The Hand of Fear

Talk to the hand (of fear)

Four episodes (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four)
First broadcast Oct 2 to 23 1976
Average audience for serial: 10.95m

REGULAR CAST

Tom Baker (The Doctor) Born Jan 20 1934 Click here for Tom Baker's entry on Robot

Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) Feb 1 1946 to Apr 19 2011 (pancreatic cancer) Click here for Elisabeth Sladen's entry on The Time Warrior

GUEST CAST

Roy Boyd (Driscoll) Aug 18 1938 to Apr 27 2024
Career highlights
Roy's earliest role was in Dr Finlay's Casebook (1963), followed by The Fiction Makers (1968), The Saint (1968), The Borderers (1970), The Regiment (1972), Mandog (1972), The Wicker Man (1973), Emmerdale Farm (1974), The Omen (1976), The New Avengers (1976), Pennies from Heaven (1978), The Devil's Crown (1978), Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1980), Crossroads (1980-83), Scarf Jack (1981), Blake's 7 (1981), The Fourth Arm (1983), Chocky's Challenge (1986), Knights of God (1987), The Silver Chair (1990), Natural Lies (1992), Asylum (2005), New Tricks (2010) and Autopsy: The Last Hours of Hugh Hefner (2018).

John Cannon (Elgin) May 22 1938 to Sep 19 2020
Doctor Who credits
Played: Miner in The Monster of Peladon (1974, uncredited)
Played: Elgin in The Hand of Fear (1976)
Played: Passer-by in The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977, uncredited)
Played: Trog in Underworld (1978, uncredited)
Played: Technician in The Pirate Planet (1978, uncredited)
Played: Guard in The Armageddon Factor (1979), The Creature from the Pit (1979, uncredited)
Played: Extra in Time-Flight (1982, uncredited)
Played: Striker's helmsman in Enlightenment (1983, uncredited)
Played: Servant in The King's Demons (1983, uncredited)
Career highlights
His other work includes The Onedin Line (1972), Frenzy (1972), Moonbase 3 (1973), The Sweeney (1975), When the Boat Comes In (1976), Secret Army (1977-78), Blake's 7 (1978-80), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Beau Geste (1982), Classic Ghost Stories (1986) and Out of Town (1989).

Robin Hargrave (Guard) Jun 10 1942 to Dec 29 2020
Career highlights
Robin's TV career was brief, but he started out as a theatre and music hall performer, as both a dancer and comedian ("Bob Brailey, Bristol's Teenage Comedian"). He also worked as a Butlin's Redcoat, and in 1971 got a job hosting a darts/ pub quiz programme on Bristol's regional Associated Rediffusion channel. This was pitched to HTV but never picked up (a decade later, ITV came up with darts quiz show hit Bullseye). In 1977 he became an entertainer on board Cunard cruise ships, rising to Senior Cruise Director by 1991. In later years he became heavily involved with the Royal British Legion's annual Poppy Appeal.

Glyn Houston (Professor Watson) Oct 23 1925 to Jun 30 2019
Doctor Who credits
Played: Professor Watson in The Hand of Fear (1976)
Played: Colonel Wolsey in The Awakening (1984)
Career highlights
Glyn's first work was uncredited in Choir Practice (1949), after which he appeared in The Blue Lamp (1950), Wide Boy (1952), The Cruel Sea (1953), The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954), Colonel March of Scotland Yard (1956), Secombe and Friends (1959), The Bulldog Breed (1960), How Green was My Valley (1960), Mill of Secrets (1960), Deadline Midnight (1961), Panic (1963), Taxi! (1964), The Secret of Blood Island (1964), Cooperama (1966), Girl in a Black Bikini (1967), Softly Softly (1966-69, as DS Arthur Jones), Paul Temple (1969), The Befrienders (1972), The Long Chase (1972), Reg Varney (1973), My Name is Harry Worth (1974), Nigel Kneale's Beasts (1976), The XYY Man (1977), A Horseman Riding By (1978), It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1980), The Jim Davidson Show (1982), Inspector Morse (1988), After Henry (1990), Troublemakers (1990), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1993) and The Beach Inspector (1996). He also had a regular role as Duncan Thomas in Keep It in the Family (1980-83).
Awards
2008: BAFTA Cymru Special Award
Facts
His brother was fellow actor Donald Houston. Glyn had the "honour" of officially opening the new pedestrianisation scheme in his Welsh hometown of Tonypandy in 2000. That same year he unveiled a memorial to the thousands of miners who lost their lives in the mines of South Wales at Rhondda Heritage Park. His wife is actress and former model Shirley Lawrence.

Judith Paris (Female Eldrad) Born Jun 7 1944
Career highlights
Judith made her debut in 1965's Seaside Swingers as a member of the Gillian Lynne Dancers, then worked on Zodiac (1966), Dante's Inferno (1967, as Lizzie Siddall), Dance of the Seven Veils (1970), The Devils (1971), The Squirrels (1976), Take Three Women (1982), The Happy Apple (1983), High Street Blues (1989), CAB (1989), Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1990), Lovejoy (1992), Lady Chatterley (1993), A Dance to the Music of Time (1997), Lady Audley's Secret (2000), The Phantom of the Opera (2004) and Doctors (2005).
Facts
Judith, who trained as a dancer with the Royal Ballet School, was a long-time collaborator with film-maker Ken Russell. In 2011 Judith wrote and appeared in a one-woman play about the life of Madame Tussaud.

Roy Pattison (Zazzka) Dec 4 1926 to Sep 20 1997
Doctor Who credits
Played: Draconian space pilot in Frontier in Space (1973)
Played: Zazzka in The Hand of Fear (1976)
Career highlights
Roy's first role was in Romance in Candlelight (1955), then Clive of India (1956), Gallows Glorious (1959), Street Scene (1959), Dr Finlay's Casebook (1962), Battle Beneath the Earth (1967), The Borderers (1970), Colditz (1972), Oh, Father! (1973), The Stars Look Down (1975), Edward and Mrs Simpson (1978), The Mallens (1979), Andy Robson (1983), Return to Treasure Island (1986) and The Bill (1995). He regularly played Walter Fines in Crocodile Shoes (1994-96).

Frances Pidgeon (Miss Jackson) Jul 16 1930 to Dec 21 2015
Doctor Who credits
Played: Handmaiden in The Monster of Peladon (1974, uncredited)
Played: Miss Jackson in The Hand of Fear (1976)
Career highlights
Doctor Who was one of dancer Frances's final credits, having previously appeared in Love from Judy (1953), On the Bright Side (1959), This is Bobby Darin (1960), Up Jumped a Swagman (1965), Three of a Kind (1967), Cliff Richard in Scotland (1969), Doomwatch (1971-72), The Brothers (1975), Within These Walls (1975) and Quiller (1975). She also choreographed dance routines for the screen, such as a 1976 episode of sitcom Are You Being Served?
Facts
Frances, who was married to The Hand of Fear director Lennie Mayne, was also a member of the all-girl dancing octet The Visionettes. In March 1956 Frances was photographed as part of a set of photos by film-maker Ken Russell, called Penny Farthing Girl.

David Purcell (Abbott) Born Aug 29 1948
Career highlights
David debuted in Doomwatch (1971), and then appeared in The Main Chance (1972), The Brothers (1974/75), Circus (1975), The New Avengers (1976), Kids (1979), Bless Me Father (1981), Educating Marmalade (1982), The Cleopatras (1983), Loose Connections (1985) and Watch Me (1995).
Facts
In later years, David - the son of Roy Purcell, who appeared in The Mind of Evil and The Three Doctors - worked as a solicitor advocate and part-time district judge.

Rex Robinson (Dr Carter) Jun 26 1926 to Apr 13 2015
Doctor Who credits
Played: Dr Tyler in The Three Doctors (1972-73)
Played: Gebek in The Monster of Peladon (1974)
Played: Dr Carter in The Hand of Fear (1976)
Career highlights
Debuting in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1955), Rex's other work includes Champion Road (1958), The Big Pull (1962), The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne (1965), Mrs Thursday (1967), Brett (1971), Warship (1973), Six Days of Justice (1973-75), Within These Walls (1978), Terry and June (1980), Just Good Friends (1984), Superman IV (1987), Bread (1987) and Shadow of the Noose (1989).
Facts
Rex was married to his The Three Doctors co-star Patricia Prior.
In 2014 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Rex, and his wife Patricia Prior, here.

Renu Setna (Intern)
Career highlights
Indian-born Renu is a prolific and instantly recognisable face on British TV. Debuting in The Mind Benders in 1963, he subsequently appeared in The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling (1964), Rainbow City (1967), The Misfit (1970), Doomwatch (1972), The Edwardians (1972), Marked Personal (1974), Look and Read: Cloud Burst (1974), I, Claudius (1976), Crossroads (1977), Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1978), Are You Being Served? (1979), Open All Hours (1981), It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974-81), Only Fools and Horses (1981), Moonlighting (1982), Up the Elephant and Round the Castle (1985), Running Scared (1986), In Sickness and in Health (1986-87, as shopkeeper Mr Kittel), Stay Lucky (1993), Casualty (1996), Such a Long Journey (1998), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), The Calcium Kid (2004), Banglatown Banquet (2006), No Angels (2006), Silent Witness (2007), K (2009), Vera (2011), The Physician (2013), The Interceptor (2015), Citizen Khan (2016) and Giantland (2019).
Facts
He was building houses as a manual labourer in the early 1950s, but then won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1960. He has played in Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Bangalore. He is an authority and seasoned performer of Khalil Gibran's The Prophet. In the 1970s he ran his own yoga classes in London. In 2003, Renu and fellow Asian actor Albert Moses criticised the BBC for using Bollywood actors (such as Dalip Tahil) to play a new British-Asian family (the Ferreiras) in soap EastEnders, rather than home-grown talent.

Roy Skelton (King Rokon) Jul 20 1931 to Jun 8 2011 (pneumonia following a stroke) Click here for Roy Skelton's entry on The Ark

Stephen Thorne (Kastrian Eldrad) Mar 2 1935 to May 26 2019
Doctor Who credits
Played: Azal in The Daemons (1971)
Played: Omega in The Three Doctors (1972-73)
Played: Ogron in Frontier in Space (1973)
Played: Eldrad (Kastrian version) in The Hand of Fear (1976)
Career highlights
Stephen's earliest role was in Jezebel ex UK (1963), followed by Z Cars (1971), Sexton Blake and the Demon God (1978), Crossroads (1978-79), Death of an Expert Witness (1983), David Copperfield (1986), EastEnders (1991), Madison (1993), Shakespeare: the Animated Tales (1992/94) and Last of the Summer Wine (2006). Stephen's voice was also heard narrating numerous Fred Dibnah documentary series (1987-96), and playing Aslan in the 1979 animation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He was a prolific radio actor and audiobook narrator.
In 2016 Toby Hadoke released his Who's Round interview with Stephen here.

CREW

Bob Baker (writer) Jul 26 1939 to Nov 3 2021 Click here for Bob Baker's entry on The Claws of Axos

Dave Martin (writer) Jan 1 1935 to Mar 30 2007 (lung cancer) Click here for Dave Martin's entry on The Claws of Axos

Lennie Mayne (director) Nov 8 1927 to May 20 1977 (drowned)
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Curse of Peladon (1972), The Three Doctors (1972-73), The Monster of Peladon (1974), The Hand of Fear (1976)
Career highlights
Lennie also directed series such as Mickey Dunne (1967), Vendetta (1968), The First Lady (1969), The Borderers (1970), The Troubleshooters (1969-70), Brett (1971), Doomwatch (1971-72), Warship (1973), The Brothers (1974-75) and The Onedin Line (1976-77). He also choreographed for shows such as Rush Hour (1958), Cribbins (1965) and Call It What You Like (1965), and was credited as a dancer performing on 1960's Dial for Music.
Facts
Australian Lennie, who was married to actress Frances Pidgeon (who appeared in The Hand of Fear), was tragically drowned in a boating accident soon after finishing The Hand of Fear, when a dinghy he was using on the English Channel with two other yachtsmen (one of whom was actor Ian McCulloch, who was in Warriors of the Deep (1984)) was capsized by a freak wave, and the search-and-rescue team were unable to find him. It is his whistling you can hear in Sarah Jane actress Elisabeth Sladen's final scene in The Hand of Fear, as Sladen couldn't whistle.

Philip Hinchcliffe (producer) Born Oct 1 1944 Click here for Philip Hinchcliffe's entry on The Ark in Space

Robert Holmes (script editor) Apr 2 1926 to May 24 1986 (chronic liver ailment) Click here to see Robert Holmes's entry on The Krotons