The Brain of Morbius

The Doctor is both frustrated and petulant after the TARDIS arrives on the planet Karn. His efforts to take Sarah Jane back home have been thwarted again, through no fault of his own this time. Though he doesn't know why, the Doctor is convinced that the Time Lords have deliberately put him off course. At first, he refuses to even explore the planet. Sarah has to goad him into looking around. They soon find a graveyard of downed spaceships and the headless corpse of a Mutt. Before long, they arrive at the castle of Solon, a renowned surgeon who had gone into hiding some time ago. Deep within Solon's castle are the scant remains of Morbius, a renegade Time Lord. With the help of his hook-handed assistant Condo, Solon attempts to take the Doctor's head so that it might be a vessel for the brain of Morbius. It's a classic riff on the Frankenstein story. Moody and atmospheric, with expressionist architecture drenched in shadows. And it's surprisingly violent at times. While it's not unusual for characters to die on Doctor Who, this is the first time I can think of where a character is shot and they use squibs and blood packs to show the impact. There's more to the story, including a coven of nearly immortal women called the Sisterhood of Karn, but it's worth experiencing on your own.

Rating: I'm just going to sit here and do nothing%