The Mind Robber
(DVD)

 

Starring Patrick Troughton
5 Episodes
1968
99 minutes (black and white)
Single Disc




 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
Patrick Troughton

Jamie McCrimmon
Frazer Hines

Zoe Heriot
Wendy Padbury

Written by
Peter Ling
&
Derrick Sherwin
Directed by
David Mahoney

Produced by
Peter Bryant

Original Airdate
Sept 14, 1968 - Oct 12, 1968

US DVD  Release Date
September 2005

Warner Home Video
#E2316

U.K. Cover



 

 

 
Cover Blurb
The TARDIS is in the path of molten lava on the planet Dulkis, and the Doctor is forced to activate the emergency unit to move it out of harm's way.  Unfortunately the craft is also taken out of normal time and space... and out of reality itself!  When the time travelers land "nowhere," they stumble into a world peopled by fictional characters - Gulliver and Rapunzel, D'Artagnan and Sir Lancelot - but also by creatures from mankind's worst imaginings!



 

 

 

DVD Features
  • Basil Brush Segment:
 Originally planned for the Tom Baker release "Pyramids of Mars" (due to it's transmission occurring at nearly the same time), this segment involves a small hand puppet, a mountain climber, and an authentic Yeti costume used throughout the 60's in Doctor Who.  Another tie in is the fact that this show often appeared before Doctor Who during the 70's.  Better known to U.K. fans, this featurette's relevance is quickly lost on those of us living on the other side of the Atlantic.
 

 
  • Information Text:
 Lots of trivia and tidbits of Whovian detail are provided.  The text appears intermittently along the bottom of the screen and is written by members of the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
 

 
  • The Fact of Fiction:
 An impressive 35 minute featurette on the making of this five episode story.  Includes interviews with actors Wendy Padbury (Zoe), Frazer Hines (Jamie), Christopher Robbie (The Karkus), Hamish Wilson (Jamie #2), script editor Derrick Sherwin, writer Peter Ling, designer Evan Hercules, and director David Maloney.
 

 

  • Highlander - The Jamie McCrimmon Story:

 A specially created documentary on the career of long time actor Frazer Hines (Jamie).  Hines reminisces about his time on the series and about some of the actors that he spent his tenure performing with.  Runs for nearly 23 minutes.
 

 
  • Audio Options:
 Commentary is provided by Frazer Hines (Jamie), Wendy Padbury (Zoe), Hamish Wilson (Jamie #2) and David Maloney (director).  As is often the case, this commentary track is both informative and entertaining.
 

 
  • Photo Gallery:
 Lots of rare and never before seen photos taken during the production of this story.  Very nice.
 

 
  • Who's Who:
 A feature unique to the North American DVD releases.  It lists short biographical information on many of the actors involved in the story.
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 There is 1 egg included in this release.  Scroll further down to find more details.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.
 

 

 

 

 


 

Easter Egg
#1. CONTINUITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
(1992 BBC2 Repeat)

 

From the main menu screen, click on the hidden Doctor Who logo to the left of 'Episode Selection.'
 

 


 

 

 

Additional Notes

  • This story picks up immediately after "The Dominators" with the Doctor realizing that the TARDIS is in the path of a volcanic eruption.

  • Originally intended as a 4 part story, "The Mind Robber" inherited an additional episode when "The Dominators" was trimmed from 6 to 5 episodes.  Therefore, an additional episode was written at the last minute which expanded on how the Doctor and his companions become trapped in the Land of Fiction.
  • An amusing way to give Frazer Hines a short break (due to his contracting chicken pox) was written into this story.   Jamie's face is wiped clean and the Doctor is forced to reconstruct it with cardboard cutouts of various noses, eyes, etc.  The finished product ends up looking like Hamish Wilson (Jamie #2).  :)
  • Bernard Horsfall  (Gulliver) would later return to Doctor Who in Patrick Troughton's final story "The War Games" where he played a Timelord.  4 years would pass before he would return to Doctor Who.  This time he played Commander Taron in the Pertwee story "Planet of the Daleks."  Another 4 years passed when he returned to play Chancellor Goth in the classic Tom Baker story "The Deadly Assassin."
  • Somewhat confusingly, there is a character referred to as "the master" in this story.  It turns out that this is not the debut appearance of the Doctor's arch enemy "The Master," but rather a title made up before the Timelord villain was created.
     

  • All 5 episodes have been VidFIREd.  VidFIRE is a process that returns the "video" look to the program as it was originally broadcast.  To learn more about this process you can read about it at the Doctor Who Restoration Team website.
     

  • "The Mind Robber" was given the usual expert cleanup treatment by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.