Day 144 — May 24th 2021
The Mind of Evil Episodes One and Two
The Mind of Evil — Episode One
I honestly think Don Houghton writes the best version of the Third Doctor Who. His characterisation in Inferno was brilliant, and here we open with him grinning and waving at a security camera. It feels somehow more like the character we know and love than a lot of what Pertwee gets to do, and I really love it.
I’m also suspecting that it was in his contract that he had to do a bit of comedy gurning in every story, because he has so far! We’ve had moments of it in Spearhead (while being attacked by the Nestene), Silurians (attacked by a Silurian’s eye), Ambassadors (facing the G-Force on take off), Inferno (Being transported to another dimension), Terror (strangled by a phone cable) and now here too (being attacked by the Keller Machine). I don’t think I’ve ever really noticed it before, but watching through this time it’s become something I can count down to in every story!
The main thing I’ve taken away from this episode is that I don’t really know what UNIT do. I mean they fight aliens, that much is obvious, but they also seem to have an awful lot to do with security. This isn’t a new thing — they’re security in three of the four Season Seven stories too — but I’m not entirely sure how it all fits together. I’d love to see their charter, if they’ve got one.
Doctor Who is certainly under the impression that they’re about more than just sticking some guards on doors, as he gives a rather neat description of their role in this one;
Governor: ‘The Doctor is Scientific Advisor to UNIT, Mister Kettering.’
Kattering: ‘UNIT?’
Governor: ‘United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.’
Kattering: ‘How interesting, though I fail to see what concern it is.’
Doctor Who: ‘UNIT, sir, was set up to deal with new and unusual menaces to mankind. And in my view, this machine of yours is just that.’
But drawing attention to it with a lovely bit of dialogue like that has only left me questioning things, as it’s awfully lucky that every time they get assigned to some security job it just happens to involve aliens or monsters.
That said, there could be loads of unseen adventures between the stories we get to watch, and there’s an implication in this episode that quite some time has passed since Terror of the Autons. For starters Doctor Who and Jo seem far more comfortable with each other than they did last time around, and it’s said that the Master (not using his name at this point, naturally) has been working on his plan with the Keller Machine for at least a year. Was this a back up plan and he just went off to do the Auton stuff for a laugh one day? If he’s been on Earth for a year then why did the bowler-hatted Time Lord wait so long to warn our hero about it?
The other possibility, of course, is that a year or so has passed between Terror of the Autons and this story, but somehow that just feels wrong doesn’t it? Either way it doesn’t make pinning down a date for these stories any easier.
Something I’ve only touched on occasionally since the start of the Pertwee era is the quality of the picture in these episodes. The Pertwee years were as badly affected by being wiped as any of the 1960s material, and it’s sheer luck that we’ve managed to recover copies of all his episodes. Sadly that does mean that some of the episodes aren’t in great condition, and The Mind of Evil is a good example of that. As I understand it the story only survives in black and white — and was released as such on VHS — but it’s been restored in the last decade using a number of techniques.
This opening episode is the only one of them to be recoloured by hand and while it’s an impressive feat it’s something which does stand out in some shots. Truth be told I’d forgotten about the recolouring when the episode started, and it was only when I started to notice some oddities that I found myself being distracted by it. That’s not a major complaint — as I say the team have done a hell of a job restoring it to colour, and there’s some especially nice palettes during the demonstration of the Keller Machine — but I’m surprised that the story only seems to be presented on the Blu-ray as the colour version. I think, given the choice, I’d have opted to watch this one in black and white.
It’s a step up from the last story, but it’s not blowing me away just yet. 6/10.
The Mind of Evil — Episode Two
When I did my last marathon I’ll admit that I was a bit green. I really didn’t know what I was talking about (‘he still doesn’t,’ people cry from the comments section) and don’t think I was particularly observant. I don’t know if I’d have noticed the return of Roy Stewart in the last story for example, and I certainly paid less attention to the comings and goings of various writers and directors than I have this time around.
For me, that’s been one of the greatest discoveries in doing the ‘pilgrimage’ all over again almost a decade later. I was in my early-mid twenties last time, and my early thirties this time. I’ve a broader range of interests now than I did then, and I feel I appreciate little details more now. Certainly I had no interest (or means, admittedly) in delving into the scripts to compare and contrast during the last marathon, while it’s been a highlight for me over the last few months.
I’m trying to make that sound a bit fancy and intelligent when really all I’m saying is that I spotted we were in the same location as The War Machines today immediately, while I’m not sure I’d have appreciated it when I watched this story in 2013.
All jokes aside, though, I feel that I’ve a better appreciation for the different voices making the show than ever before. I’ve been able to spot the flourishes that differentiate one director from another, and notice which writers really get it and which ones don’t. And it means on this occasion that I’ve come to the conclusion that Don Houghton is a significantly better writer than Robert Holmes, even though I think that’s probably a controversial statement. Now in fairness I suspect Holmes hasn’t come into his own yet. His real successes are a few seasons away, and at this stage he’s still refining his skill. Houghton, though, is a brilliant writer, and it’s telling that almost all of my notes for this episode are in the form of dialogue snippets with comments like ‘brilliant’, ‘great’ or simply ‘💯’.
The thing is, running Terror of the Autons and The Mind of Evil next to each other you can’t help but think they should have had Houghton introduce the character of the Master to the series, because he presents the character far more effectively than Holmes did. There’s a sequence in this episode where he hypnotises Chin Lee and it’s genuinely scary in a way that similar sequences in Terror just weren’t. Delgado seems more at ease in the part here, too, playing it less broadly. I don’t know if that’s down to him simply settling in or if it’s because he’s being given better material to work with.
And how right does he look sat in the back of the car here? We tend to think of this incarnation of the Master in his Nehru Suit, but he’s yet to wear that costume. He looks so dashing here in a suit with a cigar to hand.
Houghton’s real skill continues to be the way he writes for Doctor Who. There’s something about the lines and character that Pertwee is given in this story and Inferno which is just heads and shoulders above anything in his other stories so far. It makes me especially sad that we’ve only five more episodes by Houghton to go. I really love that he draws from his previous story in showing us Doctor Who’s fears, and the description he gives is wonderful;
Jo: ‘Doctor, what did you see?’
Doctor Who: ‘Fire.’
Jo: ‘But why should you?’
Doctor Who: ‘Well, some time ago, Jo, I witnessed a terrible catastrophe. A whole world just, just disappeared in flames. Well, this machine picked that memory out of my mind and used it to attack me.’
The relationship between Doctor Who and the Brigadier is so beautifully and distinctively drawn here too. Having the two stories intertwine in this episode is nicely done, and the pair get to play off each other beautifully;
Brigadier: ‘All right, all right, all right, all right, Doctor! You win.’
Doctor Who: ‘And you’ll back up my report to the Home Office calling for a complete ban on the Keller process.’
Brigadier: ‘Yes.’
Doctor Who: ‘And you’ll get in touch with the Home Secretary and make sure that he takes some action.’
Brigadier: ‘Yes, Doctor, and if that doesn’t do any good, I personally will go down to Stangmoor and blow the blasted machine up myself. Now, are you or are you not going to help me with this case?’
Doctor Who: ‘My dear Lethbridge Stewart, your word is my command. You know that you only have to ask.’
Nick Courtney has stepped up a gear again for this story — clearly the actors respond to being given material of quality.
I can’t claim to be totally blown away by the story itself, because I’m not. But it’s the dialogue that’s keeping this story ahead of the competition, and I’m hoping that the narrative itself will be able to pick up before long. 7/10.
