Doctor Who - The Brain Of Morbius [1976]
£12.98
it is good fun all round - The Brain of Morbius is a good all round Doctor Who, even though it takes place in the studio. It is well paced, and keeps you on your toes most of the time.In this era of Who this is one of the best ones made mainly because it makes you think as you go along What s going to happen next?So for these things i would recommend you watch it all the way through if you have a couple of hours to spare.
head games - a classic doctor who story from the mid 1970 s when the popularity was at it s height. tom baker had been the doctor for a year and a half and his version of the timelord was encountering horror situations and thrilling the nation. Apart from those who thought it was too graphic for an early evening timeslot, that is. this story now comes to dvd. It runs for four episodes of twenty five minutes in length, and it involves the doctor arriving on the planet karn, a desolate place inhabited only by a religious cult and a castle housing a brilliant surgeon and his servant. the surgeon is attempting to bring something back into the world. something that needs a body. and once that s completed, the whole universe will not be safe. great acting from all the cast and some moments that could be straight out of a hammer horror movie combine to produce an excellent story. it s entirely studio bound and the scenes on the surface of the planet are on a patently fake landscape, but that won t really put you off. a classic tale that can be enjoyed by everyone, except perhaps those who give every dvd review on here an unhelpful vote. but that s their problem. coming on a single disc, the extras are as follows:a commentary from cast members tom baker [the doctor] elisabeth sladen [his companion sarah jane smith] philip madoc [the surgeon doctor solon] and the producer and director of the story. all are smart and erudite and great to listen to.getting a head: a half hour long documentary, narrated by future doctor paul mcgann, about the story. a good and comprehensive look at it, from genesis to production, with lots of interesting contributions from the cast. the chance to see those who played the sisterhood leaders as they are now is interesting. the other main extras concentrate on the design of the story:in designs on karn designer barry newbery explains how he came up with the design ideas for the story. a set tour shows you round them and how they were constructed with the aid of a computer animation reconstructionand a sketch gallery show you lots of his work on the production.these are all good, if rather short.there is also the usual photo gallery of the story and it s productionproduction information subtitles, and regular subtitles in englishthe listings from the tv magazine radio times of the time for the episodes of the story as a PDF file [which you can only look at on a computer]and a trailer for the next release in this range, the sixth doctor story the trial of a timelord. these trailers are very good at making them look epic, and this one does manage that. be aware that it does reveal a few major surprise events from if you ve not seen it before.there are two easter eggs on the disc, both of which can be accessed by watching it on a computer and moving the pointer over the screen till a previously hidden doctor who logo lights up. on the first special features screen doing this will show you an exchange of letters between a fan and the script editor of the timeand on the episodes screen it will bring up a short feature about the continuity references in the story. this even references a few of the original novels based on the show, which is a nice surprise as they don t get mentioned very often.classic doctor who. and a good package for it
Be careful... - I m don t want to insult this story as I know many people think of it as a classic, but I find it very disappointing. The set feels particularly cheap and claustrophobic, the tone is relentlessly overwrought with no real flashes of humour or lightness, and the plot is turgid. Again, my take on it is not the most common one - and I m sure the extras are great. However, the terrific Tom Baker/Liz Sladen story Seeds of Doom - as yet unreleased on DVD - makes this look incredibly poor by comparison.
CLASSIC BAKER ... AND GOTHIC HORROR FEEL!!!! - Definiteley a story that stuck in my mind from the 1970 s!Classic Tom Baker and a nod to the horror movies of old!Very atmospheric, suspenseful with some great set design.The Morbius monster is effective despite the budgetary limitations , and there was always something chilling about a sentient and yet disembodied brain in a vat of green liquid!One from the CLASSIC times - recommended if you liked Pyramids Of Mars,Planet Of Evil, Horror Of Fang Rock & similiar as there is a BIG nod to the horror genre (in this case, Frankenstein).
Horror-Who at it s best, thrilling stuff! - Barcode: 5014503181628From the opening shots of Karn, eerily dark and swathed in thick swirling fog, you know you re in for a real classic hiding behind-sofa-ride with this serial. In the very first episode you get a gruesome beheading, a crippled servant with a hook for an arm, later delights coming in the form of a brain in a jar of green goo, the Doctor almost being burnt at the stake and a monster cobbled together from various body parts.It s scary stuff with some real-edge-of-your seat moments, one of the most surprising being when Solon shoots his assistant Condo, literally ripping a hole in his chest, spurting blood. It s not something you d see in the revived series and in many ways, this raw, untamed feel just adds to the dark overtones of this story. It raises questions on the ethics of what true life is in relation to Condo s subservience to Solon and Morbius s half-life as a brain trapped in a transparent case, a slave to base instinct.The true star of this serial has to be Philip Madoc as Solon, his performance is deliciously sinister, his perseverance through all the odds to try and revive Morbius admirable, despite the gravity of what this entails. The scene where Condo knocks Morbius brain onto the floor to Solon s dismay is particularly poignant as he cries of `such intellect, wasted on a stone floor by a mindless brute . This is a man that has devoted himself to a cause and has lost all compassion for others, from the way he continually deceives poor Condo to his underhand poisoning of the Doctor and Sarah, his true intentions masked wonderfully behind a façade of a nice, well-spoken academic.Villains like Solon are always a joy to watch, the battle of intellects between them and the Doctor is what the show was made for. Tom Baker puts in a great show too in this episode, really shining in the scenes with the Sisterhood as he tries to convince them of his pure intentions. Liz Sladen gets some nice moments too, her feistiness sparking brilliantly off the Doctor, and poor girl, she goes through a lot in this serial! Poisoned, tied up to a table, blinded and then chased and beaten up by Morbius - and speaking of her blindness, I think she acted this really well. Yes, the whirling arms might look a little overstated compared to today s more conservative styles of acting but if you put yourself in her shoes, if you had just lost your sight you d be absolutely terrified and Liz really conveys this in her voice.When this serial was first broadcast it got between 9-10 million viewers per episode. This was Doctor Who in its element, Tom Baker taking the series through the peak of its success and from serials like this you can see how so many elements of it have gone on to influence further Who episodes. It is these linkages - this episode obviously taking root from the story of Frankenstein and his monster - that weave their through history, the tension and the theme of science pushed to its most terrifying. Even the imagery lives on, the Sybilline Sisterhood of recent episode `The Fires Of Pompeii being almost a carbon copy of the Sisterhood of Karn in this episode.Brilliantly acted, dark brooding sets and a super-tense plot + a really good behind the scenes documentary `Getting A Head which has some fab interviews with the cast and crew - this is yet another fantastic release in the Doctor Who DVD range.