Good but not perfect.
The notion of transplant surgery in a medieval low tech dungeon seems kinda hard to take. Obviously this planet has no microbiology....
The main innovation in this story is the introduction of Time Lord mythology as a story element. Time Lords have appeared before. In The War Games, Terror of the Autons, Colony in Space, Planet of the Spiders, The Mutants they were ancilliary to the story. In The Three Doctors they were part of the story but not as deeply. In brain of Morbius they form the background, provide motivation for Solon, the Sisterhood, Morbius and the Doctor and only they benefit from the outcome. This sort of story becomes very popular in the 90's New Adventure phase of DW history and has its descendants in the modern series (Day of the Doctor, Hell Bent, some others).
I guess this story is the mad scientist trope at its simplest.
The alien invasion trope (either of Earth or some other planet) and the end of the world/galaxy/universe.is given a rest for the first time since Genesis.
The Mindbending Battle in p4 is the climactic point of the story and is steeped in (for the time, new) Time Lord mystery. That it is confoundingly set squarely against later 'established' Time Lord mythology is actually great from a sort of quantum mechanics-y viewpoint.
Are these Morbius' earlier incarnations or the Doctor's? Perahps they are both?
From top, left to right Chris Barry, Robert Banks Stewart, George Gallaccio, Philip Hinchcliffe, Douglas Camfield, Robert Holmes, Chris Baker, (Graeme Harper missing.)
To the rational mind nothing is inexplicable, merely unexplained. This is inductivist, primitive clockwork universe rubbish, of course. Advanced philosophy allows multiple states of reality as the only way to explain physical behaviour. I'll cite the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle as evidence. Of course, Terrance Dicks is a dead ringer for an earlier incarnation of Morbius. Why shouldn't regenerated Time Lords look however they choose? The War Games sequence featuring Fats Waller, Leonardo and Bertrand Russell style 'choices' suggests this to me.
Link to site that argues the evidence... exhaustively. https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Doctor_(The_Brain_of_Morbius)
The story suffers a little from being studio bound. The scenes in the wild land between the Sisterhood's temple and Solon's... house/castle? are very cardboard and wobbly. The Scenes where 'blind' Sarah is drawn through the landscape negotiating the steps without tripping are probably a directorial mistake.
The acting is effective. Philip Madoc gives his third very memorable role in DW a full moustachioed twirl. He seems somewhat less than rational and very nasty. Cynthia Grenville as Maren is played as a stubborn old stick in the mud. Colin Fay makes the role of Condo tragic, sympathetic, almost heroic, certainly not stupid. Gilly Coman as Ohica keeps doing the gestures and the wide, wide eyes as if she's trying to steal scenes. Tom is by turns sparkling and supercilious as the Doctor. Liz is the star of the piece. She rescues the Doctor from the Sisters' execution pyre, discovers the horror of Solon's assembled body, and Morbius' brain hiding in the cellar. Again she's great in this story...and she's having a great series.
Brain of Morbius is a confident DW story, rewritten by Robert Holmes from Terrance Dicks original. Directed by DW royalty Chris Barry and sets by DW original designer Barry Newbery. This is instant classic DW and has the advantage of doing something 'new' (to DW anyway) while paying tribute to olde horror cinema roots. And it's a great success.
ABM Rating 3.25/4.00
LJM Rating 4.40/5.00
SPJ Rating 8.93/10
No. 16 (out of 84)
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From Quickflix
ReplyDeleteMAREN: Morbius is dead. DOCTOR: That's right. Morbius is dead. (The Doctor realises what he has said.) DOCTOR: How did I get that impression? MAREN: The Time Lords destroyed Morbius for his crimes here on Karn. DOCTOR: Solon had a clay model of his head. But it was more than that. A living mental contact. I felt the mind of Morbius. OHICA: Morbius was executed for leading the rebellion. His body was placed in a dispersal chamber and atomised to the nine corners of the universe. DOCTOR: I know that. But I tell you, Maren. Just for a second, before I passed out, his mind touched mine. I felt his burning hatred and anguish. Morbius is alive. Another DW classic that will not fail. You have to suspend disbelief. But the ride is worth it. This one is gothic and serious but Tom Baker is at his best. Great guest stars in this Philip Madoc, Colin Fay, Cynthia Grenville: all top performers. Michael Spice as the voice of Morbius is memorable. (He'll be back in a later episode as Magnus Greel...)