One fat geek's SUCCESSFUL attempt to regenerate into a not-so-fat geek by watching the entirety of Doctor Who while walking on a treadmill

My Other Birthday Episode

Oct 15 2017
My Other Birthday Episode

During my lifetime there have been precisely two episodes of Doctor Who that have aired on my birthday. There was also one other that aired on my birth date, but two years before I was born (Episode 10 of The Daleks' Master Plan), but that doesn't count since I wasn't alive. My first birthday episode came on January 15th, 1972 when I turned four -- Episode 3 of Day of the Daleks (again with the Daleks, and also: meh). Today's viewing gave me my only other birthday episode on January 15th, 1977 when I turned nine - Part 3 of The Face of Evil. It is hands down the best of the lot (and not just because it doesn't involve any damn Daleks).

Let's talk about that.

The Face of Evil - Parts 3 & 4

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

With Part 3 we finally meet the adversaries of the Tribe of Sevateem - the Tesh. I feel a great need to throw in a John Tesh joke here, except who even remembers him these days? I see he has an active Twitter account, and as recently as two days ago he tweeted out advice about cutting back on sodium and dimming your lights before bedtime, so yeah, who even remembers him these days.

But as for the Tesh, it turns out they they are the descendants of the technicians from the same expedition that spawned the Tribe of Sevateem. Techs became Tesh, and here we have the polar opposite of the tribe. The Tesh are cool, rational, highly trained in mental abilities up to and including mind control, and they exist to serve and protect the great computer Xoanon. As for Xoanon, it is battling schizophrenia caused ages ago when the Doctor himself mistakenly repaired the computer using an imprint of his own mind, not realizing the computer was sentient.

All of which leads to one of the great quotes in the history of Doctor Who. I guess it is pretty much always relevant, but to me it seems particularly on point as regards to the politics of my own country:

You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views, which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.

 - The Doctor

In the end, of course, the Doctor is able to remove his imprint from the computer and restore its sanity. This also leads to the Tribe of Sevateem and the Tesh to come together (awkwardly and contentiously, to be sure), with the help of the newly-stabilized Xoanon. As for Leela? She follows the Doctor, ask to join him, and when he politely refuses she just rushes on ahead into the TARDIS anyway and starts pressing buttons. She's a smart one, and make no mistake.

I love, love, love this story. It ranks as one of my all-time favorites, filled with great science fiction ideas and explorations of the nature of Truth and Intelligence. The casting of Louise Jameson as Leela is inspired. She brings a fresh energy to the show and upends the expectations a companion, whilst still fulfilling the "Jo Grant" function of acting as the audience proxy by asking questions to provide the needed exposition from the Doctor. I sincerely hope to meet Ms Jameson someday, if she ever comes around on the convention circuit anywhere near me.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): Leela
Episode(s): The Face of Evil - Parts 3 & 4
Steps Walked: 7,024 today, 1,518,965 total
Distance Walked: 3.47 miles today, 755.79 miles total
Weight: 258.22 lbs (five day moving average), net change -49.08 lbs


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