Serial: 4N  Episode Nos. 432, 433, 434, and 435.  Title: The Hand of Fear

An accident in a quarry buries Sarah and also unearths what appears to be a fossilized hand.  Unknown to the Doctor, it has a life force that possesses her mind and requires her to take it straight to the core of the nearest nuclear reactor.  The hand seems to regenerate through the absorption of radiation, and not even atomic missiles can come between it and it's survival, because "Eldrad must live."

This story sees the departure of Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith.

starring Tom Baker as Doctor Who and Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, Produced by Philip Hinchcliffe, and Directed by Lennie Mayne.

Originally transmitted from 2 October 1976 to 23 October 1976 on BBC1.
 
DVD Features:

            - All 4 25-minute episodes, remastered and restored.

            - Commentary track with actors Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen and Judith Paris (Eldrad), co-writer Bob Baker, and producer

                        Philip Hinchcliffe.

            - “Changing Time”, a new 50-minute featurette about the making of the story, featuring interviews with actors Tom Baker,

                        Elisabeth Sladen, Glyn Houston (Prof. Watson), Rex Robinson (Dr. Carter), and Stephen Thorne (Kastrian Eldrad),

                        co-writer Bob Baker, former script editor Terrance Dicks, former producer Barry Letts, Producer Philip Hinchcliffe,

                        and Visual Effects Designer Colin Mapson.

            - “Swap Shop”, an 11-minute extract from the first episode of this series which interviewed Tom Baker and

                        Elisabeth Sladen live on-air just a few hours before The Hand of Fear debuted on TV.

            - Continuities.  A compilation of the introductory material and trailers for this story from BBC1’s 1976 broadcast.

            - Photo Gallery.  Plays 5 minutes of still photos taken during production of the story.

            - Production Notes subtitles.

            - PDF files of the 1977 Doctor Who Annual and the Radio Times listings for this story.

            - 1 Easter Egg.  Highlight the invisible text below to find out what it is and how to see it:

                        - On the main menu, from the “Play All” button, double click the left arrow twice.  The logo at the top left of the screen

                                    will be highlighted.  Click on this, and you’ll see a 1:42 clip of Elisabeth Sladen being interviewed about her

                                    coming departure from the series on the magazine show Nationwide.