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(More customer reviews)In Sarah Jane Smith's last adventure with the Doctor, she goes through a bit in the first two episodes. One, she is buried under a pile of rubble, when she and the Doctor accidentally stray near a quarry that is been dynamited. Two, she is possessed by a strange fossilized hand that is uncovered during said blasting that leads her to say "Eldrad must live." Three, she has lots of fun going around firing a blue light from a ring at anyone who tells her to stop. And four, are you ready for this... she locks herself and the hand in the outer chamber of the radioactive core at the Nunton Power Complex. I've heard of A Boy And His Dog, but A Girl And Her Hand? Hmm... But as Liz Sladen (Sarah) was with the series for three seasons, script-editor Robert Holmes thus made that part of the story central to Sarah.
The Doctor hypothesizes that the hand, originating from a silicon-based lifeform, is alive and is using radiation to regenerate itself. That does explain why Sarah comes out of the radiation chamber alive and well despite being exposed to enough radiation to kill a school of whales. But who or what is Eldrad?
There is a scene when the director of Nunton, Professor Watson, phones his wife and tells her in a calm voice that he may be delayed. He lies that there is nothing wrong and to kiss the children for him. This is when it looks like the facility might undergo meltdown. At the end of the call, his expression is one having resigned to the fact that he might well die before the day is over. This is Glyn Houston's best part in his role as Watson.
The crystalline costume for Eldrad is quite a beaut, which is clearly a blue-gray body suit with crystals and metal pieces attached to resemble a clump of jewels at various points. Judith Paris's portrayal of Eldrad retains the alien nature of this being, down to the voice. As Eldrad has been an alien exiled from Kastria and sentenced to obliteration, something that didn't succeed, the obsession of paranoia, in not trusting people, is well-acted. And the sight of a hand moving by itself isn't something one sees everyday. As Sarah says, "Careful, that's not as 'armless as it looks." Harmless, armless,... right.
The one thing that may throw fans is the farewell between the Doctor and one of his longest traveling companions. In contrast to the Third Doctor being shattered when Jo leaves him, here, the Fourth Doctor's not too emotional goodbye is a bit questionable. Then again, Tom Baker and Liz Sladen reworked that part of the dialogue themselves, so who knows?
The scenes in the nuclear plant, mainly episodes 2 and 3, are the bright points of The Hand Of Fear, as it's fast-moving and tense. Indeed, location filming was done at the Oldbury Nuclear Power Station in Avon, where the people there were enthusiastic in helping out the production team. Things slow down in the last episode, but it's an all right story.
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After a freak accident in the inevitable quarry, Sarah Jane emerges clutching a stone hand which holds a strange power over her.
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