| 089 – The Face of Evil | |||
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| Doctor Who serial | |||
| Cast | |||
Others
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| Production | |||
| Directed by | Pennant Roberts | ||
| Written by | Chris Boucher | ||
| Script editor | Robert Holmes | ||
| Produced by | Philip Hinchcliffe | ||
| Executive producer(s) | None | ||
| Music by | Dudley Simpson | ||
| Production code | 4Q | ||
| Series | Season 14 | ||
| Running time | 4 episodes, 25 minutes each | ||
| First broadcast | 1 January 1977 | ||
| Last broadcast | 22 January 1977 | ||
| Chronology | |||
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The Face of Evil is the fourth serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 1 to 22 January 1977. This serial marked the debut of Louise Jameson as companion Leela. It was also the first of three stories written for the series by Chris Boucher and the first of five directed by Pennant Roberts.
In the serial, the powerful split-personality computer Xoanon (played by Tom Baker, Rob Edwards, Pamela Salem, Anthony Frieze, and Roy Herrick) attempts to create two super races from the descendants of a human expedition with eugenics—the savage Sevateem, and the psychic Tesh. The Fourth Doctor (Baker) seeks to repair this personality fault.
The serial is generally well-received by reviewers, although Doctor Who fans consider it to be overshadowed by other stories in Season 14.[1] It did, however, gain high ratings, with three episodes achieving over 11 million viewers on first screening.