Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor's 15 Greatest Stories

12. The Brain Of Morbius

You can't really go on calling yourself Morbius. There's very little of Morbius left! Why don't you think of another name? Potpourri would be appropriate!

If there was one word to to sum up some of the great Tom Baker episodes it would be atmospheric. So many of the stories on this list are able to hook you in with their visual style and this one achieves that in droves, be it the TARDIS dematerialising in the mist or cloaked figures lurking in the shadows. The Brain of Morbius combines this all as the Doctor and Sarah land on the desolate planet Karn in a story that takes on Frankenstein and sets it in an alien world. The titular character of the story is a Time Lord legend like Omega or Rassilon, seeking resurrection though the experiments of his servant Solon. Fighting against this menace are the mythical Sisterhood of Karn who share a deep history with Gallifrey and will stop at nothing to defeat the threat that is emerging. Into this the Doctor finds himself a guest of a mad scientist and friend and foe of the Sisterhood while Sarah ends up being blinded and falls victim to the monster that is Morbius. This story may not hit the top ten lists of Doctor Who stories but it's a memorable one nonetheless, so much so that Karn - and the Sisterhood - made a surprise return to help the Eighth Doctor regenerate into the War Doctor in the awesome minisode The Night of the Doctor in 2013.