C06S02 The mind robber
Synopsis
Escaping from a volcanic eruption on the planet Dulkis, the Doctor is forced to use the TARDIS' Emergency Unit, which takes the craft out of normal time and space... and out of reality itself! The time-travellers arrive in a mysterious world peopled by fictional characters - Gullier and Rapunzel, D'Artagnan and Sir Lancelot - but also by creatures from mankind's worst imaginings...
Cover notes
The high turnaround of episodes and stories in 1960s Doctor Who was an enormous strain on the cast and crew alike. The schedule called for an episode to be rehearsed and recorded on a weekly basis, with additional location filming occasionally thrown in for good measure. The fifth production block had begun in August 1967, with location filming for The Abominable Snowmen, and concluded in the middle of July 1968 with the recording of The Mind Robber. The punishing 11-month schedule of this recording block was enough to convince Patrick Troughton that his days in the TARDIS would soon be coming to an end...
Behind the scenes the programme was also going through a difficult time. The Dominators - the story that preceded The Mind Robber - had experienced numerous production problems which culminated in it losing one of its six planned episodes. The gap in the schedule was filled by script editor Derrick Sherwin penning an additional opening episode for Peter Ling's four-part The Mind Robber. Just as this problem was surmounted, a new one reared it head when Frazer Hines succumbed to a bout of chickenpox that saw him unable to participate in the story's second episode. More re-writing had to be done...
That The Mind Robber works so effectively as a story is quite an achievement - perhaps it does so because of the constraints that those making it had to work with, and not in spite of them...
Cast
| The Doctor | Patrick Troughton | listed as Dr. Who |
| Jamie McCrimmon | Frazer Hines | |
| Zoe Heriot | Wendy Padbury | |
| The Master | Emrys Jones | |
| Robot | John Atterbury | ep. 1,4,5 |
| Robot | Ralph Carrigan | ep. 1,4,5 |
| Robot | Bill Wiesener | ep. 1,4,5 |
| Robot | Terry Wright | ep. 1,4,5 |
| Jamie McCrimmon | Hamish Wilson | ep. 2,3 |
| Gulliver | Bernard Horsfall | ep. 2,3,4,5 [ep. 2 listed as A Stranger] |
| child | Barbara Loft | ep. 2,5 |
| child | Sylvestra le Tozel | ep. 2,5 |
| child | Timothy Horton | ep. 2,5 |
| child | Christopher Reynolds | ep. 2,5 |
| child | David Reynolds | ep. 2,5 |
| child | Martin Langley | ep. 2,5 |
| soldier | Paul Alexander | ep. 2,3,5 |
| soldier | Ian Hines | ep. 2,3,5 |
| soldier | Richard Ireson | ep. 2,3,5 |
| Redcoat | Philip Ryan | ep. 2,3 |
| Princess Rapunzel | Christine Pirie | ep. 3,5 |
| The Medusa | Sue Pulford | ep. 3,4 |
| Karkus | Christopher Robbie | ep. 4,5 |
| D'Artagnan | John Greenwood | ep. 5 |
| Sir Lancelot | John Greenwood | ep. 5 |
| Cyrano | David Cannon | ep. 5 |
| Blackbeard | Gerry Wain | ep. 5 |
Crew
| Written by | Derrick Sherwin | ep. 1 [uncredited] |
| Written by | Peter Ling | ep. 2,3,4,5 |
| Title music | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Fight arranged by | B.H. Barry | ep. 4 |
| Fight arranged by | John Greenwood | ep. 5 |
| Special sound by | Brian Hodgson and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Visual effects designed by | Jack Kine | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Visual effects designed by | Bernard Wilkie | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Costumes | Martin Baugh | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Make-up | Sylvia James | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Lighting | Howard T. King | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Sound | John Holmes | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Film Cameraman | Jimmy Court | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Film Editor | Martyn Day | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Story Editor | Derrick Sherwin | |
| Designer | Evan Hercules | |
| Producer | Peter Bryant | |
| Director | David Maloney |
DVD Extras
| Frazer Hines Wendy Padbury David Maloney Hamish Wilson |
commentary track | |
| The Fact of Fiction - The making of The Mind Robber | The cast and crew of The Mind Robber look back on the making of this story, which had more than its fair share of challenges and memorable moments. | |
| Highlander - The Jamie McCrimmon Story | Frazer Hines | Frazer Hines takes an informal look back at his time in Doctor Who as Jamie McCrimmon, his connections to the programme, and his career away from the TARDIS. |
| Basil Brush, mountaineer [1975] | During the 1970s, Doctor Who and Basil Brush were inextricably entwined in the Saturday evening TV schedule. This sketch from 1975 features an appearance by one of the Second Doctor's most popular foes, the fearsome Yeti, which utilises original Doctor Who costumes from the 1960s. | |
| BBC2 repeat broadcast trailers | (easter egg) Repeat broadcast trailers for The Mind Robber as used by BBC from 1992-01-31 to 1992-02-28 | |
| photo gallery |
Commentary
| serial code : | UU |
| episode count : | 5 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1968-09-14 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |