The Brain of Morbius (TV story)

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
Revision as of 18:17, 24 February 2008 by 98.204.125.138 (talk) (→‎Plot)


Synopsis

The Doctor and Sarah Jane land on Karn, a planet not far from Gallifrey, and the Doctor suspects the Time Lords have brought him here for a purpose.

The Sisterhood of Karn are the guardians of the Sacred Flame, which produces the Elixir of Life that makes them immortal. Now that the Flame is dying and the elixir almost gone, the Sisterhood has grown paranoid and use their collective psychic energy to crash any passing spaceships.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane are caught between the Sisterhood's wrath -- they believe that the Doctor has come to steal the remaining Elixir for the Time Lords -- and the machinations of mad scientist Solon, who has been building a creature from various body parts from the spaceship wreckages and fancies the Doctor's head as the final piece.

Solon is preserving the brain of the tyrannical Time Lord Morbius and plans to transplant it into the complete body. Discovering that the Doctor is a Time Lord, Morbius is convinced that he's been sent to destroy him. In desperation, Solon is forced to use an artificial brain case in the place of the Doctor's head, and the result is a hulking, murderous monster.

The Doctor wins the trust of the Sisterhood by restoring the Sacred Flame, and they are able to destroy Solon and Morbius.

Plot

Episode One

On a dark, rocky, remote planet, an injured alien crawls from the wreckage of his crashed space capsule. He doesn't get far, as a brutish human (with a hook in place of a hand) emerges from behind a rock and raises his knife...

The TARDIS lands, and the Doctor emerges in a rage. He is sure that some external influence, most likely the Time Lords, has caused them to land on this planet, which he recognizes as Karn, a planet not too far from Gallifrey. He's resentful that he's expected to do the Time Lords' dirty work. He sulks while Sarah Jane explores, and shortly she finds a vast plain where lay the wreckages of dozens of spaceships. Before long she finds the decapitated corpse of the alien crash victim.

The savage human, Condo, brings the alien's head to his master, Mehendri Solon, who finds it unsuitable for his purposes.

The presence of the Doctor and Sarah is observed by a red-robed woman, Ohica, a member of the Sisterhood of Karn. She reports to Maran, their leader, who suspects that their arrival must be connected to their Sacred Flame. A product of superheated gas, the Flame produces the Elixir of Life that makes them immortal. However, the Flame has been steadily dying, and without the Elixir, they are doomed.

The Doctor and Sarah arrive at Solon's castle. Solon greets them, and he makes a bit of a faux pas commenting on the Doctor's "magnificent head." He dispatches Condo to bring wine. The Doctor recognizes Solon as a distinguished scientist, and a genius in the field of organ and tissue transplantation, and comments on rumors that he was a follower of Morbius, which Solon dismisses as professional jealousy. A burst of wind blows open the front door, blowing the cover off a clay bust. The Doctor recognizes the bust as Morbius, a tyrannical Time Lord executed for his crimes, and senses the presence of Morbius's mind before weakening and passing out; Solon has drugged the wine. Sarah hasn't drank, but feigns unconsciousness. Solon urges Condo to prepare, and they carry the Doctor to the lab.

The Sisterhood form a circle of meditation, where they are mentally able to focus on the TARDIS. They psychically transfer the TARDIS into their chamber. They identify it as Time Lord technology, and are convinced that the Time Lords are plotting to steal the last of the Elixir of Life.

Solon and Condo go to fetch more lamps for the operation, and while they are gone, the Doctor disappears. When they find him gone, Solon realizes he's been captured by the Sisterhood, and go to fetch him back. Sarah Jane sneaks into the lab, looking for the Doctor. Opening a curtain she is confronted with a monstrous creature, a patchwork of sewn-together alien body parts, only missing a head...

Episode Two

Sarah secretly follows Solon and Condo to the lair of the Sisterhood. The Doctor awakens and is accused by Maran of conspiring to steal the Elixir. Jealously protecting the last few drops, the Sisterhood have used their collective psychic energy to crash any passing spaceships. His denial isn't believed, and he is sentenced to burn at the stake.

During the ceremony, Solon and Condo burst in. Maran, furious at the intrusion, refuses Solon's request to preserve the Doctor's head, as well as refusing to accept Condo in the Doctor's place. They sheepishly exit, and the ceremony continues. Sarah Jane, however, has snuck into the lair and manages to free the Doctor before the flames reach him. A flash from Maran's ring, however, blinds Sarah Jane as they escape.

Condo confronts his master about being offered in the Doctor's place. Solon begs for his life, and offers to replace Condo's hook with his real hand. This calms the hulking servant, for the moment.

The Doctor brings Sarah Jane to Solon for a consultation. Solon informs the Doctor that the only remedy for her is the Elixir of Life. The Doctor resolves to return to their lair to obtain it. Solon sends Condo with a message to the Sisterhood, again attempting to bargain for the Doctor's head.

Solon, in an inner lab, talks to an unseen voice who berates him for the many delays in finishing the body. Solon persuades him for more time, as he now only requires the Doctor's head...

As Solon exits, Sarah Jane hears the voice from the inner lab. We see, though she doesn't, that the voice emanates from a disembodied brain, kept alive in a large vat. The brain accuses her of being an agent of the Sisterhood sent to destroy him.

File:St--4k08.jpg
The disembodied brain of Morbius, in the story The Brain of Morbius.

Episode Three

Solon finds Sarah Jane and rushes her out of the lab. From outside the door, she hears Solon address the brain as Morbius, and overhears his plan. Once he has the Doctor's head, he will transplant Morbius's brain into the body of spare parts he is creating, freeing the evil Time Lord to wage galactic war once again. She locks Solon in the lab, and stumbles out to find the Doctor.

The Doctor is captured and brought to Maran again. He realizes that he's been duped by Solon; Sarah Jane's blindness is only temporary. He persuades Maran to let him examine the Sacred Flame, convinced that there must be a natural reason for the Flame's dwindling. He drops a firecracker down the shaft, which dislodges a buildup of soot, and the Flame is restored to its full height.

Once Condo unlocks the door, Solon dispatches him to retrieve Sarah Jane. When he mentions that the Doctor is also a Time Lord, Morbius is enraged. The Time Lords have tracked him down! Desperate, he convinces Solon to operate immediately, using an artificial brain case in place of the Doctor's head.

As Solon prepares to operate, Condo recognizes one of the creature's arms as his own. He attacks Solon, and so doing he knocks over the tank, and Morbius' brain hits the floor with a splat. Enraged, he pulls a gun and shoots Condo several times. He drafts the unwilling Sarah Jane into helping him operate, not knowing the extent of the brain's damage.

Solon finds the Doctor's apparently lifeless body left by the Sisterhood, and reflects bitterly on the irony. Meanwhile in the lab, Sarah Jane's eyesight returns as Morbius rises behind her...

Episode Four

The operation hasn't restored Morbius to full consciousness, and the result is a savage monster. Solon is attacked, and Sarah Jane is saved only by the wounded Condo's self-sacrifice. The Doctor revives, and convinces Solon that they need to hunt Morbius down. Morbius kills one of the Sisterhood, and with their help, Solon tranquilizes the creature. The Doctor convinces Solon to dismantle the creature, but instead, Solon locks him out of the lab, leaving him free to perfect the operation. The Doctor injects cyanide gas into the lab, killing Solon, but not before Morbius rises again, fully sentient. Morbius confronts the Doctor, stating that despite his monstrous appearance, his followers will rise to join him once more. The Doctor challenges Morbius to a mind-bending contest, which short-circuits. Morbius again becomes a hulking monster, and the Doctor is rendered comatose. The Sisterhood corner Morbius and drive him over a cliff, falling to his death. The Doctor's life is restored with the help of the Elixir, produced by Maran's self-sacrifice to the Sacred Flame.

Cast

Crew

References

Karn, Sisterhood of Karn, Gallifrey, Solon, Time Lords

Story Notes

  • Some fans have noted that some stories which share similar ideas:
  • Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, in which a scientist attempts to create new life by joining together the organs of a number of deceased bodies.
  • Curt Siodmak's 1942 novel Donovan's Brain, in which a scientist tries to keep the disembodied brain of an evil billionaire alive.

Ratings

to be added

Myths

to be added

Location Filming

to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

to be added

Continuity

  • Warmonger covers much of Morbius's reign before he was captured by the Time Lords.
  • The Hoothi, briefly mentioned in this story, play a significantly greater role in the novel, "Love and War."
  • Though it looks the same, it is unclear whether the Mutt seen and killed at the beginning of this story is one of the same creatures seen in "The Mutants."

DVD and Video Releases

to be added

Target Novelisations

to be added

External Links

TVStub.png
Retrieved from "https://tardis.wiki/w/index.php?title=The_Brain_of_Morbius_(TV_story)&oldid=73801"