Cult Spy's Phobia Corner: Dentistry

The Phobia: Dentistry
The Cause: 'Alias'

Let's face it - everybody dreads a trip to the dentist. Armed with their assortment of drills, vices and sharp tools, they make our molars and canines wince at the prospect of a surgical encounter. But for those fans of Alias, the fear factor was multiplied exponentially by the presence of the evil Dr Zhang Lee, who used dentistry as his torture device. Many teeth were left to rot away untreated as a result. Well, maybe.

Lee entered the fray armed with his scalpel, suit and glasses and a serene calm eerily reminiscent of Laurence Olivier's Nazi dentist in Marathon Man. Played with menace by Ric Young, the character was gradually given his comeuppance as the show progressed. But not before making a few near fatal extractions and instilling a great fear of reclining black leather chairs in many of us.

The ruthless root canal action happened almost immediately after Alias first hit our screens, with the central character of Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) having several teeth painfully extracted in a bid to make her reveal the identity of her employers. (Of course, the irony here was that she didn't know the grim truth about her boss Arvin Sloane at that stage).

Sydney managed to escape, but the memories were soon dragged back when Lee returned for more torturous action at the end of the first season, this time on the long-suffering Will Tippen. Before long though, he was confined to a wheelchair after receiving a dose of his own medicine, with Michael Vaughn seemingly finishing him off in the third season.

However, the damage was done. Hordes of Alias lovers will run a mile whenever anyone in a white coat and surgical mask suggests they stick their tongue out and say 'aaaah'. Thanks to the evil exploits of Zhang Lee, we're expecting more of an 'aaarrrgh' instead.