"Doctor Who"
The Brain of Morbius: Part 4 (1976)

Director:

Christopher Barry

Writer:

Robert Holmes (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

24 January 1976 (Season 13, Episode 20)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Famous Opening Theme | Space Hero | Man With No Name | Extraterrestrial | Scientist Hero

Cast

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

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Great end to a great story.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius: Part 4 starts the monstrous Morbius is on the loose, Solon (Philip Madoc) didn't complete the operation & the creature is running on pure animalistic instinct. The Doctor (Tom Bkaer) & Solon go after Morbius in an attempt to capture it which they do, they take it back to Solon's lab where the Doctor forces him to unattach it's brain but the mad Solon has other ideas...

Episode 20 from season 13 this Doctor Who adventure was originally aired here in the UK during January 1976, directed by Christopher Barry The Brain of Morbius has been an enjoyable four part story. Don't you just love brain films? The Brain that Wouldn't Die (1962), Brain Damage (1988), The Atomic Brain (1964), Brain Dead (1990), Billion Dollar Brain (1967), The Brain from Planet Arous (1957), Nightmare in a Damaged Brain (1981), The Brain Eaters (1958), Brain of Blood (1972), Donovan's Brain (1953), Brain Waves (1983), Evil Brain from Outer Space (1964), Brain Fix (1993), They Saved Hitler's Brain (1963), The Brain Leeches (1977) & simply The Brain (1988) will all go down in the cinematic annals of history & so will The Brain of Morbius which until this point is the only Doctor Who story to have the distinction of featuring the word 'brain' in it's title. Yep we all love brain films & The Brain of Morbius is a great addition to the brain hall of fame. The script by Terrence Dicks & Robert Holmes under the pseudonym Robin Bland has had a whiff of Frankenstein about it all the way through & it even ends with a group of torch wielding locals chasing the monster to it's death. I really enjoyed this for it's mix of dark horror themes & sci-fi along with some distinctly Doctor Who touches to lighten the tone on occasion. One of the show's best stories.

This one has looked pretty good & has had a decent atmosphere with foggy rocky landscapes & claps of thunder in the background, large castle like sets & Victorian labs it's been pretty eerie. The monster has been good as well although we see a lot of it during this episode & upon close inspection it's obviously just a man in a suit with a gold fish bowl on his head. The acting has been good as well & certainly better than the norm. The special effects have been kept to a minimum, in fact I can't remember one optical effects & even the TARDIS just vanishes in a puff of smoke at the end rather than the usual fade out of the picture!

The Brain of Morbius: Part 4 is a great end to a great story, overall I'll give The Brain of Morbius an impressive 8 stars out of 10 across it's four episodes. Definitely recommended for fans of the show & sci-fi fans in general.