What is it about the number four? There are four Evangelists. The important Council of Chalcedon was the fourth Ecumenical Council of the Church. The great James Madison was the fourth President of the United States. The batter can walk if he has four balls. Lincoln spoke of four-score and seven years, and of “our forefathers.” There are the Fantastic Four and the Fab Four. Four seems to be a lucky number.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Tom Baker, the greatest Dr. Who of them all, is the fourth Doctor. Dr. Who, of course, is the title character in the old BBC series. He is an alien who appears human except for his two hearts and his ability to “regenerate” and thereby change his appearance. Tom Baker represents, if you will, the greatest regeneration.

The Doctor travels through space and time in a machine called the TARDIS. He has a special affection for Earth, which he visits often.

*The Hand of Fear* is not the best Tom Baker episode. It is kind of campy, even for Dr. Who. It’s still good, though.

The story begins (after an introductory sequence) with the TARDIS materializing in a rock quarry on Earth. The Doctor and his companion, Sarah Jane Smith, get out and explore. This turns out not to be a good idea, because workmen are setting off explosions in the quarry. One of the explosions causes the Doctor and Sarah to be buried under a pile of rubble.

Sarah tries to dig herself out of the rubble. She doesn’t actually say, “can somebody give me a hand here?” but she seems to come close to saying it. She grasps hold of a mummified hand which used to belong to an alien named Eldred. The spirit of Eldred possesses Sarah, and after she’s out of the rubble she takes the hand to the nearest nuclear reactor in an attempt to revive it with nuclear energy.

The Doctor, who has also managed to get out of the rubble, goes to the reactor as well, in order to save Sarah and find out what’s going on. I won’t give away the rest of the plot, except to say that Eldred wants to use the nuclear energy to restore him/itself to life. A hand up, not a hand out.

Both the Doctor and Sarah get off their usual wisecracks-a coping strategy in a chaotic universe-and they try to figure out what’s going on with this Eldred fellow.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen this video, so my memory may not be very good. As best as I can recall, here is how the video measures up according to the Dr. Who Ranking System:

Reviving of Ancient Alien-Yes

Sarah Possessed by Alien-Yes

Doctor and/or Sarah taken prisoner-No, which is unusual. The Doctor usually gets taken prisoner at least once.

Humans killed by alien force they do not understand-Yes

Alien hand gives Doctor the finger-No, but I’m sure the producers thought about it.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older