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 This Doctor Who adventure is gothic horror at it's best.
Under the producership of Phillip Hinchcliffe the series in the mid-seventies veered towards gothic and became truly scary. . Set in an ancient castle this adventure does owe something to the horror film genre. It is also one of the most gruesome of Doctor Who's adventures with slimy brains slipping onto the floor, bullets ripping into people and monsters toppling from cliff's. But there is also genuine suspense and a very tight script, the acting (with the possible exception of Colin Fay) is excellent, the music eerie - and this truly is an original story. One which is remembered thirty years on by the people who have seen it. This is what Doctor Who should be about - intelligent, eerie, creepy and occasionally very disturbing.
The plot of a mad proffessor wanting the Doctors head to use for a brain transplant is like something out of 'Frankenstein'. I think 'The Brain of Morbius' is a highly original tale but you can see where certain horror tales have influenced the writers especially the above mentioned Mary Shelley creation. Not only does it feature a mad scientist and a stitched up corpse but a blind girl not noticing the monster and the obligatory drive-the-monster off a cliff ending. There is a touch of the 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' (Condos infatuation with Sarah) and does the 'Sisterhood of Karn' derive from the H Rider Haggard novel 'She' where they too guarded a flame of immortality. And with all the body parts being stitched together to create life - there is more then a touch of 'The Island of Dr Moreau' in the make-up of this adventure. Producer Phillip Hinchcliffe and writer Robert Holmes loved Gothic horror and this is a very good example of what they achieved in the seventies.
Of course, they had very little budget to do it with. And the opening frame of 'Morbius' almost puts you off from watching it. A man in an alien suit crawls into frame and is killed by Condo. The suit is so ill-fitting that you cannot wonder why you are watching this. But persevere as the story soon kicks off. And maybe the BBC in 1975 didn't have the money to build more then six sets (and the main outside Karn one looks pretty unconvincing at that) but they created a highly entertaining not mention creepy tale. I loaned this video to my uncle and he took it home to watch. I heard from his children later that he got so scared that he left the room when the creepy music started up. And he is 63!
Synopsis
"'I am still here. I can see nothing, feel nothing. You have locked me into hell for eternity. If this is all there is, I would rather die now... Trapped like this, like a sponge beneath the sea. Yet even a sponge has more life than I. Can you understand a thousandth of my agony? I, Morbius, who once led the High Council of the Time Lords, reduced to this - to the condition where I envy a vegetable."
The wind howls, lightning flashes and rain pours as the TARDIS lands on the planet Karn. Seeking refuge in what was once an old Hydrogen plant the Doctor and Sarah meet Proffessor Methedri Solon and his hunchback assistant Condo. Exceptionally pleased to see them as the Proffessor is conducting surgical experiments in his laborotory. The laborotory contains the still-alive brain of one of the most feared galactic criminals - the ex-Time Lord Morbius. Solon has constructed a body but needs a human head. The Doctor has arrived at a perfect moment.
Also sharing the planet are the mysterious 'Sisterhood of Karn'. A sinister sect who treasure the 'elixir of life' said to give immortality. Led by the ancient Maren, the sisterhood try to protect the elixir by throwing ships off course by telekinesis. Karn is a graveyard of crashed ships whose passengers Solon has been using for his experiments. The Sisterhood is not pleased to see the Doctor as they believe he has been sent by the Time Lords to take their elixir. Without the elixir and the sacred flame that produces it - the sisterhood will wither away and die.
The Doctor and a blind Sarah are caught between the maniacal Solon, the fanatical sisterhood who want to burn him at the stake, and a reawakened Morbius who in his monstrous new body is intent on killing everyone..
Methredri Solon and Condo
The undoubted highlight of this adventure is Phillip Madoc as Proffessor Solon. Madoc is a Welsh actor with a booming baritone voice and with long hair and a goatee beard looks every inch the maniacal genetic scientist. But Madoc plays him on many levels. His deviousness and evil is bought out of his fanaticism in reviving Morbius. One of the most famous genetic surgeons in the galaxy he hides himself away on the remote Karn so not to be distracted from his experiments. You can see the calcualtion and cunning behind the actors eyes as he portrays Solon as a man who will do anything to ressurrect his master.
Anything includes, drugging the Doctor and Sarah while chatting amiably to them over dinner. And pleading with the Sisterhood of Karn when they are about to burn Tom Baker at the stake. His desperation is obvious and not for the Doctor's life but for his head. Solon is brilliantly acted by Madoc and I was pleased to see that the Doctor uses his own weapons of biological science to defeat him in the end. Top marks for the writers for this creation.
Not so for Condo. I hated this character and groaned every time he came on screen. To portray a hunchbank/Igor assistant convincingly needs a good actor. Colin Fay with his bad costume, bowl-haircut and far too much pale make-up looks ridiculous. Plus the lines they gave him spoken in an imbecilic monotone "Condo likes girl...not harm girl" - are truly badly acted. I wasn't unhappy to see him killed by Solon in the final episode.
Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith
Every time I watch this adventure the thing which always strikes me is what an exceptional physical actress Liz Sladen is. When Sarah feels fear, the audience feels fear. When Sarah shrieks in terror, we shriek in terror. I think from a vantage of thirty odd years it is now easy to appreciate what a natural and excellent actress Ms Sladen was.
In this one, she is really tested. As well as the usual banter with Tom Baker, Sarah is damaged by a ray from Maren's ring (not bad special effects for once) and through episodes 2 and 3 she is blind as a bat. This is bad enough but she has to stumble around the planet Karn, tumble down stairs, and panic when she is led away from the Doctor by the creepy Condo. Throughout Liz Sladen is utterly convincing and even evokes our sympathy when she says all she has left for her is to be a "blind woman selling flowers in Piccadilly". This is a particularly harrowing experience for children, it's bad enough to see their heroine in danger....but blind as well? It also falls back on another Gothic tradition, the blind girl who accepts the monster for what he is, not what he looks like..
The Sisterhood of Karn
Feminists pay attention. One of the most successful elements of 'Karn' have to be the sinister sisterhood. Led by the ancient Maren (Cynthia Grenville) the sisterhood jealously guard the sacred flame. The flame is housed in a rock cavity and the cavity forms the 'elixir of life' which makes them immortal. The flame though is getting lower and the elixir is drying up. Paranoid in the extreme the 'Sisterhood' have been using their telekinesis to bring down passing starships. They are terrified of the Time Lords sending someone to steal their precious elixir.
The Sisterhood are wonderfully portrayed. Decked in exotic scarlet costumes with extravagant costume and more make-up then Alic Cooper - they hide away in their coven relishing their immortal life. They are the female equivalent of the Time Lords and live as long and they mistake the Doctor for being a Time Lord sent to steal their elixir. Their ceremonies with lots of handwaving and choreography are very enjoyable.
Best of all is Cynthia Grenville as the ancient Maren. I don't know how old the actress was but she didn't need much make-up and still had lustrous white hair rolling down from to her shoulders. Maren is intrical to the plot because she remembers Morbius and his execution by the Time Lords. There is much wisdom from Maren. She is a very interesting character. Incidently, 'The Sisterhood of Karn' is the name for the British gay fan club for Dr Who. Bet you never knew that!
This adventure is available only still on VHS and soon to be released on DVD. Don't get me wrong it has it's faults - but I like it immensely. And while the actual special effects are passable some of the costumes especially Morbius in his monstrous form are not very good. But despite this it is difficult to deny the effectiveness of 'The Brain of Morbius'. In places it is truly scary and there are some scenes of such memorable science fiction that they really stand the test of time. My favourite is when a blind Sarah stumbles onto the laborotory where Solon keeps Morbius' brain floating in an cylinder of liquid cyanide. Morbius' terrifying voice screeching at Sarah who he mistakes for the 'Sisterhood of Karn' is incredible. It was voiced by John Spicer who was the voice of Davros in 'Genesis of the Daleks' the previous year.
Every time I watch this adventure I marvel at the imaginative script and inventive storyline. If Hollywood had thought of 'The Brain of Morbius' then it would be a world-wide Gothic classic. But instead, a group of writers and producers, came up with the idea thirty years ago for a childrens programme. The idea was to scare the willies out of children as they ate their dinner on a winter Saturday afternoon. How would the playstation generation like it? Well, they do - both my nieces and nephews love it. Because despite it looking very old - a good story, which this is, transcends the generations..
Just like the good Doctor himself, the story is immortal....or at least has 759 lives...
» Review by Steve Cassidy, Copyright 2005.
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