Image of the Fendahl

When a tussle with a sonic time scan leads the TARDIS back to Earth, the Doctor and Leela discover strange happenings in a nearby lab run by the secretive Dr. Fendelman.   By night an eight million year old skull glows with a devastating power, leaving destruction in its wake.  Already two people lie dead in mysterious circumstances.  

The Doctor is appalled.  Can the Fendahl, the creature from his childhood fairytales, really be emerging from its twelve million year hibernation?  And if so, can he stop its energy-draining progress through the Earth’s population?  The very safety of the planet depends upon it…

• K9, established in the previous story "The Invisible Enemy" was having major technical difficulties, and so had to be written out of this story.  He does return in the next adventure, "The Sunmakers."

• Watch for the cliffhanger for episode 2.  It is particularly effective as the Doctor's hand is stuck against the glowing Fendahl skull as energy pours through his body.

• Also evident in this story is what is known as WBWS.  That's Wobbly Brick Wall Syndrome.   It seems to strike 1 in every 4 Doctor Who stories.  There is currently no known cure, but we remain hopeful.

• Wanda Ventham (Thea Ransom) made her debut to Doctor Who as Jean Rock in the Troughton story "The Faceless Ones."  She would make one more appearance as Faroon in "Time and the Rani."

• Also worth noting is the superb performance of Daphne Heard who played old grandma Tyler.  If she is at all familiar to you it may be due to her appearance a few years later in the comedy "To The Manor Born."