The Mind of Evil Episode Four

The one where UNIT loses an illegal nuclear-powered missile...

The Keller machine has grown so powerful now that even the Master is struggling to control it, which already gives a fair indication of how this is all going to play out. If it's anything like Terror of the Autons, then the Master is very soon going to find he's out of his depth, and require help from the Doctor to defeat the creature (I think this is the first we learn that there is a sentience inside the machine, what the Doctor describes as "a creature that feeds on the evil of the mind"). It's fascinating to see the Master joust with the Keller machine though, trying to reassert his mental control, something he's very used to having over lesser beings (and when Roger Delgado says: "You can't harm me, I'm stronger than you are", he sounds remarkably like Anthony Ainley in Survival).

It's also interesting that we get to see what it is the Master fears most, which is humiliation by the Doctor. The way this is depicted on screen is wonderful, with the Master diminutive in the foreground and a projected giant Doctor guffawing mercilessly, grasping at the Master's contorted form. Quite how the Master might die from this abject humiliation is another question...

The Doctor and Jo take something of a backseat in this episode, at first locked up in a cell, then later contemplating their next move in the late Governor's gloomy office. However, it's lovely to see just how protective Jo is of her Doctor when he's unconscious, taking a stand against Vosper and demanding provisions. Her UNIT training also comes to the fore again during the Doctor and Jo's wonderful cell escape, with the two teaming up beautifully in one of those "They're Back!" kind of moments. When the two retire to the office upstairs, we get another example of the Third Doctor's apparent fetish for pencils. Here, he snaps it while thinking about the power of the Keller machine, but I've noticed a pretty regular use by Pertwee of pencils as props, most notably in Doctor Who and the Silurians when a pencil falls from a desk onto the floor!

What I don't understand is why nobody in the outside world seems to be aware of the events at Stangmoor. The Master and the convicts have control of the facility, but nobody - not HM Government, not the family of missing staff, not the media - seems to be aware. It's not clear what time of day the riot took place, but the Master arrived at Stangmoor in daylight, and then Mailer mentions escaping under cover of darkness "before it gets light", before the assault on the UNIT convoy, which takes place in daylight. So why has nobody noticed the prison has been taken over by the inmates? Surely the wives and children of the dead wardens and Governor will notice their absence, or Dr Summers' family?

The assault on the missile convoy is effectively staged, but yet again makes UNIT look like a tin pot organisation. They are supposed to be professionally trained soldiers, presumably deemed the best outfit for the job of transporting a top secret illegally armed nuclear warhead. But they are overcome with such ease by a bunch of rough and ready escaped convicts. It's laughable! The assault is quite graphic though, in the sense that, for a short time at least, we fear that both Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton may be dead. It's nice to see Yates actually grow some balls and chase after the convoy (unlike in the last story where UNIT just watch the Master speed off in his bus), but it's not long until he's captured by the amateurs.

This whole Thunderbolt missile thing puzzles me too. The Brigadier says it's "not supposed to exist" because nuclear-powered missiles with warheads packed with nerve gas have been outlawed. The very presence of it on British shores is apparently illegal, which is why the Government wants to dispose of it. So why transport the missile in broad daylight and in full view (it's not even covered with a tarpaulin) across miles of open countryside so that it can evidently be dumped in the English Channel, so close to other European countries? Does the British Government really not think somebody, somewhere, won't notice? It makes for pretty naive writing.

The cliffhanger is just a rerun of the preceding ones, with the Keller machine assaulting the minds of the Doctor and Jo (who pulls a classically ridiculous pose of screwed up face and splayed hands). Except now it seems to have learnt how to move, so we get a succession of rather silly scenes of the phallic box of flashing lights wobbling in and out of rooms, emphasising just how unthreatening the prop looks! I like the new scratchy interference effect though, although I'm not quite sure what form of terror that is... fear of losing the television signal and retuning to ITV?

First broadcast: February 20th, 1971

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The depiction of the Master's loss of control over the Keller machine, and his apparent fear of humiliation, is fascinating.
The Bad: UNIT losing possession of the missile to a bunch of amateur killers and thieves is the latest in a long line of examples of how rubbish the outfit is at times.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

"Now listen to me" tally: 12
Neck-rub tally: 1

NEXT TIME: Episode Five...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Two; Episode Three; Episode Five; Episode Six

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-mind-of-evil.html

The Mind of Evil is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Mind-Evil-DVD/dp/B00BPCNNXS