The Brain of Morbius: Part Four

Review of all 4 episodes:

Correctly this is acclaimed as one of the true classics, it really is exceptional and fully deserving of classic status.

Famously the story is heavily influenced by Frankenstein. It has the Gothic horror feel that was common in this era of the series, being one of the most Gothic horror based stories of all in fact. As well as the style it also shares the idea from Frankenstein of a 'mad' scientist putting a being together from parts of other bodies.

The Doctor and Sarah are forced to land on Karn where scientist Solon is carrying out his experiments to try to create a body to house the mind of evil Time Lord criminal Morbius. The Sisters of Karn (who reappeared in the 2013 mini-episode The Night of the Doctor) are also on the planet and think The Doctor has come to steal the elixir of life that they worship and protect.

The story and all the dialogue is absolutely first class. Intelligent, entertaining, literate, exciting - everything you could want. Also the production as a whole is very well made and extremely atmospheric in its presentation. The incredibly good performances from Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen are taken for granted in this era. Unsurprisingly Philip Madoc who had already played characters in Doctor Who (such as in The War Games) to immensely impressive effect gives another awesome performance as Solon. There is very little to fault. The final episode goes into full Frankenstein's monster on a rampage mode which is perhaps less intelligent than the rest of the story but extremely entertaining.

One of the top 40 stories of all time easily and another great classic in the Hinchcliffe & Holmes era which is the peak of the show's history. Holmes takes a lot of credit for the quality here as does another of the greats of Doctor Who, writer Terrance Dicks.

All 4 parts 10/10.

The TARDIS arrives on a planet, with the Doctor convinced that this is not his usual error in plotting course, but rather the work of the Time Lords sending him to get involved in something that they themselves want dealt with but don't want to sully their hands with. His suspicions are soon enough confirmed correct, as the plant is home to the Sisterhood (who are the other group who share the secret of the Elixir of Life with the Time Lords), and Solon – a scientist working to return the consciousness of cast-out Time Lord Morbius into a new body.

Although there are elements of this serial that I think did not work particularly well, the vast majority of it is enjoyable for what it is. This is essentially an adoption of Frankenstein and Gothic horror put into the family-friend sci-fi setting. In this regard it is quite fun, and has solidly hammy performances which match the tone – and of course a lumbering and quite unsettling creation of a creature that Morbius will end up inside. Some of the narrative details don't really fit together, and I preferred the bits of the serial that dealt with Morbius more than those focused on the Sisterhood, but mostly it works. The idea of the disembodied consciousness is nicely done, and the design of the creature is good too. Okay, it does end up with the familiar slowly lumbering beast from which to escape, but it is pretty intimidating and while I don't agree with Mary Whitehouse's view on it, it is nicely meaty as a horror for younger viewers.

With the Karn girls pincer movement, the monster finds fiery torment, where there's a rather lengthy descent, and it just might leave a large indent.

A great set of episodes and you can't help adore the Doctor/Sarah rapport.

More nightmares for Mary Whitehouse, as The Brain of Morbius concludes, it's a deliciously dark final episode. The Doctor battles Solon, Morbius, and has had to contend with the powerful Sisterhood of Karn. It's blatant that this story was a homage to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and just as we saw in many of the films, the showdown sees the Monster on his feet, terrorising all those who stand in his way.

As I've watched, I've been struck by just how visual this story has been, clearly there was a huge focus on attention to detail, and ensuring this production looked very good, it's helped by excellent lighting, great costumes and wonderful sets.

I loved the performances throughout, a special mention for Philip Madoc, he didn't at any stage go over the top or play for laughs. The laughs definitely come from Baker, the episode concludes with a nice, humorous line from Ohica.

The Sisterhood were a terrific creation, I was so glad to see their return in New Who.

Part 4 is excellent, overall I'd say it's been an excellent, consistent, well paced, entertaining four part serial. 9/10