10 Doctor Who Episodes That Had The Balls To GO THERE

8. The Mind Robber

If there's a story that proved Doctor Who could break its own rules, it’s The Mind Robber. Forced into drastic action to escape a volcanic eruption engulfing the TARDIS, the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe find themselves outside time and space itself, marooned in the Land of Fiction.

With a complete lack of budget and an extra episode added to the serial at the last minute, the writers turned constraints into bizarre gold. The Doctor encounters fictional characters like Medusa, Gulliver, and the Minotaur in a bleak, white, infinite void, with strange creatures and surreal moments aplenty.

During filming of The Mind Robber, Frazer Hines (who played the Doctor's companion Jamie) contracted chicken pox and was replaced for part of the serial by Hamish Wilson. The plot uses the strange power of the Land of Fiction to ensure this switch works gracefully, by having the Doctor incorrectly arrange Jamie's face in puzzle form, bringing his friend to life... with a slightly different look.

Unhinged, meta-referential, and brilliantly inventive, The Mind Robber proved Doctor Who could turn severe production limitations into daring TV art.