and described the story as "indeed a 'good one', if not quite great, and a highlight of a dodgy season." He praised Baker's performance, saying he was "fully engaged with the drama, providing a pleasing balance of gravitas and flippancy" but noted that Leela was "toned down". He acknowledged that it is "often cited as the last gasp of the horror sub-genre prevalent in earlier seasons" but added that "punches are pulled" and regarded it as "more like a tale of the supernatural" with "atmospheric night filming and an unusually eerie soundscape." Mulkern concluded that it was "a serial that is the sum of its admirable parts" and "one of the least fraught behind the scenes in season 15". DVD Talk's John Sinnott gave Image of the Fendahl three and a half out of five stars, praising the atmosphere but noting that the slow start and "rather convoluted story" held it back from being a classic. The second episode of this serial attained a 75% score on the Audience Appreciation Index, a record high up to this point. Commercial releases In print A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in May 1979. The book's cover (painted by John Geary) was once voted as the worst in the series by readers of DWB magazine. Home media This story was released on VHS in March 1993 and on DVD on 20 April 2009 (1 September 2009 in North America). This serial was also released as part of the Doctor Who DVD Files in issue 70 on 7 September 2011. Critical analysis A book length study of the serial, written by Simon Bucher-Jones, was published as part of The Black Archive series from Obverse Books in 2016. The serial was covered in volume 27 of the Doctor Who: The Complete History book series, which reprinted Andrew Pixley's Archive features from Doctor Who Magazine and the various Doctor Who Magazine Special Editions'', as well as new articles created specifically for the book. References External links IMDB Doctor Who - "Image of the Fendahl" Target novelisation Fourth Doctor serials Doctor Who serials novelised by Terrance Dicks 1977 British television episodes Doctor Who stories set on Earth Fiction set in 1977