The Brain of Morbius Part Four

The one where the Doctor loses in a mind-bending contest...

"I can see, I can see again!" exclaims Sarah, before turning around to see the Morbius creature looming over her. She screams and falls back onto the bed. Now wouldn't that have been a far better cliffhanger to part 3 than seeing the monster approach the unwitting Sarah from behind? Just a few more seconds on the end of part 3 would have made it so much better. Although part 3 as it stands is already seven seconds over its time slot, so perhaps some better editing was called for?

It's not long before Mehenderi Solon reveals his true colours when faced with the marauding Morbius monster. "It's Solon, your creator!" he says, before insisting: "I made you!" This is where the Frankenstein parallels reach their peak, with the creature lashing out at its creator, who pleads for mercy. Despite his obvious devotion to Morbius, all Solon has ever really craved is the scientific achievement of bringing Morbius back, and most likely the subsequent recognition. His ego was greater than his devotion, and now he's paying the price.

The Brain of Morbius Part Three

The one where the Doctor rejuvenates the Sacred Flame...

Morbius sounds suspiciously like a Dalek sometimes, occasionally a Wirrn, but he's actually voiced by Michael Spice, not the usual suspects of Michael Wisher or Roy Skelton. Michael would go on to play the disfigured Magnus Greel in The Talons of Weng-Chiang, but both his Doctor Who roles required him to make the most of his vocal performance, for which he was often employed on radio. To be honest, as fine a vocal performance as it is, I would have preferred a little more nuance and variety in Spice's delivery. Although the dialogue he's given is often irretrievably bombastic and over the top, he could at least have tried to inject some pathos or thoughtfulness into his work here. It would have made Morbius and his condition so much more sympathetic, rather than him just being your cut-out-and-keep raving madman.

Mind you, I'd be pretty mad if all that remained of me was a flashing brain in a jar of green goo. I love the bubbles which periodically wend their way through Morbius's jar though, as well as the little-seen voicebox contraption that looks uncannily like Lady Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17! But I had to wince at the line: "Even a sponge has more life than I."

The Brain of Morbius Part Two

The one where Sarah is blinded...

You have to admire the wonderful use of the English language in this story. The list of ways Solon insults people is so rich and amusing, and Philip Madoc delivers what could be some very purple prose with the right amount of conviction as to make it work. He describes Condo as a "chicken-brained biological disaster" and a "chattering ape", while his greatest scorn is reserved for the Sisterhood (that "squalid brood of harpies") and their leader, the "accursed hag" Maren, also described as a "palsied harridan"! This wonderful dialogue is surely not the work of Robin Bland, or Terrance Dicks; it has to be from the mind and pen of the great Robert Holmes!

A lot more time is spent with the Sisterhood in this episode, and it must be said that Jean McMillan's make-up is wonderful, whether it's the younger sisters' red and gold faces or the aged make-up for Cynthia Grenville as Maren. Grenville was not an old lady when they filmed this, but was made up to be, and if you look at her when interviewed on the DVD of this story, she still doesn't look as old as Maren more than 30 years later!

The Brain of Morbius Part One

The one where the Doctor's head becomes a trophy for neuroscience...

Anybody who ever writes the title of this story should meticulously double-check what they've written before finishing. The Brian of Morbius doesn't have quite the same ring to it! However, it is the second serial of Season 14 to go out with a writer's pseudonym: Pyramids of Mars was credited to the fictional Stephen Harris (actually Robert Holmes and Lewis Griefer), while this went out credited to the fictional Robin Bland (actually Robert Holmes and Terrance Dicks). Stephen and Robin were never to write for Doctor Who again, but they certainly produced a couple of corkers!

We start with an old friend clambering into view, a Mutt from the 1972 story The Mutants. It seems Kriz (for that is his name) has crash-landed on this doomy planet and needs some urgent help. Sadly, he doesn't get it, as a lumbering thuggish creature appears and shoves him off his mortal coil with quite a disturbing final scream. Poor Kriz. The thug is called Condo, who lops off Kriz's insectoid head and delivers it to his master, who lives in the gothic castle on the hill. So far, so Hammer.