Face of Evil

That "The Face of Evil" is about a schizophrenic computer is ironic, given that the story starts off disciplined and intelligent but quickly declines into a more tedious, cash-strapped incarnation of itself.

The story begins, appropriately enough, with Tom Baker talking to himself. Here one senses the direction the show could have followed if he'd been allowed his wish of not having a replacement companion for Sarah, and it's doubly fortunate that Louise Jameson gives such a good performance in her first story or we might have quickly gained that infamous talking cabbage after all. The filmed jungle is well-realised and the story interesting, from the tribe building a culture of worship around their adopted ancestors (or parents; it's never made completely clear) and it's syntactic parallels (savateem = survey team etc.) to the image of the Doctor's own face carved into the mountain that provides the sinister episode 1 cliffhanger.

Unfortunately less is made of the lunatic computer Xoanon than was needed to fill up the four episodes, and as Act 2 of "The Face of Evil" kicks off, so does inappropriate bright white corridors, silly men with lampshades on their heads and everyone being 'controlled'. The ideas remain sound through-out, especially the notion that the two cultures (The Tesh and the Savateem) have been deliberately evolved to mirror the split personality of Xoanon. But this is slightly muddied by an unwanted mention of a stupid scheme to raise an army by 'selecting' people from each side. It all suggests the writer has a great idea for a story, but doesn't really know what to do with it. Furthermore it's over-egging the pudding; does there really need to be a "grand plan" at all?

Xoanon in all his visible incarnations is well realised and striking, but it simply doesn't have enough to do with the ingenious story the author has devised. So after lengthy 'battles' in the corridors of the Tesh, the Doctor escaping from a 'particle analysis' machine in 20 seconds because he just happens to be holding a mirror, and a quick fix to sort out Xoanon, he falls asleep for two days and leaves them to it. It's as if the last episode has been finished but we're not allowed to see it.

"The Face of Evil" could have been a classic, if it's first two episodes are anything to go by. Even the quickness of pace makes the shift from studio to location unnoticeable. Unfortunately it descends into a laboured resolution and the worst production of the season. A great shame, as it's probably one of the most interesting premises for a Doctor Who story ever. Which all goes to prove, it's not what you've got but what you do with it that counts.