The Mind of Evil (TV story)

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The Mind of Evil was the second serial of the eighth season of Doctor Who. It brought a radical change in the way UNIT was portrayed. Instead of being a primarily investigative body interested in alien or unexplained phenomena, here UNIT was mostly seen as a simple security force, guaranteeing the safety of international diplomats. In other words, the "United Nations" portion of their acronym was stressed over the "Intelligence Taskforce" bit — as later happened in such stories as Day of the Daleks and The Time Warrior. This forced the plot to partially concern itself with international espionage, thus lending an almost Bondian veneer to proceedings. The internationalism of the plot even allowed for highly unusual scenes of the Doctor conversing in a real language other than English. Indeed, as of the seventh BBC Wales series, Evil was the only story which used English subtitles for the Doctor's speech.

Meanwhile, the main plot about the mind-control device was something writer Don Houghton intentionally included as an homage to A Clockwork Orange.[1]

Behind the scenes, Evil went badly over budget, thanks in no small part to one of Doctor Who's rare usages of a real helicopter in the concluding episode. An unimpressed Barry Letts therefore withdrew director Timothy Combe from his informal "director's rota", and Combe never worked on the programme again.[1] Following the destruction of its colour telerecordings, Evil became the "most missing" serial of the Jon Pertwee era, in that not even a frame of it survived in colour on any broadcast-quality medium. Fortunately, the whole of it remained available in monochrome, due to the fact that some of BBC Enterprises' overseas customers required black-and-white transmission prints. Additionally, a few colour clips survived from an off-air home recording, which allowed for some scenes to be recoloured for the 1998 VHS release. Its DVD release marked its complete restoration, with all six episodes recoloured. [2]

Synopsis

UNIT is handling the security for the World Peace Conference in London, but the Master is plotting to plunge the world into war by wrecking it.

Posing as Emile Keller, a Professor of Criminology, he goes to Stangmoor Prison in England with a machine that apparently removes the negative (or evil) impulses from the minds of hardened criminals. Actually, the Keller machine is a weapon: it contains an alien mind parasite that stores, and feeds on, these evil impulses.

Unsuspected because of his forged credentials, he secretly supplies guns to the prisoners and uses the mind parasite to start a riot by stirring up hostility among them, in which they take control of the prison. He plans to use them to seize a nerve gas missile being transported by UNIT, with which he hopes to destroy the Peace Conference.

In case his plan to hijack the missile is thwarted, he intends to use the mind parasite (once it has fed sufficiently) to wreck the Peace Conference by murdering the American and Chinese delegates, who are to be killed by the mind parasite's telepathic powers.

Plot

Episode one

The Third Doctor and Jo Grant arrive at Stangmoor Prison to view a demonstration of the Keller Machine, developed by Swiss scientist Emil Keller, which is claimed to cure anti-social behaviour by extracting evil impulses from the mind. Professor Kettering, acting on behalf of the absent Keller, reports over a hundred successful tests on European prisoners. The Doctor's open scepticism is apparently justified when the machine overloads, and the subject, a hardened criminal named Barnham, is rendered comatose.

Chin Lee burns the very documents she claims have been stolen.

Meanwhile, UNIT is busy overseeing security at the first World Peace Conference. Things are not going too well, as the Brigadier attempts to calm Captain Chin Lee, furious at the apparent theft of classified documents from the Chinese delegation. Later, Chin-Lee reports even worse news: the Chinese delegate is dead. Meanwhile, Captain Yates is assigned to lead a small UNIT platoon in disposing of the Thunderbolt, an outlawed nerve gas missile.

Arthur Linwood, a medical student witnessing the Keller demonstration, is found dead near the Keller Machine, his face frozen in terror, covered in bites and scratches. His medical history shows a morbid fear of rats. Professor Kettering is examining the machine when it becomes active on its own. Kettering has a vision of waves of water and dies of an apparent heart attack. Investigating his death, the prison medic, Dr Summers, is mystified that his symptoms are consistent with death by drowning. The machine's activity also appears to coincide with an increase in hostility in the prison population. The Doctor is worried that the machine has power over people's minds and is growing more powerful. As suspected, Kettering's medical files show a morbid fear of water.

Later, as the Doctor examines the machine, it activates again. He is seized by terror as the room appears to erupt in flames...

Episode two

Jo enters the room and breaks the hold that the machine had over the Doctor. The Doctor is initially cross at Jo for disobeying his orders. Jo presents the report on Kettering's death and tells Jo that he saw fire when the machine had a hold of him. He tells Jo that he once saw a planet burn and the machine used this story to attack him. Yates enters with orders to bring the Doctor back. The Doctor refuses and Yates tries to use force until the Doctor counters him with Venusian Karate. Yates tells the Doctor about the peace conference and the death of the Chinese Delegate which peaks the Doctor's interest. He leaves Jo in charge of the prison and orders her to get the Governor to lock and bar the doors.

Chin Lee is using a public payphone whilst Benton is waiting at a safe distance, keeping an eye on her. Lee leaves the booth and uses her mind control to cause Benton to faint. Lee escapes. When Benton comes too he tries to peruse her but she is hidden.

Benton reports to the Brigadier who disbelieves his story of fainting and is cross. The Doctor and Yates enter.

An electrician outside the UNIT headquarters is working on the telephone line. He is revealed to be the Master who has bugged the line and hears the plans for the movement of the missile. He is then picked up by an official car.

Before the Doctor agrees to help the Brigadier he makes him promise that he will contact the ministry and put a ban on the Keller Process. Once the Brigadier agrees to this they head off to meet the new Chinese Delegate, Fu Peng. Yates makes a phone call (overheard by the Master) organising a motorcade for the missile at seven o'clock the next day.

When the Brigadier and the Doctor enter the Chinese Delegate's hotel room, he is initially cold towards them until, to the Brigadier's disbelief, the Doctor speaks with him in Chinese. The two go off to drink tea together, leaving the Brigadier a bit miffed.

A cleaner is shown into one of the cells in the prison.

Barnham is fit as a fiddle and has a conversation with Jo whereby he admits that he remembers nothing from before he awoke in the hospital bed. Summers tells Jo that the process has removed all negative impulses from Barnham - rendering him somewhere between an idiot and a saint.

The clamour of the prisoners draws the guard supervising the cleaner out of the cell momentarily. The cleaner hides a gun under the pillow. Shortly afterwards a prisoner, Mailer, is brought in. The guards distract themselves by playing chequers whilst Mailer checks for the gun.

Whilst the Doctor and Peng chat, the Brigadier doesn't get to ask any of his questions. They are soon led out with the Brigadier frustrated.

The food arrives and Mailer takes the guards hostage.

The Doctor speculates that there must be a link between the Keller Process and the death of the delegate. Yates presents the Brigadier with the plans for the movement of the missile to the Brigadier. The Brigadier makes a comment with regards to Benton losing track of the Chinese girl. The Doctor realises that this is the link between the two things. He suggests that the Brigadier puts out a general alert for Lee.

Lee meets up with the Master. He says that he has another task for her. She is distressed by this but the Master hypnotises her. Her task is to kill the American delegate. He sends her away.

The prisoners are mutinying led by Mailer. Mailer says they need more hostages and goes to the medical ward.

Jo and Summers are in a state of panic when Mailer bursts in and takes them hostage.

The Brigadier is told of the fact that Lee has returned back to the Chinese Delegate's room and rushes off.

Lee rings the American Delegate and tells him that his Chinese counterpart wishes to see him. The American Delegate is unsure but eventually complies. Lee opens the door and hides. The American Delegate let's himself in. Lee closes the door behind him and asks him to sit down. She switches the light off and the whirring resounds in the delegate's ears. He sees the approach of a dragon and cowers in fear.

Episode three

Chin Lee is interrupted by the Brigadier and the Doctor who see the dragon. The Brigadier fires his gun and the dragon disappears. Lee falls into a faint. The Doctor says it is a collective hallucination. The American Delegate is on the floor unconscious through acute shock. The Chinese Delegate finds an amplifier behind Lee's ear and believes it is linked to the Keller Machine.

The riot at the prison continues. Mailer is told that the prison is surrounded by the is confident as they have hostages.

The Doctor considers Lee to be a conduit to a larger threat. Lee awakes and the Doctor begins to interrogate her in Cantonese.

Mailer is told that the phone lines are down. They go into the cell where Jo and Summers are. Summers tries to attack the guard but is thwarted. He is told he is to send a message to the Governor demanding a safe exit from the prison. Jo is left alone in the cell.

There is an issue with the crane needed to move the missile which is delaying the process.

Benton encourages his men to get on with moving Thunderbolt.

The Doctor brings Lee to the Brigadier. Yates rings and tells the Brigadier of the hold up with the missile. Yates asks after Lee. The Brigadier tells him everything.

The Master overhead this and orders his driver to take him to the prison.

Lee tells the Brigadier of her association with Keller. Lee says she has been in the processing room but can't picture it. The Doctor says she is suffering from post-hypnotic block and realises that the Master is behind all this. Emil Keller is the Master.

Jo is being moved at gunpoint.

The Governor is refusing to negotiate. Summers is furious. The Governor intends on waiting it out. Summers asks what he plans on doing with Jo. The Governor decides to inform UNIT.

The Doctor tells the Brigadier to let Lee go. The Brigadier is informed of Jo's position.

Mailer shouts through the door that they are to be freed or Jo will be killed. The Governor agrees to talk. Barnham arrives in a daze. Jo uses the distraction to disarm Mailer. The guards storm the prison. A fight breaks out. Jo ends up holding Mailer up at gun point and handing him over to the Governor.

Later the Master arrives at the prison. The Governor tells of the issues they have been having with the machine and the involvement of UNIT. The Master asks to see Mailer. He is taken to him. Mailer tries to hit the Master but he overpowers him. The Master whispers that he is here to help him. He gives Mailer weapons and says he is going to help him escape. The plan is to overpower the guards and, as soon as possible, make everything look like it is running normally. The Master and Mailer use smoke grenades and guns to escape and take over the prison.

Jo, Summers and Barnham are disturbed by the alarm.

The Master orders the prisoners to stay in their cells until the fumes have cleared. He puts a blocking device on the phone.

Jo is taken hostage by a prisoner.

The Master stops the alarm.

The Doctor arrives at the prison. The Master, who is now in charge, allows him in. As soon as he is through the gates, Mailer jumps out with a gun. The Doctor is distinctly unphased and allows himself to be led to the Master. The Doctor says that if the Master has hurt Jo he will not fail in taking revenge. The Master pulls a gun and says he needs the Doctor's help. The Doctor warns that that machine will kill the Master. The Master does acknowledge it has taken on a mind of it's own but that is what he wants the Doctor to remedy whilst he is elsewhere. When the Doctor questions as to what the Master considers more important, the Master says that he intends on stealing the missile that UNIT are moving.

Yates contacts the Brigadier to say they intend on driving through the night to get back on schedule.

The Master tells the Doctor that he intends in launching the missile, wiping out the Peace Conference and plunging the world into war. The Doctor turns the desk over and runs. The guards try and get him but he eludes them.

Jo and Summers hear the gunfire and wonder if the Doctor has arrived. They call for him.

The Doctor sneaks back into the prison and hears their calls. He runs into the processing room where he is met by the Master and Mailer. Mailer handcuffs him into the processing chair before he is asked to wait outside. The Master says he has repaired the machine and wants to see how long the Doctor can hold out against it. He takes the amplifier out of the Doctor's pocket and switches it round so that the machine can project into his brain. He turns the machine on and leaves. The Doctor struggles to be free as the machine grinds into gear. He sees a Dalek looming towards him.

Episode four

The prisoners moan, clutching their ears and hear the moaning sound. The Master is also affected and goes to the Processing Room. He struggles to the machine and switches it off. He checks on the Doctor. Only one of his hearts are beating. He tries to kick start his other heart.

A prisoner comes to get Summers. He objects but is forced. Jo is told that she is being saved for the machine.

The Doctor awakens. The Master tells him that he was within an inch of dying. The Doctor is dispirited and says that no one can control the machine as he knows it's secret; he encloses a creature that feeds on the evil of the mind. The Master considers this nonsense. He tells Mailer to put him in the cell with Jo, telling the Doctor that if he doesn't comply Jo will be next. Mailer helps the Doctor to the cell. He tried to fight with him but is too weak. He is thrown in the cell where he falls to the ground. Jo rushes to get water. The Master presents himself to her. He implores her to talk some sense into the Doctor before leaving and ordering the cell to be constantly guarded. He tells Mailer to clear everybody out of the wing apart from the Doctor and Jo. Once the Master leaves, Jo calls for help urgently. The guard enters and Jo begs him to get Doctor Summers.

The machine is reading high. The Master insists that the machine cannot harm him as he is stronger than it. He brought it here and gave it the minds it needed. He is over powered by the machine and fails to be able to switch it off. He sees the Doctor looming above him laughing. He runs out the room and bolts the door. He says he will give the machine no more minds until it complies.

The Master meets his greatest fear: the Doctor laughing at him.

Summers has been brought to the cell. He remarks that the Doctor's biology is extraordinary and not human but he has sustained physical and mental shock and is in some form of coma. He can offer no help apart from some tablets he should take if he awakens. He is led away. Jo tries to give a semi-conscious Doctor the medicine but he refuses saying he has the wrong metabolism and that it would probably kill him. He falls unconscious again. Jo weeps.

The Master is exhausted. Mailer enters and he pretends all is well. The Master orders him to guard the Processing Room at all times. Mailer asks why they are not escaping. The Master explains they would be caught by the police or the army but he has a plan which will get them all a free pardon, unlimited money and a ticket to anywhere in the world. He shows Mailer a projection of the missile and explains that Mailer and the prisoners are to hijack it. Once he has it he will aim it at the Peace Conference. The Master shows Mailer a map of where they are going to intercept it.

A guard enters the cell. The Doctor is still unconscious. Jo asks for food. As soon as they are alone, the Doctor jumps up and thanks Jo.

The Master gives the prisoners their orders and they set off.

The food comes and Jo knocks the tray into the face of the guard before karate chopping him in the back of the neck. When the other guard enters, the Doctor strikes him over the head with the tray and they escape, locking both guards into the cell. They run into the Master's office. Jo sees that a search party is already being formed outside. The Doctor says that they will be expecting them to make a break for it but he intends on laying low for a while. Jo turns on the projector and sees the missile. The Doctor tells her of the Master's plan.

The prisoners are in place. They see the missile and perform the ambush. A roadblock is created. Yates contacts the UNIT headquarters but a gunshot incapacitates him.

The Brigadier receives the message but there is no further response.

Yates regains consciousness and sees the prisoners taking the missile. He runs to a motorbike and pursues them.

The Brigadier has figured out where the missile was hijacked and heads off their by helicopter.

Mailer unloads the missile into a warehouse - watched all the time by Yates. He is spotted and tries to escape but falls off his bike. The prisoners take him captive.

Yates spies on Thunderbolt's thieves, shortly before getting captured.

The Brigadier is talking to an injured Benton at the scene of the ambush. He sees that both Yates and a bike is missing so realises that he may have pursued. Benton says he recollects seeing a black van like the police use. The Brigadier consults a map and says it probably came from Strangmoor.

The Doctor and Jo are still waiting but the Doctor is eager to go and deal with the creature. He described it as a mind parasite that feeds in evil and is the deadliest threat on humanity since the beginning of time. Jo sees the Master leaving. The Doctor sees his chance to get to the Processing Room and deal with the machine.

Inside the Processing Room the machine disappears.

A prisoner is looking for the Doctor when the machine appears in one of the cells he is searching in. The prisoner is affected by the machine and then dies. The machine disappears. The Doctor and Jo find the prisoner and note that he looks terrified. The Doctor speculates that the creature has learnt to move. They go to the Processing Room and find the machine gone. Mailer and another prisoner enter and hold the Doctor and Jo at gunpoint. The machine appears behind them. The Doctor and Jo hide. The prisoner is killed and the machine disappears. The Doctor and Jo emerge but the machine appears directly in front of them.

Episode five

The Brigadier goes undercover as a lorry driver to infiltrate Stangmoor.

The machine teleports away, the Doctor theorising that the minds of the criminals elsewhere in the prison are more attractive to it, being more evil. Mailer blackmails the Master into returning to Stangmoor to deal with the menace of the machine, while Yates remains held as a hostage. The Master and the Doctor form an uneasy alliance to subdue the machine with a device that immobilises it for the time being, after it has once again tried to feed off the Doctor's fear.

The Brigadier realises the Stangmoor inmates are involved in the abduction of Thunderbolt. He leads a two-pronged UNIT assault, a "Trojan Horse" team in a supply van and a second team who use an underground passage into the prison courtyard. In the midst of the assault, Mailer aims his gun at the Doctor. A shot rings out...

Episode six

Mailer falls dead, the shot having come from the Brigadier. Stangmoor is back under control, but the Master escapes and prepares Thunderbolt for launch. Yates also escapes and relays its location to the Brigadier.

The mind parasite overcomes the Doctor's device and is once again on the move. It corners the Doctor and Jo, but when Barnham wanders in, the machine suddenly loses power. The Doctor realises that Barnham's mind, devoid of all evil impulses because of his processing, acts as a neutralising influence on the machine, thus they have a tool to use against the Master to re-capture the Thunderbolt. They lift the lid off the machine and examine the pulsating organism inside.

Though safe inside a helicopter, Jo and the Doctor couldn't save Barhnam from going up in smoke with the Thunderbolt and the Keller Machine.

The Doctor bargains with the Master, offering to return the dematerialisation circuit he stole, but it's a ruse. He brings the machine and Barnham, and Barnham turns the machine loose on the Master. But in the confusion the Master escapes in a van, fatally running down Barnham in the process. The Doctor reactivates the missile's self-destruct circuit, and UNIT detonate the Thunderbolt, in an explosion which also destroys the mind parasite. Jo tearfully watches Barnham's body engulfed by the explosion as the hangar is blown to smithereens. Neither she nor the Doctor can bear to look at the carnage. The Doctor sees Jo is distraught and consoles her.

Stangmoor Prison has been put back in order, but Jo regrets Barnham's death and the fact they left his body behind. The Doctor sympathises with her and reminds her that he feels the same guilt as she does. The Brigadier is pleased that the Keller Machine is destroyed. Moreover, although the Master escaped, the Doctor didn't have to relinquish the dematerialisation circuit. Unfortunately, as soon as the Brigadier makes that comment, the Doctor checks his pockets and discovers the circuit was lost in his scuffle with the Master. Lethbridge-Stewart assures him the circuit likely was destroyed when the missile was detonated. However, the Doctor thinks it still could have survived.

A phone call from a familiar voice proves him right. The Master has recovered his dematerialisation circuit in the melee, leaving him free to travel time and space. He can't resist calling the furious Doctor to gloat. Jo tries to convince the Doctor he's won this round, but the Doctor is fixated on one thing: the Master is free to roam the cosmos in his TARDIS, while he remains in exile... stuck with the irksome Brigadier.

Cast

Uncredited cast

Crew

References

Cultural references from the real world

Food and beverages

The Doctor

Individuals

  • The Doctor says he once shared a cell in the Tower of London with Sir Walter Raleigh ("A very strange chap... kept going on about this new vegetable he'd discovered").
  • The Doctor says that he had a good enough relationship with Mao Tse-Tung that he was allowed to call the Chinese leader "Tse-Tung".

Story notes

  • This story had the working titles The Pandora Machine, Man Hours, The Pandora Box and The Pandora's Box.
  • When the Doctor and Fu Peng are speaking Hokkien, a dialect of Chinese, English subtitles appear on screen — a first in Doctor Who history. English subtitles also appear in The Curse of Fenric, where they translate Russian language dialogue. In Remembrance of the Daleks, what appear to be Dalek subtitles appear (presumed to be a production unit joke).
  • Lenny Vosper was named after scriptwriter Don Houghton's agent, Margary Vosper (who was also producer Barry Letts' agent).
  • The Radio Times programme listing for episode one was accompanied by a black and white publicity photograph labelled "DOCTOR WHO in The Mind of Evil" showing the Doctor seated by the Keller Machine's control panel in the Process Theatre, with the accompanying caption "Jon Pertwee in a new story: 5.15".
  • The production team jokingly dubbed the unconvincing Chinese dragon into which Captain Chin Lee appears to transform in episodes two and three "Puff the Magic Dragon", after the title character of the song by 1960s singing trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Director Timothy Combe subsequently used only brief shots of the dragon in the finished programme.
  • Tommy Duggan (Senator Alcott) appears in episode three only in the reprise and is uncredited on-screen but credited in Radio Times.
  • William Marlowe (Mailer) appears in episode six only in the reprise and is uncredited on-screen but credited in Radio Times.
  • Richard Franklin (Captain Mike Yates) is credited as "Captain Yates" in Radio Times for episodes five and six.
  • Matthew Walters (Main Gate Prisoner) is credited as "Main Gates Prisoner" in Radio Times.
  • At the beginning of episode one, the episode number caption remains on-screen after the opening title sequence ends, being superimposed onto the opening scene of the Doctor and Jo en route to HM Prison Stangmoor in Bessie for a couple of seconds before it disappears. This was most probably a technical error.
  • With Mission to the Unknown, Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Daemons, The Sea Devils, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks and Midnight, this is one of only eight televised stories in the history of Doctor Who not to feature the Doctor's TARDIS. However, what appears to be the Master's TARDIS can be seen in the background near the end of episode six when the Master is on the phone to the Doctor, confirming that he has recovered his dematerialisation circuit.
  • The DVD recolourisation release of this serial features an additional set of credits for the restoration team that mimics the effects of the Keller Machine.
  • Stuart Humphryes, AKA Babelcolour, manually recoloured episode one, as it lacked suitable material to perform chroma-dot restoration.

Ratings

  • Episode one - 6.1 million viewers
  • Episode two - 8.8 million viewers
  • Episode three - 7.5 million viewers
  • Episode four - 7.4 million viewers
  • Episode five - 7.6 million viewers
  • Episode six - 7.3 million viewers

Myths

  • That the Doctor makes a comment in episode one which suggests he supports capital punishment. His comment is ironic and suggests precisely the opposite.

Filming locations

Location filming took place in -

  • Dover Castle, Dover, Kent
  • RAF Swingate, Dover, Kent
  • Pineham Road, Pineham, Kent
  • Alland Grange, Manston, Kent
  • Archer's Court Road, Whitfield, Kent
  • Cornwall Gardens, London
  • Cornwall Gardens Walk, London
  • Commonwealth Institute, Kensington, London
  • BBC Television Centre (Studio 3 & 6), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • In the office scene in episode four, a female sneeze from the studio is heard.
  • The hallway leading up to cell 7 (the cell where the Doctor and Jo are stashed at various points) has a different appearance, outside-looking-in than it does inside-looking-out.
  • When the Master's thugs throw the Doctor into the cell, the wall shakes.

Continuity

  • The Master is still stranded on Earth when the story opens, in consequence of the Doctor having stolen the dematerialisation circuit from the Master's TARDIS in the previous serial. (TV: Terror of the Autons)
  • UNIT would subsequently provide the security for a second World Peace Conference. (TV: Day of the Daleks)
  • The Doctor mentions that he has recently witnessed an entire world consumed by fire. (TV: Inferno)
  • The Master uses gas grenades to knock out the prison guards but has a gas mask at the ready to protect himself. He would repeat this tactic in a later story. (TV: The Sound of Drums)
  • The Master plants a telepathic amplifier behind Captain Chin Lee's ear to control her mind. The Daleks would later utilise a human controlled remotely by a transmitter/receiver planted behind the victim's ear. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
  • The journalist James Stevens was present at the demonstration of the Keller Process at Stangmoor Prison. After spending almost a year collating reports of agents provocateur known as "the Doctor" who had been involved in numerous unusual incidents, he finally saw one of them in person (he thought). He actually describes Jo: "[a] small, mousy looking woman with a pleasant face." (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)
  • A Northern Irish UNIT soldier named Francis Cleary was present for the riots at Stangmoor Prison and shot one of the inmates. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)
  • Under the pseudonym "Victor Magister," the Master was charged with having caused the failure of the World Peace Conference, among other incidents, after being captured at Devil's End. Stevens notes that those terrorist activities were little remembered by most British people in 1996. (PROSE: Who Killed Kennedy)
  • In a parallel universe in which the Doctor's exile on Earth did not begin until 1997, the numerous deaths at the peace conference significantly damaged UNIT's reputation as an effective security endeavour. (AUDIO: Sympathy for the Devil)

Home video and audio releases

DVD releases

  • This story was released on DVD on 3 June, 2013, in the UK.

Digital releases

This story is available:

  • in BBC Store as a standalone story or as part of the Doctor Who bundle The Classic Series: Series 8;
  • for streaming through BritBox as part of Season 8 of Classic Doctor Who.

Video releases

  • This story was released as a double-cassette pack on VHS in 1998 in black and white — the only format in which it existed at the time. The only surviving colour footage from the story, approximately five minutes from the beginning of episode six, was included as a separate sequence at the end of the second tape.
  • Editing for the VHS release was completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
  • According to the Restoration Team, episodes two to six had very strong colour signals embedded in the 16mm black and white film telerecordings, making it a good candidate for the colour recovery process developed from 2007–2009 which was used on episode three of Planet of the Daleks, episode one of Invasion of the Dinosaurs, and episodes two to seven of The Ambassadors of Death. On Mind of Evil, episode one was telerecorded with a notch filter present, creating a cleaner 16mm black and white telerecording, but rendering the colour signal lost forever. The Restoration Team has since used the chroma dot technique to restore episodes two to six to colour. Episode one was recoloured manually by artist Stuart Humphreys (a YouTube user, known as Babelcolour), who worked from colour reference photos and from the five episodes restored with the chroma dot process.

External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Shannon Sullivan on The Mind of Evil
  2. "The Mind of Evil - Recoloured". gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com. 20 September 2009.
  3. "Doctor Who" in episodes five and six
  4. In episode four, the credit is given as "Fights arranged by HAVOC", while in episode five the credit is "Action by HAVOC".