| THE MIND ROBBER by Peter Ling |
| Story 45 Synopsis: Fleeing the lava flow on Dulkis, the Doctor is forced to take the TARDIS out of reality. Whilst there, Zoe and Jamie are lured away, until the Doctor takes action to rescue them. This leads to the TARDIS' apparent self-destruction. Now in a bizarre forest, the Doctor must reunite his companions. Jamie has been changed into a game, and the Doctor gets it wrong. Jamie is restored, but with a different face. Together, they find Zoe, and face a unicorn. The Doctor has realised that they are all in a world of words. The dangers they face are only real if they believe in them. They disbelieve the unicorn, and escape. Jamie's face vanishes again, but this time Zoe helps the Doctor, and he gets it right. Restored, Jamie gets separated from the others, eventually reaching the castle with help from Rapunzel. The Doctor and Zoe encounter a Minotaur, and the Medusa, the Karkus, and also reach the castle. There, they rejoin Jamie. An encounter with Lemuel Gulliver sets them up to face the Master, an old man with a skull-cap, who acts as a mouthpiece for the intelligence behind the whole Land Of Fiction. He wants the Doctor to be his replacement. The Doctor refuses, but in attempting to flee, Jamie and Zoe become converted into fiction. Alone, the Doctor tries to bring them back, but is thwarted repeatedly. He is tricked into returning to the Master's office. He is put into the Master-Brain, and manages to let Jamie and Zoe out. The Doctor finds that the Land Of Fiction will become home for the human race, leaving Earth free for the brains behind it. He and the Master spar, until Zoe & Jamie's attempted sabotage causes the guard Robots to attack. As the Land collapses, the Doctor rescues the Master, really a writer from 1926, and the TARDIS reforms. |
| Review:- An absolutely spell-binding story, with something for everyone. The notions of a land where all the characters of fiction really exist is real fun, and it says something that the 1994 "remake" Conundrum uses a whole new set of reference points. The three leads are all given plenty to do, and the progression that they all make in seeking a solution to their state is well portrayed. The opening episode works well almost as a breather from the breakneck pace at which stories are forced to run. It remains questionable that the TARDIS would suffer so much from Dulkan lava when it's coped with apparently worse fates - although the upside is that it pre-empts the HADS, by giving a motivation that the TARDIS needs new defences now and again. The belief aspect works because the creatures faced become increasingly threatening. Disbelieving the unicorn is easier than the Medusa because the Medusa poses a quicker threat. It says that people will become accustomed to an awful lot. Zoe thinks the Karkus' gun is a threat, but the Doctor cannot see past its illogic to believe it. It's a nice play on the old IDBI notion present in loads of stories, where characters cannot believe in aliens because of what they are led to know. Here, the difference is shown more starkly. The other joy is the idea that the Doctor and friends are interacting with the unreal, whilst maintaining the game that they are real. Somehow, I can't think of any other show which could pitch its leads into the same scenario and convince that there was a tangible difference. The Doctor is too real to seem fictitious. One point worth mentioning is that The Mind Robber is short, though thankfully, neither brutish nor nasty. Some episodes are less than 20 minutes. The thing is, it doesn't matter. It takes very little effort to watch it all the way through. It is lucky that this didn't get junked, because it would seem too outlandish to appreciate, and I have no doubt that several people who should know better would be saying that it would make a great film, or could be done with better effects. Which I find a shame. |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the video, and read the book. |