Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius

DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Christopher Barry
Starring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Philip Madoc
Release date Out now

Mad scientist Solon (Philip Madoc) tries to get ahead, as the Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) discover the fate of errant Time Lord Morbius…

During the mid-1970s Doctor Who hit a well-remembered ‘high Gothic’ streak under producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes. It seemed like every other story was a homage to the Universal monster movies of 40 years before and other Gothic literature sources. That’s no surprise when you consider that the Hammer revival of the same creature features, which had been running in the UK for the previous 20 years, was just winding down by the mid-1970s. Frankenstein, the Mummy and Jekyll and Hyde would have been well known scary stories to kids of the decade.

Having ‘done’ the gillman (sort of) in Terror of the Zygons, the series tackled Jekyll and Hyde in space in Planet of Evil (with a dash of Forbidden Planet), the Mummy movies in Pyramids of Mars and even Invasion of the Body Snatchers (again, sort of) in The Android Invasion. The big daddy of the classic monsters, Frankenstein’s creature, was clearly next on the agenda for the Hinchcliffe treatment in The Brain of Morbius.

All the elements are present and correct: mad scientist (Philp Madoc’s Solon) creates creature (the Morbius body, as a receptacle for the disembodied brain), which then wreaks havoc. There’s even the revolting peasants in the form of the Sisterhood of Karn. As much as Frankenstein, though, The Brain of Morbius is also inspired by 1950s disembodied brain movies, like Donovan’s Brain, The Colossus of New York or even They Saved Hitler’s Brain. These ‘disguised remakes’ certainly proved fertile ground for Doctor Who at this time, and subsequent episodes drew from other literary sources such as Sherlock Holmes or Fu Manchu (The Talons of Weng-Chiang).

The studio bound nature of this serial doesn’t detract too much, with Solon’s castle-cum-laboratory well realised, as is the Sisterhood shrine. It’s in the trekking to-and-fro between the two that things get shakey, as actors clump across obvious studio flooring while pretending it’s a desolate alien world.

Unusually, this story offers some back-story for the Doctor. The planet Karn seems to be near his home of Gallifrey and Morbius is an errant Time Lord who tried to lead his people in galactic conquest. Captured and executed on Karn when he tried to steal the Sisterhood’s elixir of life, the would-be despot’s brain was rescued by the misguided Solon.

This is all great Gothic stuff, and the cast and design department rise to the occasion. Madoc is just over-the-top enough, while Colin Fay’s Condo combines the roles of Igor and the Hunchback of Notre Dame in his attachment to Sarah Jane.

A solid package of extras includes a lively commentary with actors Tom Baker (sometimes rather fruity, especially about the Sisterhood), Elisabeth Sladen and Philip Madoc, director Christopher Barry and producer Philip Hinchcliffe; a half-hour documentary called Getting a Head, in which cast and production team recall the making of the story in front of beautifully-realised CGI recreations of key locations. Shorter pieces include Designs on Karn, six minutes with designer Barry Newbery, two minutes of animated studio floorplans and another two minutes of a design sketch gallery. Brian J. Robb

VERDICT: 8/10
One of Doctor Who’s best serials, in which script, design and performance all come together to overcome the painfully obvious shortcoming of 1970s studio-bound TV production.