The Mind Robber

The Mind Robber is one of the most bizarre Doctor Who stories ever broadcast. The only story it can be compared to is The Celestial Toymaker- both stories involve the TARDIS being drawn into a realm where the controller of that realm has absolute control over its reality. However, The Mind Robber is even more daring and creative than its predecessor, a story that would stand out in any season of Doctor Who, but especially so after the 'monster of the week' stories of the preceding seasons.

The TARDIS travels out of time and space and is drawn into the domain of the 'Land of Fiction' where characters from myth, fairy tale and literature exist. It turns out that the realm is the creation of the Master Brain, a powerful computer that feeds off the imagination of 'The Master', a writer for a boys' magazine (Interestingly, in the same way that Cyril from The Celestial Toymaker is 'not' Billy Bunter' the Master is 'not' Frank Richards!)

This type of storyline, if used at its most basic level, can be a fun runaround where the protagonist interacts with famous fictitious characters and this is indeed, what we get. However, this story has so much more besides. It takes on the question of free will versus determinism in a completely different way from The Space Museum- the Doctor realises that he must be a writer, not a character in this reality, or he will become fiction, and when Jamie and Zoe are fictionalised, they are unable to do more than speak lines which were written for them. It also deals with the process of writing for Doctor Who itself- witness the 'write-off' between the Master and the Doctor. Both are suffused with a subtly different form of the existential horror present in The Celestial Toymaker. Peter Ling's script manages to be very thought provoking without rubbing your face in how profound it is.

Of course, for such an ambitious script to succeed, it would have to work visually. Not only does it do so, this story is stuffed to the brim with memorable images. The white void, the destruction of the TARDIS, the forest of words, Medusa coming to life, Jamie having his face taken away, the creaking toy soldiers, Jamie and Zoe being fictionalised by being trapped in a giant book… David Maloney doesn't put a foot wrong in his realisation of this wacky world in one of the best directorial jobs ever seen on the programme. Even the fight between the Karkus and Zoe, which should have been a rush job, works wonderfully.

The supporting performances are all superb. Bernard Horsfall is excellent as Gulliver, who can only speak in lines given to him by Jonathan Swift. Emrys James is phenomenal as the Master, making him both an affable old buffer and a harsh machine-controlled intelligence. The regulars put in their best performances yet, each one of them being thoroughly compelling throughout.

In an era that is affected by the purging of the BBC archives more than any other, it is a joy that this, Troughton's best story, exists in its entirety. It is so good, so entertaining and so much damn fun that I am not even going to mention the couple of very small niggles I had with it.

NEXT: The Invasion