"Doctor Who"
The Brain of Morbius: Part 2 (1976)

Director:

Christopher Barry

Writer:

Robert Holmes (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

10 January 1976 (Season 13, Episode 18)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Second Part | Space Hero | Doctor Who | Scientist Hero | Christ Allegory

Cast

Tom Baker	...	The Doctor
Elisabeth Sladen	...	Sarah Jane Smith
Cynthia Grenville	...	Maren
Gilly Brown	...	Ohica
Sue Bishop	...	Sister
Janie Kells	...	Sister
Gabrielle Mowbray	...	Sister
Veronica Ridge	...	Sister
Colin Fay	...	Condo
Michael Spice	...	Morbius (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Philip Madoc	...	Mehendri Solon

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

"I can see that you chicken brained biological disaster." Good horror based Tom Baker story.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius: Part 2 starts as the Doctor (Tom Baker) wakes up from being drugged to find himself in the presence of the mystic Sisterhood who instantly condemn him to death & tie him to a stake where he will be burned alive. Meanwhile Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) has escaped Solon's (Philip Madoc) lab, Solon himself has discovered the Doctor has escaped & attempts to save him from the Sisterhood but fails. However Sarah manages to save the Doctor but is blinded in the process...

Episode 18 from season 13 this Doctor Who adventure was originally aired here in the UK during Januray 1976, directed by Christopher Barry I'm enjoying The Brain of Morbius a lot. The script by Terrence Dicks & Robert Holmes under the pseudonym Robin Bland has moved along at a fair pace, has been throughly entertaining while it has a nice dark edge to it as it resembles & lifts ideas from several Gothic horror sources particularly Frankenstein with which the similarities are more than apparent. This, for me, is undeniably a good thing as I've alway liked the Doctor Who stories which mix horror & sci-fi & actually try to be scary. I'm not that keen on the whole Sisterhood thing though, I don't think they were needed to be honest but having said that they fit into the story well enough. Then there's the decision to blind Sarah which was a brave one, I don't think I can remember a companion being in such a horrible situation with no apparent simplistic remedy & it gives her as a companion a real vulnerability here which is really lacking in many stories.

So far The Brain of Morbius has looked pretty good, it was the first Doctor Who story to be entirely studio bound & no location or model filming was permitted as they apparently needed to save some cash for the season finale the six parter The Seeds of Doom (1976). The sets are alright, Solon's castle interior is nice enough with dark corridors, arched doorways & stone staircases along with a suitably Frankenstein-esquire laboratory with bubbling test tubes & all manner of Victorian style chemistry equipment. The stitched together creature is only seen briefly but is rather effective & quite gross in concept, this episode also gives us our first look at the brain of Morbius itself suspended in green liquid in a jar although I'm not sure how it manages to talk...

The Brain of Morbius: Part 2 is a great continuation of a great story from a great era in the show, it's a sad fact that I can in all accuracy truly say they don't/can't/won't make them like this anymore.