August 21: Image of the Fendahl Parts Three & Four

The Doctor is saved by Leela, and off they go to regroup at Ma Tyler's cottage.  After establishing both that Ma Tyler is all right and that she has precognition (which the Doctor puts down to living near a time fissure -- "it's a weakness in the fabric of space and time.  Every haunted place has one, doesn't it?  That's why they're haunted.  It's a time distortion" -- and thus gives the viewers an offhand, pseudo-scientific explanation for ghosts), it's off to the fifth planet for some reason (padding, most likely -- we learn almost nothing from this side trip).  The bit in the cottage is still nice though.  "How do 'ee know so much?" Ma Tyler asks him.  "I read a lot," the Doctor replies.

The bits back at the Priory are much more interesting.  Max Stael seems to think that, by using Thea as a medium and bringing along some of the locals to help him, he'll be able to "conjure and control the supreme power of the ancients."  He noticed that the sonic time scanner woke up the power and Thea seems drawn to it, so he's all set.  And obviously he's not going to let anyone get in his way, so Adam Colby and Dr. Fendelman are taken down to the cellar at gunpoint and tied up to some columns.  Colby responds, rather wonderfully, by being more sarcastic than usual, while Fendelman seems more despondent -- possibly because he realizes what's going to happen -- particularly when he sees that Stael is using the ancient skull (with a pentagram in the crown -- another offhand explanation for something) as a power source. "You don't understand," he tells Stael urgently.  "I see now what will happen. ... The Doctor asked if my name was real.  Fendelman.  Man of the Fendahl.  Don't you see?  Only for this have the generations of my fathers lived.  I have been used!  You are being used!  Mankind has been used!"  (And never mind that Fendelman doesn't seem to have been around for any of the explanations about what the Fendahl is, it's still a good, well-delivered speech.)  This is where the story really starts to get into Quatermass and the Pit territory, with the implication that mankind's development has been influenced by this ancient skull in order to turn us into something for its own purpose.  Stael won't listen, though -- he shoots Fendelman in the head (off-screen, but there's a trickle of blood on Fendelman's temple when we cut back) and gets ready to claim the ancient power.

The Fendahl core and a Fendahleen. (Image of the Fendahl
Part Four) ©BBC
It all goes horribly wrong, though; Thea turns into a glowing golden figure, and a number of slug-like creatures called Fendahleen appear.  The Doctor and Leela are able to rescue Colby, but when it comes to Stael, it's too late -- he can't move, and he begs for a gun so he can end his life.  It should be a horrific moment, but it's played in such a way as to lessen the impact of what's happening: Tom Baker in particular seems incredibly unaffected by the gravity of the situation as he gives the gun to Scott Fredericks, but one wonders if that was to downplay this element for the audience (after all, The Deadly Assassin incident was only last year and new producer Graham Williams has been specifically told from above to tone things down).  Still, you can definitely see what Chris Boucher was getting at when he wrote it.

We finally get some answers from the Doctor as to what's happening in his conversation with Colby, as he rewires the time scanner to cause an implosion.  We learn that twelve million years ago, the Fendahl evolved on the fifth planet as a creature that fed on all forms of life, and the Time Lords tried to stop it by destroying and/or time-looping the fifth planet (it's not exactly clear which) -- only one of them escaped and made its way to Earth:
COLBY: Then it got itself buried, but not killed.
DOCTOR: The Fendahl is death.  How do you kill death?  No, what happened was this.  The energy amassed by the Fendahl was stored in the skull and dissipated slowly as a biological transmutation field.  Now, any appropriate lifeform that came within the field was altered so that it ultimately evolved into something suitable for the Fendahl to use.
COLBY: Are you saying that skull created man?
DOCTOR: No, I'm saying it may have affected his evolution. ... That would explain the dark side of man's nature.  But it's just a theory. ... Oh, if you want an alternative explanation, the Fendahl fed into the RNA of certain individuals the instincts and compulsions necessary to recreate.  These were fed through the generations till they reached Fendelman and people like him.
COLBY: Well, that's possibly more plausible.
DOCTOR: Or on the other hand, it could all be just a coincidence.
Thea's transformation into the Fendahl core (the Fendahl being a gestalt entity composed of a core and twelve Fendahleen) is pretty impressive; the large eyes painted on her eyelids works surprisingly well, particularly at a distance -- it's only in close-up shots that the effect is spoiled somewhat.  It's also an interesting choice to make something that's pure death look so beautiful and almost god-like, and it's one of the decisions that makes this story so compelling.

Fortunately, the Doctor is on hand to save the day, by taking the Fendahl skull and putting in it a lead-lined case and then rigging a gigantic implosion in the Priory to take care of the Fendahleen that exist -- the Fendahl being unable to gain full strength since two of the people needed to turn into Fendahleen were killed.  The universe is safe.

Image of the Fendahl is just about the last stab at Gothic horror in this era of the show, but it's a very effective piece of television.  The decision to make so much of this look like a high-quality science-fiction teleplay (as opposed to a typical episode of Doctor Who) elevates this, and the comparisons with Nigel Kneale's works are intended as a compliment.  It's so good, in fact, that you could take the Doctor out of things completely and still have a good story that would be almost unchanged until the final episode.  It's an intelligent script and a good production; it's not as wonderful as The Face of Evil, but this is another unfairly neglected story that's well worth your time.
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