Doctor Who: 10 Great Fourth Doctor Stories

9. The Brain of Morbius (Story 084, 1976)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY7idi78amE It€™s always a fun time when the Doctor meets another Time Lord who isn€™t the Master. Well, unless it€™s €œTime and the Rani,€ and then it€™s just horrible. But in this case it€™s pretty great when the Doctor and Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) encounter the evil renegade Time Lord known as Morbius. Why not THE Morbius? Now that just wouldn€™t make sense, would it? The story is full of little bits of Time Lord lore, which are always fun. It also includes a very controversial element in the form of pictures of previous versions of the Doctor, several of which would have existed before the First Doctor. There€™ve been many attempts over the years to explain this away, but my advice is just to accept it for what it is. Despite the presence of a truly laughable costume, this story is quite solid. It mixes elements of Frankenstein, especially the 1930s movie, in with Who lore and original elements and does so in a very entertaining manner. Plus Morbius is another fairly fun villain, so much so that he was brought back in €œThe Vengeance of Morbius€, a Big Finish audio where he fought the 8th Doctor. Given that you can€™t see the costume, he works a bit better there than here, but even here, he€™s still a great character in a great story!
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Chris Swanson is a freelance writer and blogger based in Phoenix, Arizona, where winter happens to other people. His blog is at wilybadger.wordpress.com