Trial of a Timelord - 5-8: Mindwarp

Four episodes
Aired between 4th October 1986 and 25th October 1986

Written by Phillip Martin
Produced by John Nathan-Turner
Directed by Ron Jones


Synopsis

The Doctor's trial continues. The Valeyard previously showed a block of evidence from the Doctor's past, and now, he intends to examine the current case of evidence from his latest adventure, the section of time where he was summoned to this very courtroom...

The Doctor and Perri arrive on Thoros Beta. The Doctor explains that they've gone there because he was given a weapon from the Warlord of Thordon, a weapon that can be traced back to this world, and that it has an unusual quality.

The pair enter a cave near the sea and they're attacked by a large creature, and the Doctor is forced to use the weapon to kill it.  Guards arrive at the scene in moments and the Doctor and Perri are accused of murdering the creature, a fact that they refute as they did it in self-defence.  The head guard asks them if they're part of "Crozier's" group. The Doctor bluffs that they are, but they both flee before the guards can uncover their lies.

 As the Doctor and Perri hide in the tunnels, they soon discover that Sil is on this world, and the Doctor understands that in fact he is likely behind the arms sales.  The Mentors (Sil's race) rule this planet and are currently eradicating a primitive warrior race led by King Yrkanos.  The king has been taken prisoner, as the mad human doctor, Crozier, is intending to use his body as a brain transplant for the head Mentor, Lord Kiv.

As the Doctor and Perri skulk about, they're ultimately caught and Crozier is forced by Sil to extract the truth from the Doctor with a mind probe style device, but Crozier has eyes on the Doctor being the next transplant victim.

The Doctor is saved from a fate worse than death by Yrkanos, who breaks free.  They escape and it soon becomes apparent that the Doctor's brain has been affected as he's suddenly more open to violence and as they intend to attack the mentor's, he gives the game away and ends up joining Sil and the Mentors, forcing Perri and Yrkanos to retreat.

Back in the courtroom, the Doctor tells the Court that he has no memory of that occurring and he doesn't believe it to be correct. The Inquisitor and the Valeyard both point out that the Matrix cannot lie.

Back on Thoros Beta, Perri finds herself in the room of a Matron. To keep herself from being turned over as a convict, she agrees to serve the Mentors. 

She takes drinks to Sil and Kiv, and finds that the Doctor is in the same room, gloating along with them.  He manages to discover Perri and they tie her to rocks outside the tunnels, as the tide is rising high. The Doctor tries to interrogate her, but Crozier in the end convinces the Mentors that he can extract the truth better.

As they re-enter the complex, Yrkanos attacks and threatens to kill the Doctor. Perri stops him and together she and Yrkanos escape once more.

The Doctor then assists Crozier in transferring Kiv's consciousness into another recently dead Mentor and the operation is successful.

Meanwhile, Yrkanos and Perri find help in others, namely an old comrade of Yrkanos' called Dorf, who has now been transformed into a Werewolf, and a further tribe of warriors that have been captured by the Mentors. 

Together, they try to assault the arms supply, but the guards fight back and subdue many of the warriors, including Perri.

In the courtroom, The Valeyard accuses the Doctor being responsible for this violence. The Doctor protests, stating that he had nothing to do with it, but the Valeyard hints that he did, in a subtle way.

In Crozier's lab, Kiv awakens and feels well, but the previous Mentor's species (predisposed to fishing) is influencing his mind.  Crozier agrees that the new body is only temporary and suggests using Perri. The Doctor asks them not to and Crozier agrees, provided he can find a more suitable candidate. The Doctor goes off to look for one, but Crozier calls in Perri and starts prepping her for the operation.

The Doctor goes to Yrkanos' cell, makes peace with him, and frees all the resistance members. He tries to get to Perri, but as chaos reigns in the revolution, the TARDIS appears in a beam of light and the Doctor, clearly brainwashed, steps into it and leaves.

Back in the courtroom, the Doctor is beside himself with anger at the Court's summoning him to trial, just as Perri was in mortal danger.  The Court justifies their interference with the work of Crozier threatening all life, and the Valeyard insinuates that they had to step in because of the Doctor's meddling.

It plays out that Perri does undergo the operation and Kiv takes over her body. Yrkanos fights his way to the lab, and in anger shoots at everything in sight.

The Doctor is clearly upset at the supposed death of Perri, insists he was taken to trial for a specific reason, being manipulated by someone from behind the scenes, and vows to find out who.

Trivia

• The writer, Phillip Martin was invited back to do another story featuring Sil following the highly successful Vengeance on Varos. He was not all that impressed in the end though, because despite being told to inject more humour into the script, he found a lot of his ideas (and the humour he was told to put in) was being cut out. 

• The changes were so extensive, that when Colin Baker approached Phillip Martin to get clarity on which scenes the Doctor was faking his treachery and which scenes were altered by the Matrix. Martin couldn't say - he told him to go and see Eric Saward.  Saward didn't know himself!

• Supposedly, there was a rumour that the old Mentor who dislikes everyone shouting was watching re-runs of The A Team. This isn't true though.

• This is the second and final story in Doctor Who that Sil appears (if you don't count the episode Mission to Magnus). There is however a fan video of him called Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor.  Here's the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK03fn2r3r8 

The Review

This story is proof that lightning does not strike in the same place, twice. Vengeance on Varos was good. In fact, it was a breath of fresh air, creating one of the more unique and lovable villains that the show had received in a long, long time (maybe even since Davros!).  It was natural to try and replicate it. But either through the deconstruction and meddling in the original script, or through the intent to shoehorn the story into the Trial, Mindwarp just doesn't live up to expectations.

There are quite a few things that are okay in it. Sil is still a good character, although portrayed far more subservient here, he is perhaps sly as a snake and just as charismatic as before. Indeed, the problem isn't with Sil, or any of the Mentors.  If anything, the biggest problem I had with it was it felt like a 1967 plot put in a 1980's show.  Similar feelings were felt when Four to Doomsday was presented.  You see, the instigation for the story is barely there, being more tied into the continuation of the trial than anything about futuristic arms dealing. The structure is very similar to The Underwater Menace, with Crozier being the mad scientist, but instead of the destruction of the world, the only thing we even have to care about happening is a change in evolution, which is hardly captivating.

Brian Blessed is, of course, over the top, and you know what you're getting when you choose him. Being a rabid warrior king is right up his street, but even so, it does get a little beyond the pale and the theatrics start to take away from everything else. 

The final thing I will say about the bad stuff is that the end goes completely off the map in terms of a well written storyline.  The Inquisitor starts explaining as evidence is presented, how the Time Lords had to intervene and stop Crozier's work - so much so that it looks just like all the High Council are in on the plot and the trial is a formality.

Is there then anything good about this story beyond the return of Sil?  Yes, the minor one (contrary to a lot of people's views) is that the humour is about right in this story for me.  The major thing though is the death of Perri.  It is, like Adric, Genuinely shocking because you don't expect it. It's a shame then that they overturned this and retconned it for her to marry the barbarian of all people.  If they'd have left it as is, Perri's death would have been a big landmark and have had some of the impact they were looking for to keep this show alive beyond the trial.

All in all, it was a noble effort, but sadly, despite the inclusion of Sil, it was lacking in decent story to keep me entertained.

Rating 

5 out of 10

Re-watchability Factor

4 out of 10

Watch this if you liked...

• The Underwater Menace 

• The Brain of Morbius

• Vengeance on Varos

Vengeance on Varos

Two Episodes (45mins each)
Aired between 19th January 1985 and 26th January 1985

Written by: Phillip Martin
Produced by: John Nathan-Turner
Directed by: Ron Jones

Synopsis

On a planet called Varos in the constellation of Cetus, a pair of citizens called Etta and Arrak watch the condemnation and execution of a rebel leader called Jondar live on TV. 

It's a form of reality television that the citizens are obviously used to the brutality as Arrak complains at the lack of anything new to watch.  Just like reality TV, there are also live public votes, but these are mandatory.

Meanwhile, on the TARDIS, the Doctor is still tinkering and maybe as a direct result, the ship stops in deep space and shuts down, refusing to move due to a lack of a vital element, a quantity of ore known as Zeiton-7. The ore only comes from one place - Varos. 

Back on Varos, prices on the ore are being negotiated with Sil, a reptillian representative of the Galtron Mining Corporation. 

The governor of Varos is playing hard ball, even though he has no appreciation of the fact that the corporation are already getting the ore woefully cheap. The difficulty is that because of this, his planet has little money and people are having to ration food.  As part of the ruling process, the Governor is forced to submit to a public vote for the will of the people.  He asks them if he should hold out for a better price on Zeiton ore, but the vote goes against him and he is hit by a human cell disintegration beam. 

The beam severely weakens him and gives him one last chance to turn things around.  The Governor's guard, Bax, recommends that he kill Jondar to gain popularity with the citizens.

The Doctor, after a lot of sulking and proclaiming they're doomed to die in deep space alone, manages to repair the TARDIS just long enough to get it to Varos. 

He arrives in the area of Jondar's execution.  The guard stationed there thinks they're hallucinations when they turn up as there's an odd technology that causes them in the area.  The Doctor deals with the guard and frees Jondar. They're forced to run away as more guards show up and are ultimately rescued by a defecting guard and Areta, Jondar's partner.  They go through the punishment dome, being televised all the way to Sil's pleasure.  They pass through hallucinations, but are ultimately captured again and the Doctor is caught in a deadly vision of a desert which makes his body believe he's dying of thirst and heat exhaustion.

Perri is taken to the Governor and questioned.  Elsewhere, the Doctor is believed dead and taken to an acid pool where bodies are dumped. He recovers (being a time lord and not a mere human) and accidentally startles the guards who fall into the acid. 

He takes his leave and goes to find Perri.  It's not long before he's captured again and taken to the Governor.

Once together, it's decided that Jondar and the Doctor will be hung, and Perri and Areta will be mutated by a machine that takes your thoughts and turns them into horrifying twisted reality.  These fates are carried out, but just before the hangman releases the trapdoor, the Doctor figures out that Sil is manipulating and undercutting the price of Zeiton and explains to the Governor. 

The trapdoor opens and they fall through, the ends of the ropes not being attached.  Perri and Areta however are not so lucky and are changed into a bird and a reptile respectively. 

As it happens though, the Doctor steals a gun from a guard and shoots the control panel, reversing their effects in the nick of time.

Once more, Perri is captured but the Governor takes pity on her.  Unfortunately, he is out of time and hasn't managed to get a good deal from Sil and the underhanded Chief.  He submits to the public vote and Etta and Arrak watch as he is bombarded by the disintegrator again, likely for the last time. 

The guard with them defects however and stops the machine, allowing the Governor to live.  Together, they all escape and meet up with the Doctor again. 

They find some sentient, poisonous plant life in the end of the punishment dome and hide in it. The Chief officer and other corrupt members of the regime head into the tendrils to capture and kill the Doctor and co and are killed by the poisonous plant.

Sil's plan is thwarted, as there is suddenly another source of Zeiton 7 ore found and the Galtron Mining Corporation orders him to make a deal at any price.  The Governor is in a position to re-negotiate for the better and promises to end the brutality of the Reality TV Governorship.

The Doctor is gifted some Zeiton 7 ore and he and Perri go off into the sunset.

Trivia

• As you'll know if you've watched this story, there's nothing in it about vengeance. The title was chosen for the alliteration that matched the double V logo of the regime

• The original concept of Sil was for him to be in the fish tank, but it was too complicated and difficult to achieve at the time.

• Actor Nabil Shaban who played Sil came up with his trademark laugh after handling his friends pet snake (easy, I mean a real snake).  He watched its tongue flicking in and out and incorporated it into his persona, and voila.

• The "Marsh Minnows" he eats are peaches dyed green.  He ate so many of them that they made him ill in a way that he needed the toilet, unfortunately, the costume he was in was very difficult for him to actually use one!

• There was complaints received on this story about how violent it was. In fact, one Radio Times reader wrote in that it "exceeded the horrors of the holocaust!"  The writer took pride in the bad review and had it blown up and placed on his toilet wall

The Reveiw

Over the course of twenty two seasons, we've become accustomed to a few Doctor Who stories that are essentially good, but either make no sense, or have humongous plot holes in them.  Vengeance on Varos is one of these stories.

What makes it good is more about the ambience and tone of the story than anything that happens.  It is shot darker than much of the classic stories, the regime is as brutal and ruthless as the Kaleds and it does a very good job of showing the price of rebelling against a dictatorship and the consequence of corruption in the higher ranks. 

It cannot also be ignored that Sil is the last, truly good villain of original origin.  His look is perfect, his mannerisms and quirks are great and Nabil is just a good actor so sells it very well. 

Conversely, the things that let this story down are more about the plot itself and the logic of it. For example, if Varos was the only place to get Zeiton 7, how come they're selling it so low price to Galtron?  It cannot possibly be the case that they're the only company that has come to use it.  Also, why is the Chief backstabbing the Governor by driving down the price of the ore, when he has to live on that planet too?  Wouldn't he starve with the rest?  Well, it's implied that Sil will see him alright, but it would be a very obvious move and one that would get the Chief killed when others see how much he has.

Finally, the two and fro of the Doctor and Perri getting captured and escaping grows a little tiresome by the end, it was obviously filler to draw out the episode times to 45 mins.

The story is on point or perhaps even ahead of its time, like 1984, predicting the harshness of the government and the problems of reality TV, but to really enjoy it, there is some suspension of disbelief needed.

Rating

7 out of 10

Re-Watchability Factor

7 out of 10

Watch this if you liked...

• 1984

• The Enemy of the World

• Genesis of the Daleks

• The Sun Makers

• Mindwarp (Trial of a Timelord Episodes 5-8)

• The Happiness Patrol

• Bad Wolf (Doctor Who, Series 1)