I am not good with scares. One of my earliest memories is hiding underneath the dinner table from the Lion on the Teletubbies. This has continued throughout my life, with a fairly recent memory being watching Jurassic Park for the first time at a University event and entertaining my friends with my heightened reactions to the Velociraptors (I neglected to attend another session with the film Alien on similar grounds). So upon watching this story, I must admit that I yelped at considerable volume when the above image flashed on screen.
I had seen the image before, whilst researching photos of the Mandragora Helix. It struck me as one that was a little bit on the unsettling side. A lot of this is the lighting and effects placed on the mask, giving it a demonic look that can scare just about anyone. The design of the mask helps as well, adding a remarkably fierce quality that adds to the terror. Watching it come up in context, however, added a new element of horror to the proceedings. It flashes up suddenly, without any sort of warning. One moment the Doctor is being attacked by Hieronymous, the next we see that image. I gave a resounding cry of shock, and thought to myself of the glorious impact that Doctor Who can have on people. It can still provide fear to people even almost 40 years on from its original broadcast date, adding to the timeless nature of Doctor Who.
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