Josh: Doctor Who Classic: The Mind of Evil

The Doctor and Jo visit Stangmoor Prison

Doctor Who - Season 8, Story Two - The Mind of Evil

Jon Pertwee's second season as the Doctor becomes serialised as we meet the Master again in one of the darker tales of the Time Lord.
     We find the Doctor and Jo visiting Stangmoor Prison where Professor Kettering, in the absence of the inventor Emil Keller, is experimenting with the Keller Machine to enact the Keller process which removes negative thoughts in order to cure criminality. However, it causes some distress to it's test subject hardened criminal; Barnham whose reverted to a child-like state. At the same time both Kettering and a surveyor of the experiment both die of their fears when near the machine alone though neither were near anything. Jo just manages to save the Doctor when it appears he is enveloped in the memory of the 'Inferno'.
     Elsewhere, the Brigadier is heading security of a World Peace Conference where Captain Chin Lee of the Chinese delegation reports of missing papers, which she secretly burns, and of the Chinese delegate's death 30 minutes late on a secure line. As the Doctor and Brigadier investigate she manages to use the Keller process on Benton who follows her, where it fails, and then the US delegate who survives, before being deconditioned and found to be working for the Master. At Stangmoor a prisoner; Harry Mailer accesses a gun and temporarily takes control of the prison before hostage Jo allows the guards to take control. Then after hearing UNIT discuss the riots at the prison the Master supplies Mailer with gas bombs and takes control of the prison as the Doctor turns up. The Master plans to use the prisoners as a private army to hijack a Thunderbolt missile being transported by UNIT, in order to wipe out the conference and cause World War Three. He takes the Doctor and puts him into the Keller machine to experience his fear of Daleks and fire. However when the Master & the prisoners are affected by the machine too the Master switches it off, leaving the Doctor with Jo in a coma state whilst he experiences his fear of the Doctor and seals off the machine. The machine itself appears to be a life-form who feeds on fear.  When the prisoners hijack the missile Captain Yates is caught in the crossfire and taken hostage as UNIT investigate. The Doctor and Jo escape the cell as the Master leaves & the machine learns to move and starts to kill prisoners and then them.
     The Doctor and Jo are then re imprisoned and the Doctor is forced to try and control the machine by the Master which he succeeds in doing before the Master organises the set up of the missile at an aircraft hangar. Assuming the missile's at the prison the Brigadier comes to the rescue 'Trojan horse' style and UNIT takes back the prison killing Mailer in the process. As the machine becomes out of control the Brigadier heads to hangar after an escaped Yates informs him of the missile's whereabouts. The Doctor, Jo and Barnham are then attacked by the Keller machine however it appears as all the evil in his mind was removed that Barnham is immune to it when close. The Doctor then calls a meeting with the Master where he'll exchange the missile for his dematerialisation circuit from 'Terror of the Autons'. There Barnham and Jo are ready to use the machine on the Master and UNIT are ready to blow up the missile destroying both the Master and the machine. In a struggle the Doctor loses the circuit to an escapee Master who threats to destroy Earth one day and gloats about his freedom of the universe.

Benton goes undercover.

     With identical cliffhangers for parts one, three and four this six-part serial saw particular ideas repeated as the story progressed as well as many gaps. Season Eight already has begun to develop a familiar format just two stories in with recurring shoot-outs between UNIT and the bad-guys as well as the Doctor cancelling the Brigadier's raids just to meet the Master's needs. With this already been done in the previous story it doesn't feel as inventive or entertaining as it did the first time round. Continuity errors and a large hole in the plot of this serial really lets it down which is shame considering the standards it achieves. With the random disappearance of the entire police force and half the prison as well as an absent sonic screwdriver I'm left thinking this has been for plot purposes to the writer's advantage yet it leaves things messy. However, my main problem is the fact that the purpose of the Keller machine is never explained or what the Mind Parasite as it's called really is. It's like we've just been thrown an object that kills people yet as a heavily featuring and presumably important part of all six episodes I'd thought it'd have some significance.
     Nevertheless the story sagged at the beginning but soon picked itself up giving Jo Grant's character something to do and we finally got an exploration into the Doctor and the Master's relationship. It appears the Master isn't all he seems and is genuinely afraid of the Doctor and the Master becoming a regular in the show needs his character examined more and more as we progress as he's an interesting character study. Again for the second time around in the season we've got some brilliant CG work for the time but the thing was it was all well over budget! The great directorial work in this serial will never been seen in again in Classic Who's time as the director was fired and never seen again for his budgetary mistake. On the other hand we warmly welcome back writer Don Houghton who wrote 'Inferno'. Though it was a cop-out to use aspects of that serial we're given a truly chilling tone with a realistic and daunting prison atmosphere. With a jarring musical score that fits with the FX of the machine the Mind of Evil is one of the darker stories of the Pertwee era, clashing with the previous romp of the Autons. Ignoring Pertwee's incessant and pointless martial arts tricks on his fellows there's some superb acting and a cracking storyline to go forth with. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Captain Yates and the Master as I continue my journey of Seventies Who.

Thanks, Josh.
P.S. It's a real shame I couldn't access this in colour. Still, black and white's lovely.