THE FACE OF EVIL

Transmitted originally: 1 January 1977 to 22 January 1977.

"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." - The Doctor.

THE STORY

The TARDIS arrives on a planet where a savage tribeknown as the Sevateem worship a god called Xoanon. The Doctor discovers that Xoanon is in fact a spaceship computer that he tried to repair at some point in the past and inadvertantly drove mad by giving it a multiple personality. The computer is tended to by another group of humanoids, the Tesh. These are the descendants of the ship's original technicians, while the Sevateem are the descendants of the original survey team. The Doctor, with the help of a Sevateem girl called Leela , manages to gain access to the ship and wipe the additional personalities from the computer, leaving it sane and in control of its functions once more. Leela, pushes her way into the TARDIS and the Doctor gains a new companion.

CAST:

The Doctor (Tom Baker), Leela (Louise Jameson), Neeva (David Garfield), Andor (Victor Lucas), Tomas (Brendan Price), Calib (Leslie Schofield), Sole (Colin Thomas), Lugo (Lloyd McGuire), Guards (Tom Kelly, Brett Forrest), Xoanon (Rob Edwards, Pamela Salem, Anthony Frieze, Roy Herrick), Jabel (Leon Eagles), Gentek (Mike Ellis), Acolyte (Peter Baldock).

FACTS:

The story was at one point to have been called 'The Day God Went Mad'.

Anthony Frieze, credited as one of the voices of Xoanon in episode 3, was the young winner of a competition to visit the Doctor Who studios.

The story commenced after a five week break in the season over the new year, and was credited as the debut story of a new season in Radio Times.

OTHER FORMATS:

The Fourth Doctor Novelisations

Fourth Doctor Videos

Back to the Fourth Doctor Programme Guide Forward to 'The Robots of Death'.