The Mind Robber
daveyboy7472
Posts: 16,409 Forum Member
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This story has echoes of The Celestrial Toymaker in terms of sheer surrealism but is definitely better than that story. I really like this story, it is slightly atypical of the Troughton Era but unlike The Highlanders and The Underwater Menace which also are atypical, it actually works!
I think the first episode is a prime example of what can be done with a few sets, low budget, good writing and just the minimal amount of cast. It is a brilliant episode, very atmospheric and almost set entirely inside the TARDIS. The fact that an outside force can actually penetrate the safety of the TARDIS was still quite an unusual idea and it can be considered a little similar to Amy's Choice many years later.
The other four episodes don't quite live upto this early promise but they are still good anyway. It was lucky the production team had a great way of replacing Frazer Hines in the second episode. Hamish Wilson did a great job replacing him and fitted well into the cast.
Aside from that I love all the ideas of the fictional characters being real and it certainly added to the story. I also love the introduction of Bernard Horsfall as Gulliver, the first of his many appearances in the show. He gave Gulliver a great nobility and delivered his lines in a really great way.
The Master(not that Master!) as in this story was also played by Emry James in the same way as Wolfe Morris in The Abominable Snowmen in that his two different personalities were displayed superbly through vocal artistry.
The criticisms I have for this story are few. It's clear the actress playing Rapunzel can't really act, it's never clear who created the computer and how it came to be in charge and there are a few cringey moments along the way but after the poor start this Season had with The Dominators, this story got it up and running.
I think the first episode is a prime example of what can be done with a few sets, low budget, good writing and just the minimal amount of cast. It is a brilliant episode, very atmospheric and almost set entirely inside the TARDIS. The fact that an outside force can actually penetrate the safety of the TARDIS was still quite an unusual idea and it can be considered a little similar to Amy's Choice many years later.
The other four episodes don't quite live upto this early promise but they are still good anyway. It was lucky the production team had a great way of replacing Frazer Hines in the second episode. Hamish Wilson did a great job replacing him and fitted well into the cast.
Aside from that I love all the ideas of the fictional characters being real and it certainly added to the story. I also love the introduction of Bernard Horsfall as Gulliver, the first of his many appearances in the show. He gave Gulliver a great nobility and delivered his lines in a really great way.
The Master(not that Master!) as in this story was also played by Emry James in the same way as Wolfe Morris in The Abominable Snowmen in that his two different personalities were displayed superbly through vocal artistry.
The criticisms I have for this story are few. It's clear the actress playing Rapunzel can't really act, it's never clear who created the computer and how it came to be in charge and there are a few cringey moments along the way but after the poor start this Season had with The Dominators, this story got it up and running.
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Comments
The three main layers interactions with fictional characters from classic literature is brilliant. Them meeting Gulliver is sooo funny.
The Doctor getting Jamie's face wrong is (IMHO) hilarious! (As well as it being a clever way of replacing Frazer Hines, for part of the serial, as daveyboy above me also points out.)
The alphabet trees - with ladders within the trunk(!):p - priceless!
I love the whole serial. From the moment the TARDIS explodes, to their encounters with Medussa and Gulliver, to the unicorn running towards them.
Not a dull moment in all five episodes, I feel.
The Mind Robber receives full marks from myself. I give it a resounding ten; five gold stars; two thumbs sticking firmly up.
I quite like this one, just in case you couldn't tell...
I'm not too bothered by Rapunzel's poor acting. Probably the fact that she's just a bit of writing brought to life helps to camouflage this. (Naturally that means I must ignore the fact that everyone in DW is just bits of writing brought to life by actors!
The Karkus on the other hand ... the less said about him the better.
The Doctor's weird internal dialogue in Episode 1 had shades of both Inside the Spaceship and The Moonbase. Creepy, spooky weirdness. This was Tingramretro's favourite episode of all.
And someone's got to mention ... well, that shot of Zoe. :eek:
Yes. Well. hmm...
Her couture gold sequin tracksuit is to die for!
(Seriously, though, I want - no, need - a suit just like it.):cool:
I feel utterly ashamed I forgot to mention that at the beginning! It's one of the highlights(or should that be lowlights?!
I sort of agree about Rapunzel in a way. Maybe the actress concerned was instructed to speak in that way in line with the fictional characters of the story but she still sounded as if she couldn't act! Saying that, it's still better than Neska in Planet Of The Spiders.....:rolleyes:
As for the Karkus, I thought he was hilarious but a bit of a wimp to allow himself to have his ass kicked by Zoe!
Also agree about Ting, was one of his fave stories, if not his actual fave. It's this sort of subject I used to love discussing with him.
Your are so right about that image:):o
I had to wait a whole week (and that was a looooong time in those days!) to see what happened next. I loved the rest of it too - even though it didn't make sense!
I've since re-watched it.....I STILL love it! I agree that Rapunzel was just 'acting' as a story-book character - especially when she said that line (when Jamie asks to use her hair to go down again): "Why not? Everyone else does!" (or words to that effect)
Bit of a mystery to this day.......did it really happen?
You suspect psychic pollen?
Lots of positives are in it however, I think the first episode is one of the most unique, mysterious and gripping episodes in the whole of Doctor Who.
Love Jamie then Zoe being enticed by seeing their homes on the screen, and the Doctor's mental battle with the voice imploring him to give in. With Zoe and Jamie out in the opaque void there is a palpable eerieness and sense of mystery, coupled with the Doctor's scenes back in the TARDIS embroiled in mental distress.
My favourite moment of the whole story also occurs when the TARDIS explodes and Zoe and Jamie are left gradually spinning off into the distance on the TARDIS console. All complete with excellent creepy music and the Doctor seemingly in some sort of trance. Excellent. And yes the rear shot of Zoe is rather entertaining!
As for the rest of the story. The various fictional characters we meet along the way are
all well and good but I much prefer some of the ideas contained in the story. Such as the Forest of words, and the overall plot of a writer being effectively plugged into the computer to sustain and control this dimensional realm I found an excellent concept. With the various building of the concept such as the tickertape and the whole point of the tests to incorporate the Doctor's ageless brain as a replacement for the current controller very well done.
The Doctor's performance is less enjoyable for me in parts, one where he seems to be very panicky and flaps like a scared schoolboy on half a dozen occasions at least. Just a few too many for my liking. Contrast this to his usual better parts, such as episode one and when he is plugged into the computer and battling the controller by calling up Lancelot to fight Blackbeard etc...
I did also find the story a bit humourless, I did like the Doctor's 'Sausages' line and when he is trying to put Jamie's face together however.
Zoe is a far better companion than Victoria, and I like her, Jamie and the Second Doctor as a combination. Zoe has dialogue with the Doctor that with Victoria and Jamie just wouldn't seem right, so I find with her in the TARDIS crew it has a better balance.
Overall, a mixed story of good and bad for me. Certainly not bad but episode one apart, not one I'll be rushing to rewatch.
Today viewers seem to expect an explanation for everything. Amy's Choice was explained by the psychic pollen. They couldn't just leave it ambiguous. Back in '68 people seemed content for a story like The Mind Robber just to happen, and not be explained to the nth degree.
I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make here, but I find it to be a interesting difference between now and then.
What amazes me is the shear imagination and ambition of the story. It's almost a bottle show, with minimum use of location footage, and yet it completely overcomes the budget constraints and the illness of Fraiser Hines mid production to produce a memorable story.
I think what made it standout in this 8 year old's mind was the central idea of a place where fictional characters come to life. A lot of the detail I didn't remember, of course. But Jamie and Zoe being trapped in the book, the Doctor starting to write the story and avoiding the trap of writing himself into the story and the sound of those robots and the toy soldiers - they're all standout moments.
Watching it as an adult after all these years I appreciate other things about the story too. Funnily enough I had not remembered the TARDIS exploding and that shot of Zoe on the console but it is now a highlight for me!
It was impressive too that they had Zoe fighting and winning against a superhero. Not many shows of the sixties would have given the female lead such a strong role. It wasn't all just screaming and shouting "Doctor, what's happening?".
All in all, a fine example of early Doctor Who.
This episode personifies the best of Doctor Who.
Probably my personal favourite of the Troughton era. Creepy, weird but also funny, from that blood curdling first cliffhanger, to the sheer terror the sound of those footsteps bring, to the hilarity of the Doctor putting Jamie's face together wrong.
As Sam_Gee1 said, this one personifies the very best of Who. It also has one of my favourite TARDIS teams in the form of the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe.
I do have to be honest here and say that I've tried to watch this story twice and I keep falling asleep during episode 3 & 4 so I'm really judging it on episodes 1, 2 and 5 because I don't want to try watching it again. I feel too tired really.
I do really love the first episode. I know some people have called it padding but I do enjoy the fact that it's basically just the three regulars taken out of reality. One of my favourite scenes is when Jamie and Zoe are being tempted outside by The Master with pictures of their hometown. There's a really good flow to episode 1 with the mystery building up gradually and the white background is really well realised with the white robots and the toy soldiers. Sound is used really well with the repetitive alien noise the stamping soldiers and the echoes as Jamie and Zoe get lost and call out.
I love the close-ups that the director uses. It adds an intensity to the scenes and highlights how
beautiful Zoe is which I didn't really notice before. Of course her catsuit just looks tre sexy in the shot when the Tardis breaks up and she's clinging on
there and you see her bottom. I was amazed actually that that shot was allowed!
Episode 2 is imaginative with the spooky children and the doctor meeting Gulliver. I really like the doctor getting Jamie's face wrong and the other actor coming in because it adds an interesting dynamic and Hamish Wilson is quite clever because he does actually have and use the same mannerisms as Jamie.
On the minus side & it's a small criticism really it is pretty obvious that it's a studio when they're going through the forest or maze. It's here that I think colour would have worked really well for this story and this is a much better story than the one with the Celestial Toymaker. sometimes it just looks a bit flat which might be because of the studio size.
The resolution in episode 5 is very satisfying with the writer whose attached to the giant brain which is actually a really clever idea. the brain looks impressive spinning round and round.
This isn't a story that I would rush to see over and over but I do appreciate that it is a surreal sci-fi story and works on the imagination level.
I really enjoyed this episode a standout episode in Troughton's era, it is one of my favourites, it has superb tension, mystery and some great adult themes. The rest of the story is enjoyable with some interesting ideas but is not as intense, mysterious and tightly plotted as episode one.
hello double four. I tend to agree with you to be honest episode 1 is fantastic and although I did eventually watch episode 3 and 4 I don't actually feel that I missed that much not watching them in the beginning. The story could have been 3 Episodes and it would have been fine. it feels like someone else mentioned that there's a lot of set pieces that are created so the characters come in but then they can be made to disappear by saying you don't believe in them.
I did like the charging unicorn and the Medusa segment which could have been a bit longer to really emphasize a threat . There were lots of ideas in the story maybe too many but like you said it could have been more tightly plotted. The discovery of the typewriter and the way the story and characters were created by the writer could have been explored slightly more thoughtfully then just the doctor creating the superhero.
mind you the image of a diminutive Zoe beating the superhero and laying him out on his back is quite memorable:D