When talking about this story, it's worth pointing out that Lucy, the famous Australopithecus afarensis fossil, was found in Ethiopia in 1974, a short span of years before Image of the Fendahl was broadcast. The study of human origins was growing rapidly in the Seventies, so as usual we can see that the sci-fi themes of this particular Doctor Who story were partly inspired by current events.
This gives a certain air of authenticity to the early scenes in the laboratory, which is decorated with geological maps of South Africa and Kenya. The revelation that the seemingly modern Homo sapiens skull is 12 million years old would indeed shake up the scientific world, if it were genuine. Of course, given this is Doctor Who, we learn that the truth is (as always) far more complicated than that.
The first episode is a serious tour de force, one of the best twenty minutes of Doctor Who ever put to television in my estimation. The building sense of unease and wrongness culminates in an awesome cliffhanger where it seems like the Doctor is about to meet the same grisly fate as the disintegrating hiker from the beginning of the episode. The relative lack of Dudley Simpson's usually boisterous score from the episode lends it an air of oppressive silence which makes it some of the scariest Who I've ever seen.
It would be fair to say that the rest of the story isn't quite as scary, but on the whole I still found it a great watch. Part of this is the excellent guest cast. Wanda Ventham is very good as Thea, but sadly underutilized; I really enjoyed Fendelman and Stael too, plus the Tylers. Pride of place goes to Edward Arthur as Colby, however. You can tell Boucher had a lot of fun writing for this character's acerbic sense of humor. My favorite wisecrack, for what its worth, is when he spots Stael pointing a gun at Fendelman's back and remarks, "I think you have an industrial relations problem."
Among other interesting things, including the concept behind the Fendahl itself, is the implication that the Time Lords are responsible for burying this particular mess and leaving it for a future generation to deal with. The whole thing is left just mysterious enough to intrigue, and I think it adds to the spooky air of the story.
Image of the Fendahl is probably a lesser favorite of mine now, and a fitting swansong for this particular style of Tom Baker Doctor Who story. The Sun Makers will be coming up next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 2 July 2021.)
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