Doctor Who: Every Tom Baker/Hinchcliffe Era Story Ranked From Worst To Best

9. The Brain Of Morbius

The first Robert Holmes script on the list, a deserving way to close the first half. This is one of the scripts he rewrote when the original fell through and is admittedly the least inventive. The original story would have expanded upon the themes in Robot the season before but with a more gothic twist. However, the original writer left the country and Holmes rewrote the script between the 6th June and 15th September 1975 (while rewriting Pyramids of Mars and script editing the season at the same time) whilst also overseeing the production of the other episodes which were currently being filmed or airing. As a result, the Frankenstein homages are very heavily leant on. €œDoctor Solon€ even has a €œthey thought me mad€ mad!€ moment. But it works. The two double acts at the centre are both brilliantly portrayed. The Doctor and Sarah Jane are one of the greatest TARDIS teams ever but Doctor Solon and Condo are the stand outs in this story. Despite the obvious size difference between the two, the insane tunnel vision dedication of Solon gives him an intense screen presence that means you completely believe that he would be in command. Condo is portrayed by an opera singer and he captures the perfect tone and pitch for the voice of the lumbering slave. It€™s through the atmosphere created by the production that the episode brilliantly overcomes its scripting drawbacks to earn its place here.