Doctor Who’s classic cliffhangers: Identity crisis in The Face of Evil
By James Aggas
The Doctor confronts a powerful computer with no sense of its own identity, in this classic moment from the Doctor Who serial The Face of Evil.
As we all know by now, Doctor Who has had many great cliffhangers over the years. This is especially true of the Classic Series, when most of the stories were told in serial format. Unsurprisingly, rewatching Season 14 on Blu-ray has reminded me of several fantastic ones.
The Face of Evil has two particularly great examples. Part 1 ends with the reveal of the Doctor’s face carved into the mountain. It’s a fantastic reveal, one that shows how the Doctor already has a clear connection to the planet he’s on, even when he doesn’t know what that connection is. At least, not at first.
But a cliffhanger that might be even better – or at least, more terrifying – is part 3’s. The episode ends with the Doctor confronting the planet’s “god” Xoanon – essentially an extremely powerful computer. Not only does it have artificial intelligence, but it’s also suffering from an identity crisis – one that’s entirely the Doctor’s fault.
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“Who am I?”
As revealed in the above clip, the Doctor tries to explain to Xoanon that, when he previously encountered the computer, he had tried to repair it using a psychic link. However, he hadn’t realized that the computer had copied his entire personality – just as it was developing one of its own. The result was a complete split personality – one it wanted to deny even as the person responsible was talking to it.
What makes this cliffhanger moment stand out is that we begin to realize how completely and utterly insane Xoanon has become. It has no clear idea of who or what it is, as it asks the question “Who am I?” non-stop.
If that wasn’t terrifying enough, it doesn’t scream in the Doctor’s voice or even any of its other adult voices. Instead, it screams with a child’s voice. It’s extremely disturbing to watch, particularly as it makes us realize just how broken and dangerous Xoanon truly is. In short, it’s a brilliant cliffhanger from an extremely memorable season.
Next. Tom Baker plays both hero and villain in The Face of Evil. dark
Have you seen The Face of Evil? What’s your favorite moment from the story? Which moment terrified you the most? Do you think Xoanon was an effective idea for an antagonist? Let us know in the comments below.