident, is the same as the monster in that classic sci-fi movie, whose name escapes me, but which is created through the scienytist's id when using alien machinery.

A very impressive story to have on video.