When I was writing the original Escape To Danger article for "The Faceless Ones", I was in a bit of a hurry and wanted something quick to dash off which wasn't very image-intensive.
Likewise today, when I'm trying to get back into actually doing something on these pages, I find myself in the need of something similar to help ease myself back into things.
How fortunate that Serial KK is one of those rare stories for which hardly any publicity images seem to have been taken. (Well, obviously bad for posterity bearing in mind the state of the archive holdings, but good for me being a lazy bugger right here and now).
In fact, I was so embarrassed at the paucity of the goods in the original article, that I gave a little description of the images I would have included if the remit of the column were different.
So, erm... here they are now. And this one below still grosses me out.
I've always found "The Faceless Ones" to be a genuinely unnerving story. Doppelganger stories are always good for cranking up the paranoia, and having most of it solely on soundtrack seems to (accidentally, I admit) actually intensify the feeling of dislocation.
The contemporary setting was still relatively new to the series at that time, which also lends to the feeling of oddness. And the discovery of the missing humans in cars in the Gatwick parking lots is another slightly sinister twist.
Would the story have been improved if set in a department store as originally intended? Maybe not, but it would have been nice to see Doctor Who's take on the familiar creepy mannequin trope a few years before "Spearhead From Space" gave it a try.
And did Pauline Collins do the decent thing by not accepting the offer to take Samantha Briggs into Time and Space? Think of all those excellent hats we missed out on...
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