Friday 28 July 2023

What's Wrong With... The Face of Evil


Let's get the big question out of the way first: when exactly did the Doctor first encounter the Mordee expedition and carry out his repairs to its computer?
In his novelisation of the story, Terrance Dicks claims that this event took place whilst the Doctor was still recuperating from his last regeneration - slipping away from UNIT HQ during the events of Robot.
It can't have been whilst he was confined to the sickbay, however, as we see when the Doctor first finding the TARDIS key, and we also see when he adopts his costume. The giant sculpture of his face clearly shows that he was wearing his scarf when the Mordee descendants designed it.
It may well have been an unseen trip with Sarah, or even one post-The Deadly Assassin, when he is travelling on his own for a bit. However, the fact he has trouble recalling his last visit to this planet suggests that it cannot have been recently.

Not so much something wrong, but unanswered questions.
Who made the sculpture? The Sevateem seem scared of the area where it is located, so it won't be them. They also associate the face with the Evil One who has abducted their god, not the god itself. The Tesh are a more obvious candidate as it is the location of a gap in the energy barrier, leading to their spaceship home, and they may have seen Xoanon using the Doctor's features - but they are religious ascetics, and don't strike us as being prone to such monumental iconography. 
Presumably, then, Xoanon caused it to be made - using its mental powers to manipulate the Tesh, or the expedition members before they divided? However, when we see Xoanon's features in the inner sanctum - those of the Doctor - it isn't wearing the scarf either.
We later hear that Leela's ancestors - the expedition members - are from Earth. Who or what, then, is "Mordee"? Is this the name of the planet? We call an expedition to the South Pole a "South Pole Expedition", or an expedition to Mount Everest an "Everest Expedition" - i.e. it is named after its destination / goal. Was Mordee the planet they were heading for and, if so, was it this one or did they crash land here before they got there? Or, was Mordee the name of an Earth colony from whence they came?

On film Calib's name is pronounced differently to when he's in the studio. "Xoanon" is pronounced differently at times as well.
Leela will have seen pieces of spacesuit, as Neeva uses them in his ceremonies, yet she still thinks the Tesh in the tunnel is a person with another person inside it. She and her tribe wear clothes, so why does she not just assume this to be costume as well?
Why have the Sevateem never tried simply going around the mountain, or followed the path which must exist up to the mouth? Trial and error over generations should have told them something.
Why would psychokinetic projections of a huge face leave footprints?
The Doctor assumes that invisible creatures don't see, as they have no need for conventional sight, yet he's encountered other invisible beings (Visians, Spiridons etc.) who could see in the normal spectrum perfectly well.
Xoanon electrifies the walls of the spaceship - but doesn't do the same for the floor, which would achieve its goal of killing the Doctor and Leela. Why not do the same when the Sevateem break in?
Why does the Tesh leader only have a single guard on the whole inner sanctum level, if it's such a vital area and he knows the Doctor is heading for it?

The Doctor is supposed to be the Evil One, but after five minutes the tribe simply treat him as an unwelcome visitor. Then they're following his orders.
It's a problem in several stories - generations of belief are simply set aside just because the Doctor says so.
Why would the Test of the Horda prove him to be mortal? Wouldn't passing the Test equally prove he was the Evil One, with special evil powers?
From everything we see of Leela subsequently, why is she frightened to take the Test - to the extent that she meekly allows her dear old dad to take it in her place? She is presented after this as a fearless, highly skilled warrior. The scene is totally out of character for her.
Why does Neeva go to the bother of sending assassins after her, if everyone thinks that the Evil One's invisible creatures are sure to get her?

The molecular examination sequence is just plain annoying. How big a coincidence is it that one of them just happens to be holding a mirror when they've been rendered unconscious and strapped to a table, and that the beam should start with that particular hand?
Why does Xoanon take so long to overload the reactor? If it was serious about blowing itself and everyone else to bits then surely it could have done it quicker. If it has been bluffing in trying to destroy the Doctor and / or itself, why hasn't the Doctor deduced this - he's come across enough computers that are programmed for self-preservation?
Xoanon takes over the minds of everyone on the ship - Tesh and Sevateem alike - to stop the Doctor. Why not just concentrate its energies on him? We have already seen him overpowered by the Tesh alone, so he's not immune.

Last, but by no means least, just how did Leela manage to dematerialise the TARDIS when she's only been in there for a matter of seconds? Remember - at this stage the Doctor had stated that the controls were isomorphic, responding only to him, so that's what the audience of the time had been led to believe.

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