The Tiger Who Came To Tea: The Brain of Morbius

Robin Bland, eh? Never heard of him. Let's see what he comes up with.

"What I did, I did in the name of... Robin Bland."

Agent S(ean Bassett) ‏@WhoPotterVian Mary Whitehouse: "But not in the name of the children!"

It was a dark and stormy night...

Mark ‏@OdysseusMW all the best stories start that way.

Great lighting on this set, so dark and creepy. It's a Mutt from the Mutants!

Or, it was. That fella's killed it. Nasty.

Philip Madoc is pure class as Solon, and what a set design that is.

He's trying to get a head in surgery. Boom boom.

I love this scene of Tom railing at the Time-Lords.

"They haven't even got the common decency to come out and show their ears!"

Sarah ribs him for sulking, and wanders off for a look-see.

Ah the yo-yo. Tom's Fez? It's a gimmicky prop for sure, or was intended as one.

As useful a mythology as the Time War etc. has been, I'm not sure RTD needed to RE-wipe out the Time-Lords. They could have just stayed unseen but interfering in the background as here.

Mark ‏@OdysseusMW yeah, I never really liked that aspect of the revival.

It served its' purpose, but they were ripe for rebooting, then if you've no interest in using them, just... don't use them. No need to write yourself into a corner.

Sarah's found a dead body. That might actually be a new record for her.

Great storm effects.

Wonder if Karen Gillan's character in Fires of Pompeii was supposed to echo Ohica here.

Solon's lab is hit by lightning and suffers a power cut...

Solon has to resort to good old spooky candle light.

Great costume and make up design for the sisterhood and what a performance from Cynthia Grenville as Maren.

Ah, the silent gas dirigibles of the Hoothi... so much to answer for.

The flame's dying. Maybe the Sisterhood need a chimney sweep.

Maren has had a portentous dream that someone will come to steal their elixir.

Maren and the sisterhood have been causing the ships to crash to prevent interlopers nicking their elixir.

Mark ‏@OdysseusMW Solon's "you've been looking for your arm again haven't you?" line always amuses me!

Knock, knock! Who's there! Doctor... You get the idea.

"Can you spare a glass of water?" Brilliant. I'm sure that's a Tom ad-lib, though.

John Mark Frankland ‏@JMFrankland Yes it is - I saw some convention footage from the 80s admitting as much. This is the convention footage, its from 'Doctor Who's Who's Who'. 9 mins in. I first saw it as part in 1990 as part of UK Gold's Doctor Who weekend.

Cool! thanks for digging that up :-)

Solon admires the Doctor's head in a completely sane and not at all suspicious way.

"I used to have an old grey model, but I prefer this one!" Tom never wastes a chance to diss JP.

David MacGowan ‏@SpaceyBox shades of "the nose is a definite improvement"!

Yes, very much so!

John Mark Frankland ‏@JMFrankland Sarah's 'I did' is perfectly timed.

Yes, Lis' loyalty speaks volumes for her (the actress') character. Conversely she was annoyed at Pertwee Yes, for messing about with Tom's waxwork at the 5 Doctors photoshoot so it wasn't a case of playing favourites. All the silly poses, kissing Tom's hand and carrying the waxwork around, Pertwee led that; Lis took it as a bit bullying. Mean-spirited japes, but nothing more sinister.

Solon hastily covers the clay head when it rings a bell with the Doctor. "Talking of heads, or their absence..."

Solon tells them that he saved Condo from a space wreck but had to amputate his arm. Still, eat up!

Maren uses some sort of psychic brooch with a fish eye lens to locate the box seen earlier by Ohica...

...and the Sisterhood spirited it to their lair.

Maren recognises it for what it is immediately - a TARDIS, the travel craft of a Time-Lord!

She's soon got her eye on nabbing its' owener to complete the set...

Back at Chez Solon, Condo's brought the "special wine", which Sarah has the nous to tip away.

The Doctor knows a psychic visitation from the sisterhood when he sees one...

...but recognises Solon's sculpture as long dead Gallifreyan dictator Morbius too late...

...as he succumbs to the drugged wine.

Sarah is canny enough to realize her best option at present is to sham being affected too.

Giddy with excitement, Solon starts to plan a brain-ectomy for the Doctor.

Lovely mad scientist lab this.

Sarah is able to evade Solon and Condo as they seek a better lighting rig...

...but the unconscious Doctor is snatched from the lab before she can get there.

As Sarah explores the now "empty" lab...

...she's menaced by a headless body!

Episode 2 of "Don't Lose Your Head, Brian Morbius, it's only a prequel to Night of the Doctor!" finds Sarah escape the headless body by... er, walking away.

Solon is livid to find the Sisters have had away with the Doctor.

"Chicken brained biological disaster... that squallid brood of harpies... that palsied harridan..."

There's no insult like a Robert Holmes insult. The true face of Robin Bland reveals itself...

Had Tom seen Jaws recently? "I had a little drink about an hour ago..."

Love all this mythologising about the history between the Time Lords and the Sisterhood.

You tend to forget this came before the Deadly Assassin, so we didn't quite think of the Time Lords the same.

"I'm only 749!"

Morbius' body was "atomised to the 9 corners of the universe." 9, eh?

So was Morbius' brain removed before the atomisation or what?

Solon and Condo follow some of the Sisterhood, who are picking up sticks for a good old bonfire.

Sarah isn't so far behind.

Not so keen on those plasticky flames the sisters are jabbing Tom with.

Now the sisterhood seem to think they're Pan's People or summat.

"Death! Death! Death! Death!" The sisterhood have gone from Pan's People to Python in a split second here.

Solon and Condo arrive to interrupt the Doctor Who Barbeque.

Maren seems to have some sort of stun-ring. Pretty cool.

Mark ‏@OdysseusMW want one!

Verity ‏@HeartofTARDIS Maren's blue crystal ring reminds me of the one the First Doctor wore.

Ooh, yes, nice spot! Wonder if Maren's ring comes from anywhere near that planet Matt Smith can't pronounce...

Verity ‏@HeartofTARDIS Since the Time Lords and the Sisterhood are telepathic, the blue crystal could be from Metebelis 3. It amplifies telepathy.

Wonder if it's why the ring's "special properties" allow him to open the TARDIS lock (some link to the telepathic circuits).

"Don't burn his head, I need it!"
"The sisterhood know of your unnatural affairs..."
Ewww.

John Bensalhia ‏@JohnBensalhia Solon is "Sorry. Deeply Sorry" about 50 times this scene!

Luckily, Sarah has infiltrated the Sisterhood and rescues him from the flames in the nick of time...

...only to be blinded by a flash of Maren's ring!

Condo doesn't take kindly to having been offered on a free transfer to Sisterhood Utd.

Mark ‏@OdysseusMW the worm that turned!

Lis is so great in this. Well, in everything. But especially this.

John Bensalhia ‏@JohnBensalhia Lis does the blind acting brilliantly. Not an easy trick to pull off.

Yes, and I think people forget that she's playing someone who was sighted and lost sight suddenly so is unused to it.

Fantastic vocal performance from Michael Spice as the voice of Morbius, by the way.

His "reward" for playing this part so well was the part of Weng-Chiang/Magnus Greel later on.

"Vot is your name? It vill also go on ze list."

"Don't tell him, Condo."

The Doctor has no choice than to seek Solon's expertise...

...but the scientist seeks to trick him...

...sending him to the Sisterhood for the elixir, when he knows full well Sarah's blindness is temporary.

Solon using sealing wax is such a lovely little touch.

While Maren knows that the Doctor will have to come back for his TARDIS...

...Sarah makes her way to the basement lab, following the sound of the voice she heard speaking to Solon.

There's Brian Morbius! And he lives in a jar! Morbius is a brain!

Should have seen that coming really, clue's in the title.

John Bensalhia ‏@JohnBensalhia Brilliant cliffhanger - builds up to a really effective crescendo, Dudley's music is particularly good.

Solon bundles Sarah outside, and urges Morbius to be patient.

"I, Morbius, who once led the High Council of Time Lords, reduced to the condition where I envy a vegetable!"

Sarah takes the opportunity to lock Solon in the cellar and make her escape.

Well, the sisterhood drink the elixir and they don't regenerate...

Although to be fair the elixir only shaped the regeneration in The Night Of The Doctor, it didn't cause it.

Maren gets some junk mail delivered by Condo courier.

John Bensalhia ‏@JohnBensalhia At the time Cynthia Grenville was in Poldark her character was married to Christopher Benjamin's. Maren & Henry Gordon Jago!

I'd pay good money to see *that* spin off! :-D

John Bensalhia ‏@JohnBensalhia The fights, the passions, the lustrous legerdemains etc...

The Doctor isn't too fussed about walking into the sisterhood's clutches again. "Ding dong!"

He's jealous to learn that "The Trial of Morbius" had high viewing figures.

Although Maren seems to now take the Doctor's warning that the Brain of Morbius has survived seriously, that just spells more trouble...

..as she decides that to stop the Brain being put into the Doctor's head... they should burn him! That's her answer to everything.

Condo recaptures Sarah.

The Doctor points out that he'd be no use to Maren dead, and can solve their problem for them.

He cleans her chimney & soon the flame burns bright again!

"There'll be no charge!"

Solon restrains Sarah, as Morbius grows ever more anxious that the Doctor will alert the Time-Lords to his survival.

Against Solon's advice, he wants to switch to plan B...

...which is not exactly aesthetically pleasing, shall we say.

Seriously, what was Solon thinking with that brain case? The "eyes" on stalks are bloody ridiculous.

Ohica questions whether it's right to take the unconscious Doctor to Solon, and Maren says it's out of their hands, as the sisterhood carry the Doctor away. With their hands.

As Solon prepares to carry out the brain transplant, Condo realizes that Morbius' new body includes his lost arm, and that Solon never had any intention of returning it.

He attacks Solon, but nothing in ze world can stop him now...

The jazzy riff that accompanies Condo's shooting is hilarious.

Slight snag; as Condo falls, he takes the brain jar with him, slopping what's left of Morbius on the deck.

Solon finishes him off in retaliation before scooping the brain to safety.

Solon needs a new assistant, so Sarah is co-opted. All hands to the pump!

Condo's still with us. Just.

When the operation is a success, Solon is *this* close to crying "It's alive!". Homage, they call it. Ahem.

Mark ‏@OdysseusMW yes homage. Definitely not copying.

As Sarah's sight begins to return, "Morbius" stirs...

The sisterhood's timing is lousy, dropping off the Doctor just when the operation is over...

...but Solon is still pleased to see the Doctor. Not like that. It just means the patchwork body need only be temporary.

John Mark Frankland ‏@JMFrankland "Why doesn't Solon put Morbius's brain in the Doctor's head?" BECAUSE HE'S A MAD SCIENTIST THAT'S WHY.

"Mad? I'm livid! I've *just* given up & put it in the goldfish bowl & NOW you deliver me a normal head. Great timing, ladies!"

Ooh 'eck! Morbius has woken up and he's feeling a bit crabby!

Sarah just about manages to evade Morbius, who gets himself into a flaming rage.

Solon leaves the Doctor to Sarah, concerned by Morbius' premature awakening.

"Hello nurse!"

Isaac Dakin ‏@IWhittakerDakin I love how the Doctor checks his head when Sarah tells him he's too late.

Solon calls himself Morbius' "creator" & the insane creature tries to hug him to death.

Condo's still alive!

Oh, now he's dead.

Mark ‏@OdysseusMW at least he has a more heroic death now though!

True, yes. Somewhat cruel that Morbius (partly) chokes him with his own arm, though!

Mark ‏@OdysseusMW does that make it partial suicide?

Well, on the one hand... ;-P

John Mark Frankland ‏@JMFrankland Its a shame 'cos Condo is essentially 'armless. #StopIt

The Doctor's forced to join forces with Solon to take down the Morbius creature.

Despite the bonkers goldfish bowl head, the Morbius creature is great; iconic design.

The murderous Morbius is not hard to track down, his handiwork (claw-iwork?) all too obvious.

There's a brief struggle as the Doctor distracts the creature for Solon to take the shot...

...only for the scientist to pause. Perhaps he's waiting to see if the creature will polish him off without damaging the Doctor's head?

He's probably glad of the Doctor when the Time-Lord lugs the unconscious creature back to the lab.

With the death of their sister, Maren has had enough and orders a march on Chez Solon.

Sarah wakes in Morbius' lair and is gutted to learn that it wasn't all a dream...

Solon returns the favour from earlier by locking Sarah - and the Doctor this time - in the lab.

Mark ‏@OdysseusMW Left the sonic screwdriver in the TARDIS? That was an oversight...

John Bensalhia ‏@JohnBensalhia Tom and Lis acting chemistry at its finest in this one.

Yes; as much as everyone rightly laments Ian Marter leaving, had he not we wouldn't have that perfect dynamic you get in season 13.

Rooting around in a desperate attempt to stop Solon from reviving Morbius in a more compos mentis state...

...the Doctor uses Cyanide gas to kill him in his lab. Wait, what?

John Mark Frankland ‏@JMFrankland I do have issues with this...

I always used to assume Solon was just unconscious, but that's it, we don't see him again. Dead.

John Mark Frankland ‏@JMFrankland He also deserves a proper send off...

Morbius survives the cyanide, though because his patchwork body has the lungs of a birastropthe!

Morbius claims his brain functions perfectly. The Doctor begs to differ. "Do you dare put it to the test?"

Ooh, here we go, *that* mind-bending battle...

For what it's worth, I'd never bought that the others were the Doctor, and always felt the simplest explanation was correct...

...i.e. that the others are Morbius.

But now Chibbers has engineered it so that they're pre-Hartnell "Division Doctors". Whilst I very much enjoyed Jo Martin's Doctor, only time will tell whether that ultimately proves to be a good idea. Jury's still out until the dust settles on that, I feel. Not sure everyone and their dog being a forgotten Doctor really sits too well with me yet.

Does seem a bit implausible, though, that we see NONE of Morbius' previous incarnations during this contest.

Unless Morbius only ever had one clay-headed incarnation, or did a 10th Doctor and constantly kept the same face.

It may have been what the crew intended, and the 13 lives rule hadn't been invented yet, but it seems silly if *none* of those faces are Morbius, and why do we trawl through those faces up to the point where Morbius blows a fuse? It's always been because they're him to me. But now they're not.

John Mark Frankland ‏@JMFrankland Used to be vehemently against the idea that they were previous incarnations. Not any more. Adds even more mystery...

Well, a hop, a skip and a trip and that's Morbius dealt with. Bit of a quick ending there.

The Doctor was similarly weakened by the mind bending contest, and it seems only the elixir will heal him - but there's not been enough time to cook up a fresh batch.