by Simon Bucher-Jones

Obverse Books, out now

Obverse Books’ ongoing series of monographs focusing on a Doctor Who serial or story hits 1976’s Season 14 four-parter The Hand of Fear.

Bob Baker and Dave Martin’s departure story for Sarah Jane Smith comes under Simon Bucher-Jones’ spotlight as he teases out its threads and themes. Understandably, the main focus is on hands and fear (the clues are in the title), starting with an overview of the significance of hands in art, from cave paintings onwards, taking a look at religion, science fiction and horror en route.

The influence of movies and television shows featuring dismembered hands (pre and post the serial) is contextualised, with The Addams Family and The Hands of Orlac understandably referenced. I might have also included Oliver Stone’s 1981 Michael-Caine-starring flop The Hand or Sam Raimi’s Evil dead II, but the ‘hand on the run’ genre has plenty of rich examples, and the author’s choices are good ones.

There’s some fascinating exploration of the different types of fear employed in the story – the conclusion being that the hand itself is not that scary – and Bucher-Jones makes some good observations about how each episode feels like a different story. There’s also a section on industrial injury and health and safety (it was very easy for the Doctor and Sarah to wander round, after all). I also particularly enjoyed the sections on what gives the Doctor Who monster the ‘playground factor’ and the comparisons of the hubris of the architects of various Doctor Who civilisations. There’s also a meaty appendix on the gender fluid Kastrians and their home planet.

Verdict: You might think that there’s little new to say about running round a quarry in an Andy Pandy outfit and chanting ‘Eldrad must live!’, so you’ve got to hand it to Simon Bucher-Jones for unearthing some ideas and theories here that will likely be new to you. 7/10

Nick Joy

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