The Mind Robber (TotT TV story)
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The Mind Robber was the second episode of the series Tales of the TARDIS. It was released on BBC iPlayer on 1 November 2023 by the BBC, written by Pete McTighe and directed by Joshua M.G. Thomas, and was notable for featuring the televised returns of the Second Doctor companions Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot.
This story consists of two newly recorded scenes placed on either side of an omnibus version of the TV story The Mind Robber.
Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]
Jamie and Zoe meet again and remember their encounter with robots, clockwork soldiers and Medusa in a Land of Fiction governed by a mysterious master.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Jamie McCrimmon appears in the remembered TARDIS, and asks where he is when Zoe Heriot arrives to tell him she thinks it's the Doctor's TARDIS. After they embrace, Jamie and Zoe discuss the Time Lords wiping their memories and how they have regained their memories since they entered this new TARDIS.
Jamie and Zoe discuss the conspicuous absence of the Second Doctor before moving on to the subject of family. Jamie says that he has five daughters and nineteen grandchildren, and Zoe tells him about her son, James. Zoe says she married a man she met on Earth, in Australia, and reveals that she is in her third inauguration as president.
They discuss how their experiences with the Doctor still influenced them, all through their lives, even if they couldn't previously remember them. Zoe says that they keep the Doctor alive by telling their stories and the lights in the TARDIS whirl. Two chairs appear and the pair take a seat. They begin to discuss the time they went into the Land of Fiction and memories start to flood back...
As the memories fade, the two discuss the events of the story. Zoe says that the TARDIS has restored their memories for good. They settle down for another story and they begin to discuss the Ice Warriors and Victoria Waterfield. Zoe reassures Jamie that Victoria will have thought of him every day and they go quiet, reminiscing...
Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]
Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]
| Executive Producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter with Joel Collins and Phil Collinson |
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| Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources. |
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Jamie thinks of the Doctor when he finds the Doctor's recorder.
- Jamie doesn't like to be reminded of Cybermen.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This is the first live-action appearance of Jamie since Emperor of the Daleks in 1994 and Zoe, albeit as an illusion, since The Five Doctors in 1983.
- Jamie and Zoe talking of Victoria in the epilogue also serves to eulogise the late Deborah Watling. Similarly, the focus on Jamie getting a different face in The Mind Robber could be seen as a little homage to the late Hamish Wilson, who played Jamie when his face was altered.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
As per Forum:Non-valid Continuity sections, categories, and prefixes#Continuity sections, this section needs to be written from an out-of-universe perspective.
- The remembered TARDIS houses Amelia Pond's homemade "Raggedy Man" dolls. (TV: The Eleventh Hour)
- Zoe recalls how the Time Lords removed her and Jamie's memories of the Doctor when they were forced to leave his company. (TV: The War Games)
- Jamie has become a father and grandfather. (AUDIO: The Glorious Revolution) He states that his daughters' legs are hairier than his, referring to when the Doctor called him a "hairy legged Highlander." (TV: The Two Doctors)
- Jamie alludes to meeting Zoe while fighting the Cybermen on the Wheel. (TV: The Wheel in Space)
- Jamie recalls being shot at in Australia. (TV: The Enemy of the World)
- Zoe proposes telling the stories of her and Jamie's encounters with the Krotons (TV: The Krotons) and the Quarks. (TV: The Dominators) Mention of the Quarks causes Jamie to remember how they ended up in the Land of Fiction after fleeing the volcano on the Island of Death. (TV: The Mind Robber)
- Zoe recalls meeting the Ice Warriors, (TV: The Seeds of Death) causing Jamie to remember his meeting them with Victoria Waterfield, and how she nearly caused an avalanche screaming at them. (TV: The Ice Warriors)
