The Mind Robber - Episode 1

The Mind Robber is another strange story and it starts off with the conclusion to the previous episode where the Doctor set on an explosion and lava was about to hit the TARDIS. This is a special episode as its an add on episode to Peter Ling’s story. His adventure will start in episode two but what we have here are the regulars on their own with no supporting characters and just the TARDIS set. So this is a Derrick Sherwin episode and its interesting to see how these three characters work together as opposed to how the first Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan worked together.

I like the scene where Jamie and Zoe both think that they have seen their home worlds. This is the start of the weird things happening and the scene concludes with the Doctor feeling the effects the most. The scenes with Zoe and Jamie outside the TARDIS and the Doctor trying to fight the influences are really good and I have to say that Jamie and Zoe in white outfits make them look like they have just come from some Tim Burton film. Frazer Hines looks the…. Well I want to say weirdest but I find myself saying funniest.

Credit must go to the cast for making a clearly defined space seem bigger than it was. It’s clear where the set ends because it curves but to be honest I didn’t mind to much as I thought that the performances from both Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury help convince us that they are in a misty void. Wendy Padbury goes from having one ridiculous outfit in ‘The Dominators’ to another silly costume here. She is put into a glitter catsuit which is clearly ‘for the dads’. I think that Wendy Padbury has been allowed to settle down and serves a purpose that Deborah Watling wasn’t allowed to serve and that is act as someone on the same intellectual level as the Doctor. Frazer Hines also does a very good job and I think that I like the Jamie/Zoe relationship more than the Jamie/Victoria one. Patrick Troughton doesn’t have much to do but boy does he do it well.

I’m technically not telling the truth when I say that its just the regulars in this episode as we meet the robots. Due to the fact that this had to be a cheap episode the writer had to recycle what he found and what he found were some robots from a BBC TV series called ‘Out of the Unknown’. Not sure about whether this is a good idea but I suppose in the bonkers scheme of things, this might just work.

The shot of the TARDIS breaking up was a fantastic scene followed by Zoe and Jamie clinging onto the TARDIS console (though there is a funny model shot where Zoe has a very long and bendy arm). The scene is made a lot more dramatic by Zoe screaming which isn’t something I remember the character doing a great deal. It’s a great way to end the episode and I think that Derrick Sherwin did a good job of holding our attentions long enough so that the second episode and the proper story can get started. The cast also deserve praise because their performances help destract us from the fact there aren’t any other cast members. My faith in series six has been restored and its easily the best episode of the season so far.