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| The TARDIS breaks apart! |
5 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 100 minutes. Written by: Peter Ling, Derrick Sherwin (uncredited). Directed by: David Maloney. Produced by: Peter Bryant.
THE PLOT:
With the TARDIS caught directly in the path of a volcanic eruption, the Doctor engages a risky emergency dematerialization, one that whisks the time machine out of reality entirely. They escape the lava... only to find themselves weathering a mental attack by an unseen opponent, one determined to lure them out of the TARDIS into a featureless void.
The Doctor is almost able to break free. But as they make their escape, the TARDIS is broken apart. Now the time travelers are wandering about in a land of fiction, interacting with characters such as Gulliver (Bernard Horsfall) and Rapunzel (Christine Pirie), even as they are hunted by man-sized toy soldiers.
It becomes apparent that there is some purpose for their abduction. But the Doctor has no idea what that purpose may be - even as he prepares to confront The Master of this Land of Fiction (Emrys Jones) (and no, he's not that Master).
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: Shows his strength of will, first as he fights the unseen force in Episode One, then a second time as he pits his creativity against the Master's in the final episode. Once he recognizes the nature of the Land of Fiction, he is able to urge Jamie and Zoe to deny the reality of each threat they face, effectively nullifying those threats.
Jamie: Goes to pieces. Well, really just his face. Frazer Hines picked an auspicious time to come down with chicken pox, as the nature of the story made his brief replacement with actor Hamish Wilson not only fit with the story, but actually enhance it. The hastily-created bits in which Jamie's face is disassembled and left to be fitted together like a puzzle create one of the story's more eerie visuals.
Zoe: In the first episode, she is the one the unseen force successfully lures out of the TARDIS. This fits. Jamie has been traveling long enough to wait for the Doctor before impulsively running out into an unknown space. Zoe, who is always certain that she is correct and who is still quite new to the TARDIS, is inherently more vulnerable to the siren's call. Once in The Land of Fiction, Zoe has the most difficulty refusing to believe the evidence of her own eyes... Until she meets a fictional character with whom she's familiar, in comic book villain The Karkus (Christopher Robbie), at which point she merrily romps with throwing him about like a rag doll.
THOUGHTS:
The Mind Robber was a four-parter that became a five-parter, after the decision was taken to excise an episode from the previous story. The result is The Mind Robber's first episode, a minimally-budgeted setup, all of which takes place in either the TARDIS or a featureless white void.
Fortunately, this hastily-scripted episode works a treat. All three regulars are particularly good, and there is just enough of a sense of structure and rising crisis to keep it engagingly weird, rather than just feeling weird for its own sake. The final shots of the episode, with Jamie and Zoe clinging helplessly to the center column as the TARDIS breaks apart, are pulled off very well by director David Maloney, in what would be the first of several Who stories he helmed.
The rest of the story is good, too. Episodes Two and Three continue to deliver effective oddities, from a forest of words to children presenting the Doctor with increasingly threatening riddles - all of which hint at the nature of this strange land. Just as "strange stuff" threatens to become tedious, we start getting answers, with Episode Four delivering an almost complete explanation.
The Mind Robber is probably the prime example of a story's reputation shifting. It was not well-received on initial airing, with viewers complaining that it was too "silly" and fantasy-oriented. Over time, it has grown to be considered one of the series' early triumphs, earning a regular spot on lists of Troughton's very best.
I could quibble about the abruptness of the ending. That aside, however, I find this a splendid story, with imaginative ideas that not only aren't harmed by the production challenges (an extra episode; Frazer Hines' illness) - they're actually enhanced by them!
Overall Rating: 9/10.
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