The Mind Robber

#144 9 Dec 2004, 6:59 pm
Dorney
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The Mind Robber 1:

Well after having had to struggle through this episode due to my video recording going a little weird (strobing all the time) here we are. At last.

There are certain things that leap out at you watching this episode in sequence. The first comes right at the end of the episode, with one of the finest cliffhangers known to man. These days it's notorious for being one of the finest arse-shots known to man, which it is admittedly, but that rather ignores the startling impact of the TARDIS being rent asunder. I can't recall that happening so far. Suddenly the security blanket is pulled away. The central sanctuary of the series is violated. After an episode of quiet menace this is incredibly effective, all the more so for the lack of music, or dramatic punching it has - the low pulsing note in the background undercuts it, making it all the stranger and creepier. Superb.

For the rest of the episode - I dunno. There's a faint feeling of relief that something clearly better than the previous two stories has turned up - but underlying it is the faint worry that they wouldn't seem half as good if it wasn't for those two previous stories. In deed, whilst I've always like Mind Robber, I've never been quite sure how good it is. The premise is fun, sure, but a touch gimmicky. And I can't help but feel that in the pretty much total absence of seasons 4 and 5, we're all desperate to find a classic in season 6 and this is the one that is the least offensive (pleasant enough, and short).

So let's try to ignore all that. I think, regardless of the problems of the previous two stories, this is a cracking episode in its own right. So soon after the Wheel in Space 1 we have another opening episode that focuses entirely on the regulars (and fluid link/mercury problems), but this one does show how to do it. The former just procrastinates, leaving the characters and the story pretty much in the same place at the cliffhanger – this episode acts entirely as a build to the main story, rather than as an episode just tacked onto the beginning (ironic considering it actually was!). The episode is entirely about a build up of menace and threat, with the nothingness being surprisingly creepy and dangerous – much more so than the Dominators were. I suppose the creepiness is due to the unknowability of it all – we fear what we don’t understand, as they say. Something unknown and unseen wants our heroes for purposes mysterious. That’s just scary. If you’re in another universe, who knows what you’re going to find – what people, what creatures…And it also helps that the atmosphere is so strange and unsettling – those huge white spaces, the beautifully judged direction. One particular bit where the camera changes and we drop in on Jamie and Zoe from another angle, in a way that implies a change of period when their conversation doesn’t – not explaining that very well: the bit before Jamie admits they’re lost – has a sense of disorientation. And I suppose that’s why the episode is effective. It uses the drawbacks in the setup to its effect. It knows better than to try and just do a regular episode. It isn’t disturbing… it’s just creepy.

There isn’t really all that much to add, as the episode is slight. Zoe has become the regular screamer now, three different goes at it in this episode alone – and the only real flaw in that marvellously moody and sombre slow cliffhanger is her utterly unbelievable shrieking. But generally an unsettling episode on a slow burn, that never feels padded or like it’s stretching to fill the time. Terrfic.


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#145 9 Dec 2004, 8:15 pm
The Secretive Bus
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Re: Day by Day

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorney
Sorry chaps, had to deal with a hectic day at work and a visiting Aussie. Should be back on track tomorrow.

Bloody foreigners, eh?

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Ben grins out of the cockpit window:
“I am only borrowing this. I’m Ben Chatham” before expertly taking off into the clouds.

- "Face of Death" by Sparacus


"They laughed at Gallileo once."
- Sparacus


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#146 10 Dec 2004, 12:26 am
Carlos R
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Re: Day by Day

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Quote:
Bloody foreigners, eh?

Hehemmm.




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"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.


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#147 10 Dec 2004, 7:45 am
The Secretive Bus
Time Lord

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Re: Day by Day

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*looks through binoculars*

Good lord!... Look down there!... A foreigner!

*puts on Colonial pith helmet*

We'll show the blighter what for!

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Ben grins out of the cockpit window:
“I am only borrowing this. I’m Ben Chatham” before expertly taking off into the clouds.

- "Face of Death" by Sparacus


"They laughed at Gallileo once."
- Sparacus


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#148 10 Dec 2004, 12:31 pm
Dorney
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Re: Day by Day

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The Mind Robber 2:

Forgot to mention the big flaw with episode one - Jamie's dream. They're in a moment of high tension, just escaped a traumatic experience... and then Jamie decides to have a nap. He falls asleep instantly, dreams just as instantly, and then wakes without feeling tired. Clear balls.

It does strike me watching this episode that the first episode is the one that really makes the tale. Without it, would we be as fond of the story as we are? The first episode adds weight and import to the rest of the script. This episode is fun, undeniably, but it does have a faintly tricksy feel. A lot of clever and entertaining stuff, but it has the faint air of a parlour game. It's a tiny bit shallow.

As I say though, that's slightly balanced out by the terrific menace of the initial episode, lending the episode a certain gravitas that it wouldn't have had in isolation. Suddenly it has an air of dangerous surrealism, rather than just frippery. It's confusing and dangerous rather than wilfully odd.

The episode is a little hard to write too much about though, because it has one central device that it repeats - games, puzzles. This is quite fun, for what it is, but it does lend the episode a slightness and a mildly repetitive quality, they're entertaining but they mainly fill in time. Outside of that we have a terrific guest performance from Bernard Horsfall - underlying the peculiarity of his character whilst seeming perfectly natural; and a slightly strange performance from Hamish Wilson - nice enough in isolation, but he just doesn't 'feel' like Jamie. The accent seems a bit dodgy once or twice, but it might be genuine for all I know.

And that'll have to be it, as there isn't much else to add. It's a fun episode, that passes the time but little else. Too early to tell whether it'll bully itself up in the forthcoming installments, but it does retain a promising surrealist edge - but as with most surrealism, it feels like slightly hollow cleverness if it isn't about something. Could go either way, really.


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#149 12 Dec 2004, 1:04 am
Dorney
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Re: Day by Day

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The Mind Robber 3:

Following the suggestion that I should simply have reposted my Dominators 1 review 4 times over, I'm almost tempted to do that here. This episode has pretty much all the same faults and plusses of the last one.

Firstly, this is the first story in a long time where I'm conciously aware that it's well directed. The Minotaur sequence in particular is shot superbly, mainly relying on silhouette, sound and lighting effects (particularly beautiful is the way it's disappearance is implied rather than shown - sudden change of light and a sharp pull back. Fab). A glance at the reference guides reveal that this is the directorial debut of the legendary David Maloney - and you can instantly see why he became a mainstay. Pure class.

Zoe has now transformed completely into a bit of an idiot. Despite the Doctor managing to defeat the Unicorn and the Minotaur in the same pathetically easy way, at the cliffhanger she still refuses to give in to the easy option. Has she learnt nothing? Likewise, she describes the route through the maze as a mathematical progression - this is clearly a distraction from her. The map we see suggests the correct route in is 'Keep walking, and take the first right'. It's hardly Longleat.

The story remains fun, but it does remain a bit shallow. The moment at the end of the episode where Jamie picks up the tickertape machine tape and reads what's happening to The Doctor and Zoe is a wonderfully romantic high concept idea. But up to then the story isn't really about anything. For all the talk of tests, and the entertaining sideshows, they remain sideshows. The sensation that Ling is just throwing in fictional character after fictional character until he's filled up enough time to end the episode lingers. An obvious example of this is Gulliver - lovely character, beautifully written and played, utterly charming... but what's he for? He pretty much turns up, looks fab and offers distraction, and departs, leaving the plot in the same place it left (heck, the cliffhanger is pretty much the same - the regulars under threat from a traditional monster - and whilst we there, surely someone deserved to be shot for calling that monster 'The Medusa' in the end credits?) I'm still enjoying it - but we badly need a plot to turn up soon. There's only so much surrealist strangeness you can take before you start wondering what the point of it all is.


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#150 12 Dec 2004, 11:27 am
The Secretive Bus
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Re: Day by Day

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Have to agree in part. It's certainly a story you have to be in the right mood for - I only put it on if I fancy a "silly" story, one I can just switch m' brain off for. It's a lot like a Ray Harryhausen picture - heroes on a long journey, encountering various creatures along the way, and a slap-bang finale that takes a whole 2 minutes to achieve. And Medusa's snakes are done with stop-motion to boot!



Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorney
It's hardly Longleat.


I intend to use this phrase at least once a day from now on.

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Ben grins out of the cockpit window:
“I am only borrowing this. I’m Ben Chatham” before expertly taking off into the clouds.

- "Face of Death" by Sparacus


"They laughed at Gallileo once."
- Sparacus


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#151 13 Dec 2004, 1:32 pm
Dorney
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Re: Day by Day

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The Mind Robber 4:

Well here we go. A plot at last.

Looking back, I'm noticing that my reviews of the last two episodes have been a bit shorter than usual. Ironic considering the fact that the episodes of this story are notoriously short. What's weird though is that you don't particularly realise that these episodes are well under five minutes shorter than usual. Not quite sure what this suggests (does it suggest they're slow, or pacey? Dunno.)

Once again, this story is painting Zoe like a moron. When even Jamie can remember not to step through the electronic beam, you're casting serious doubts on her intelligence (this is made worse by the rampant filling of Wendy Padbury, babbling away so that she 'can't hear' what she's being told). Is Ling just writing for Victoria? She better get back on form in the next story - her spunkiness (stop sniggering) and brains was what made her interesting, she's just typical girl companion in this one. Having said that, they do make this bizarre little attempt to turn her into a min-Cathy Gale about halfway through when she lays into the Karkus in one of the most wonderfully inept bits of fight choreography I've ever seen (and trust me, I saw my mates Scott and John do an appaling one at drama school that has nothing on this). When Christopher Robbie and Ms Padbury just can't quite seem to time the throws correctly, you do find yourself giggling. But it's one of the advantages of being in a story that doesn't pitch itself as a serious adult drama that this just adds to the fun, rather than detracting from it (see also, the Karkus' outfit - it's impossible to tell if this is meant to be his skin and muscles, or just an outfit covering them). And if nothing else, it balances out Zoe's stupidity in refusing to just say that the Medusa isn't real by having the Doctor do the same.

But there does still remain the time wasting feeling. By about the point of the Karkus, we've understood the way the world works, and we just want to get on with it. It really is turning into just a series of set pieces - in fact, the same set piece with mild variation, if we're honest. And whilst Gulliver was initially charming, he's beginning to get on me nerves (he's just the same gag repeated over and over again- when he turns up here, my heart sank a little. Yes it was great the first time, but familiarity breeds contempt. You've got the entire history of fiction to play with, and you keep bringing back the same character - we know who he is, how he works, what is there to gain?) So the arrival of 'The Master' (he of the confusing name), is an much awaited shift into a higher gear... well, at least third gear. If anything, the revelation of what the plan is is slightly disappointing, because it doesn't really seem to bear much relation to all the weirdness. It's all very well talking about 'tests' but what are they meant to prove? If the Doctor killing Medusa with the sword would be the test succeeding (as the ticker tape message implies) surely that would have made him fictional, and thus surely unable to take over? Why all the attempts to kill him? Surely they just need to figure out if he's got an imagination (does the Master have that much of an imagination anyway? If the previous three episodes are indicative of his work, I'd say he's run out of puff).

How does Jamie know that the creatures trying to track him down are the white robots from the void? He doesn't see them. Odd.

If all this does seem negative, don't get me wrong. I do enjoy the story. For all it's sameness, it's quite fun on a childish level (seeing the Doctor interacts with a Gorgon and Gulliver appeals to my boyish nature). But it's slightly made up on the spot feel gives it a slight hollow and unsatisfying quality despite the entertainment. Diverting, but transitory.


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#152 14 Dec 2004, 12:11 pm
Dorney
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Re: Day by Day

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The Mind Robber 5:

Once again, for a very short episode, the shortest in the entire run, this episode does seem terribly packed...

I watched this one with my mum. At the end of it she turned to me and said 'What a load of crap'. Now, seeing as none of you know my mum, the degree to which this is out of character will not be immediately apparent. But she is a woman who says what she thinks.

I can't help but agree. The story is kind of fun, but it's ultimately a little childish. The beautiful post-modernism of the fictional stuff doesn't quite square with it's desperately child-like feel. Ultimately, the script isn't quite as clever as it thinks it is. The post-modernism is the only concession towards depth, the rest doesn't really hang together. I watched Van Helsing the other day (A free rent from Blockbuster, I'm not mad enough to pay to see it), and I felt it had a similar feel to this - the stories were plotted in the sort of way I would plot Who stories when I was about eight. Lacking in logic and consistency and any real depth. So the villains are evil because they 'just are', and the precise logic of the plot doesn't hold up to scrutiny. In Van Helsing, Dracula needs Frankensteins monster, because by electrocuting him, he'll channel life into his vampire babies - yes, it truly is that bad. Similarly, the Master Brain of the Land of Fiction really can't figure out what it actually wants - someone to take over, to turn the Doctor into fiction, to invade Earth for no readily apparent reason. And the whole rationale for the Master Brain is a little weird - where's it come from, why's it nasty, when did it decide on this plan (and if it needs a human for imagination, how did it come up with a plan?) It's like Ling's flung together a lot of, admittedly rather nice, ideas into the melting pot and just strung them together without much thought of an actual plot, thinking 'well, it's for kids'. Notice how quickly it turns into a runaround in this episode too. This really is a kids story, with the level of depth and intelligence you'd expect (notice Zoe's line: 'What about Gulliver and the Karkus and all our friends?' If that doesn't scream cheesy kids show I don't know what does - and the sudden appearance of all the guest cast has a similar feel - it's a little too deliberate). Four episodes of runaround with the barest fragment of a plot.

That's not to say it's not entertaining, it is. The mental battle between the Doctor and the Master, as they summon up various fictional characters, is a clear highlight of the episode. Shame that the whole 'But I can't write myself into it' thing doesn't really work - think about it Doctor. The phrases 'They were finally defeated by the Doctor' and 'as the robots advanced on the Doctor' don't actually need the last three words to make sense. I could see that when I was twelve, why can't you?

And then suddenly it's over. Jamie and Zoe hit a lot of buttons, everything blows up, and they're somehow magically reunited with the TARDIS. Well, gee, thanks. The most slapdash 'oh, I can't think of a proper ending' ending we've had in ages. Blow crap up. Oh how sophisticated. And especially dumb seeing as they aren't sure it might just kill them all. And aren't those robots the most rubbish ever? The moment they're told to kill the Doctor, they hang around for about a minute and a half before doing a thing, the same with Jamie and Zoe.

So I think I retain my opinion that Mind Robber is probably saved by it's first episode. It gives it a weight and poetry it otherwise wouldn't have, and would be regarded as a silly runaround. As it is, it's moderately entertaining if you don't want to have to think too hard, and want something you don't have to pay any attention to. But not really premium Who.


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#153 14 Dec 2004, 10:43 pm
The Secretive Bus
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Re: Day by Day

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I rather like the theory that the story from just before the TARDIS explodes in part 1 is a dream shared by the regulars - so they all see people they would know in the dream, and the random Master Brain villain has bog standard plots because it's a satire of the enemies the Doctor usually meets. The White Robots and the toy soldiers are dream distortions of the Cybermen and the Quarks.

Of course, none of this would have been going through Ling's mind when he wrote the scripts, but it's a fun theory all the same.

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