YMMV / Doctor Who S14 E4 "The Face of Evil"

• Broken Aesop: The story is based on the premise that the Doctor's egotistical attempts to save a space mission AI (by simply imposing a print of his own brain over it instead of actually fixing the problem)^note we've all seen where that kind of thing leads, although the novelisation of this story does note that the Doctor did this in the early days of his current self when he was still suffering post-regenerative trauma led to the AI becoming an insane God who selectively breeds the settlers into opposing Cargo Cult factions that worship him, and creating a dystopic Egopolis based on the Doctor's image. It all seems like it's set up to criticise the Doctor's big ego and Chronic Hero Syndrome... but it ends with the AI, having realised who it is, asking the Doctor for an explanation as to where he went wrong, absolving the Doctor of all responsibility and even having 'God' ask him for tips on how to be better. Striking because the new series absolutely would never have missed the opportunity to criticise the Doctor's god complex.
• Fanfic Fuel: The fact that the Doctor starts this story without a companion was originally meant to tie in with the companion-less nature of "The Deadly Assassin" just before it. However, it's never outright stated in the serial that the gap between that story and this one was short, making it easy to write any number of Fourth Doctor fanfics featuring either no or new companions during it. Indeed, the Expanded Universe would feature a number of official stories set between "The Deadly Assassin" and "The Face of Evil" for this reason.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Cower before the terrifying Tesh!
• It Was His Sled: When first broadcast, the revelation that the face of evil was the Doctor's own face was The Reveal that created the cliffhanger at end of the first episode. Now that image is used on the cover of the DVD.
• Signature Scene: The Doctor threatening a man with a Jelly Baby has become one not just for this serial, but for the Fourth Doctor's seven-year tenure as a whole, thanks to it exemplifying his character as an eccentric gadfly who prefers guile over violence in a single, brief moment.
• WTH, Costuming Department?: The Tesh uniforms. Nutcracker cosplay with lime green ballet slippers makes Leela's leather bikini look positively sensible.

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