The Hand of Fear (TV story): Difference between revisions

When Sladen expressed her intention to leave the series, Sarah was originally supposed to be killed off in a pseudo-historical story involving aliens and the Foreign Legion. However [[Douglas Camfield]], who was supposed to write the scripts, was unable to do so. This was much to Sladen's relief, as she did not want Sarah to be killed or married off. Sladen also asked that Sarah's departure not be the main focus of the story, as she felt the programme was about the Doctor, not the companion. Baker and Martin intentionally did not write Sarah's departure scene. The script for that scene was rewritten by Sladen and [[Tom Baker]] from Robert Holmes's original version. In the final scene, Sarah Jane whistles the tune, "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow-Wow". Since Elisabeth Sladen was unable to whistle, director Lennie Mayne provided the whistling while she mimed to it. In terms of 'seasons', [[Elisabeth Sladen]] was the longest serving companion with any Doctor, appearing for over three seasons and surpassing [[Katy Manning]]'s record as [[Jo Grant]]. In terms of 'years', [[Janet Fielding]] holds the record for playing [[Tegan Jovanka]] for just under three years. [[Frazer Hines]] as companion [[Jamie McCrimmon]] holds the record for the longest serving companion in terms of the number of 'episodes' in which he appeared. These records do not take non-televised adventures into account, nor later "guest" reappearances.

 

The original script for ''The Hand of Fear'' had many differences from the finished version. The nuclear power station was supposed to be the [[Nuton Power Complex]] of ''[[The Claws of Axos]]'' but was renamed the [[Nunton Experimental Complex]] instead. The real-life location was the {{w|Oldbury nuclear power station|Oldbury Nuclear Power Station}} in [[Gloucestershire]]. Miss Jackson was a nameless man. Director [[Lennie Mayne]] built up the part, changed the gender and cast his wife, [[Frances Pidgeon]]. Eldrad's home was originally supposed to be the black hole of Omega 4.6. When [[Robert Holmes]] pointed out to [[Bob Baker]] and [[Dave Martin]] that the name Omega had already appeared in ''Doctor Who'' (in ''[[The Three Doctors]]''; ironically this story was also written by Baker and Martin), they changed the name to [[Kastria]]. The story was to feature an ageing Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, who had been moved from [[Unified Intelligence Taskforce|UNIT]] to the Extraterrestrial Xenological Intelligence Taskforce — EXIT for short — to study UFO activities. He was to sacrifice his life when he steered a commandeered experimental rocket into an Omegan kamikaze ship to prevent that ship from crashing into Earth. This plan did not go through as [[Nicholas Courtney]] was unavailable for filming. The original script also featured [[Harry Sullivan]]. Supposedly, the working titles for this story were ''The Hand of Death'' and ''The Hand of Time''.<ref name="sullivan" /> However, the production notes on the DVD release state that there were no working titles.

 

Elisabeth Sladen is credited as 'Sarah Jane' in ''Radio Times''. Frances Pidgeon and Roy Boyd are uncredited on-screen for part three, but are credited in ''Radio Times''.

 

The fly that can be seen walking across [[Glyn Houston]]'s brow in one scene was swallowed by Elisabeth Sladen in an outtake.

 

This serial was repeated in May 2011 on BBC Four across two days as a tribute to [[Elisabeth Sladen]] after her death from cancer a month previously.

One myth posited that a real quarry explosion was filmed for the episode and the crew badly underestimated the power of the explosion A rumour persisted for many years that a camera was totally destroyed in the blast. In the DVD commentary, it is made clear that this is just a fan myth. The camera was placed in a blast-proof box and although it was buried in the explosion, it was undamaged.

 

Another contention is that ''The Hand of Fear'' establishes the rule that only Time Lords are allowed on Gallifrey. In fact, the Doctor only says to himself "I can't take Sarah to Gallifrey", and tells her as much.

* The Doctor later discovers that the summons to Gallifrey which he receives was actually sent by [[the Master]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'') His quip that Gallifrey is "perhaps" in Ireland is one he repeats. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Invisible Enemy (TV story)|The Invisible Enemy]]'', ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]'') Sarah expresses a desire to see Gallifrey. Her wish is granted, after a fashion, when she is abducted to the [[Death Zone]]. Here, she is reunited with the Doctor - although initially with his [[Third Doctor|third incarnation]], at a point in his time when he had not yet parted company with her. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'') She later met the Doctor in his [[Tenth Doctor|tenth]] and [[Eleventh Doctor|eleventh incarnations]] and revealed to the former that he had actually left her in [[Aberdeen]], not Croydon. ([[TV]]: ''[[School Reunion (TV story)|School Reunion]]'', ''[[Death of the Doctor (TV story)|Death of the Doctor]]'')

* The Doctor had already practised [[hypnosis]] on Sarah Jane Smith before. ([[TV]]: ''[[Terror of the Zygons (TV story)|Terror of the Zygons]]'') The way he does so here - by putting his hands on the sides of her head - is similar to a method he uses in his [[Tenth Doctor|tenth incarnation]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Fear Her]]'', ''[[The Shakespeare Code]]'') The Doctor mentions zeus plugs again. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)|The Girl in the Fireplace]]'', ''[[Time Crash]]'')