Product Details

• Actors: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison
• Writers: Sydney Newman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: BBC Warner
• VHS Release Date: July 7, 2000
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004W5XR
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,805 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

James J. McIlhenney (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who - Face of Evil [VHS] (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.

9 of 9 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. (Not near Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doctor Who - Face of Evil [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yes, the Evil One does eat babies...jelly babies, that is!, February 3, 2004

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doctor Who - Face of Evil [VHS] (VHS Tape)

When Leela, a young huntress of the Sevateem tribe first encounters the Doctor, she calls him "the evil one" to which the Doctor disarmingly says, "Well, nobody's perfect, but that's overstating it a little. Would you like a jelly baby?"

So begins his association with one of his most memorable companions, she of the chamois leather outfit, leaving her arms and legs bare, but don't mess with her, as she knows how to use a knife and Janis thorns, weapons that paralyze, then kill.

Leela has been banished from the Sevateem for saying that their god Xoanon, doesn't exist. However, that's not all going on with the tribe. There's a power struggle going between Neeva, the shaman who claims personal contact with Xoanon, and Calib, whose belief is tenuous, but wants nothing more than to have Neeva exposed as a fraud and charlatan. The Sevateem want to liberate Xoanon from the Tesh, their sworn enemies who live beyond the wall in a mountain, however, the Evil One's invisible energy creatures prevent anything from happening.

The Doctor and Leela go to the mountain, where he says, "I must have made quite an impression," for he sees his own face carved on the mountainside like Mount Rushmore. Trouble is, he can't remember when he first came to the planet. Also, the voice of Xoanon is his own! But does Xoanon have all his marbles? At one point, it says "At last us... you, me, us, we... at last I shall be free of us!" When the Doctor asks Xoanon who he is, Xoanon asks back "Don't I know?"

Paradise comes from the Avestan (ancient Persian) word meaning "walled-in enclosure." In that vein, Leela says of Xoanon, "he dwells within the black wall wherein lies paradise." This draws on the theme of an ideal place made safe from evil by a wall.

Many praiseworthy lines come in from the Doctor. "Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." and "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." And in an exchange regarding faith and logic, Neeva says "We start getting proof and we stop believing." Tomas replies, "With proof, you don't have to believe."

Louise Jameson's debut as Leela is impressive here and throughout the other eight stories she comes out in. Despite the Doctor telling her off for killing people, even in self-defense, it has to be said that she saves the Doctor's life that way in this story and in those to come. After all, she's using her huntress's instinct. I'd have her as my minder anyday.

Of the supporting actors, David Garfield (Neeva) stands out. His attempts to exorcise the Doctor, whom he thinks is the Evil One, is one of the kitschy moments of the series. And his battle hat is indeed fetching, as it's a cricket glove with some odds and ends attached.

The original title The Day God Went Mad is more apropos, as the Doctor has to deal with an omniscient computer with schizophrenia. However, it was changed to The Face To Evil to ward off any potential religious objections. The ideas are creative, but the production values, such as the Sevateem's forest and a spaceship's corridors aren't much to shout home about, and only a few characters (Leela, Neeva, Tomas) stand out.