Directed by David Maloney
Main Cast-
The Doctor - Patrick Troughton
Jamie - Frazer Hines and guest starring Hamish Wilson
Zoe - Wendy Padbury
Main Guest Cast-
The Master - Emrys Jones
Gulliver - Bernard Horsfall
Karkus - Christopher Robbie
Rapunzel - Christine Pirie
Synopsis-
The Tardis is still on Dulkis at the beginning of this story, and is about to be swallowed up by the lava from the volcanic eruption that happened at the end of the Dominators. The Doctor uses and emergency device to escape the lava, but where they have ended up is unknown. As the Doctor succinctly puts it, they are nowhere.
Despite this, it does seems like the place is inhabited. The time travelers run into various fictional characters like Gulliver from Gulliver's Travels and Rapunzel from the fairy tale. They also run into a superhero named Karkus.
It turns out that they have entered a land where fictional characters come to life. It is run by the Master, who turns out to be an author from Earth. He's connected to a master computer that allows him to create the fictional world. What the Master writes is what will happen. However, the Master is getting older and it has been decided by the master computer that The Doctor shall replace the Master as the controller of the world of fiction.
The Doctor refuses to submit, and a battle of wits ensues between the Master and The Doctor, which is eventually won when Jamie and Zoe are able to overload the computer. This allows the Master to be freed from the computer's control and restores The Doctor, his companions and the Tardis back to reality.
Review-
The Mind Robber reminded me a great deal of the First Doctor adventure The Celestial Toymaker. The only difference is I found the Mind Robber to be far superior to the previous adventure.
The Master (not to be confused with the Time Lord known as the Master) is very similar to the Toymaker. The Doctor has been lured to his realm and the Master intends on keeping The Doctor forever. Unlike the Toymaker, who challenged the Doctor and his companions with various toys and games, the Doctor and the Master eventually engage in a war of words. The only difference is in this war of words, what they write (or tell) is what happens in this world of fiction. It's a clever idea, and makes this a very enjoyable story.
The writers were also quite clever in dealing with Frazer Hines absence during part of this story. It's well known in Doctor Who fandom that during this story, Frazer came down with the chickenpox. The bit of The Doctor reassembling Jamie's face (and getting it wrong) made me chuckle and allowed Hamish Wilson to cover for Frazer's absence. Hamish, I think, holds his own as Jamie and I think this was a better solution than simply having his character disappear for the better part of two episodes.
The final ending after the destruction of the master computer does feels a bit rushed, however. We see the Tardis come back together after having seen it torn apart earlier, but we never learn how The Doctor and his companions get back to the Tardis. Perhaps the plan was to show this as part of the next story but it feels like it should have been included as part of this story.
The Mind Robber isn't perfect, but I find it to be quite clever and it is certainly one of my favorite Second Doctor stories.
