Doctor Who (TV Series) The Mind of Evil: Episode One (1971) User Reviews

Interesting start.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 5 September 2007]

Doctor Who: The Mind of Evil: Episode One ('Episode One' is how it's referred to on screen during the opening credits & not 'Part 1') starts as the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) & his assistant Jo Grant (Katy Manning) arrive at Stangmoor Prison as the Doctor is curious to see a demonstration of a device called the Keller machine which is able to remove & store all anti-social & violent impulses & emotions from a human brain. The Doctor is concerned & sceptical about the process, his suspicions & fears are confirmed when two mysterious deaths occur near the machine. Meanwhile Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) & UNIT have their hands full as they provide security for a World Peace Conference taking place in London & it's not long before a Chinese delegate turns up dead. Back at Stangmoor & the Doctor tries to deactivate the Keller machine but it turns itself on & tries to kill the Doctor...

Episode 5 from season 8 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during January 1971 & was the second story from Jon Pertwee's second season as the Doctor & is the only Pertwee story only to exist in black and white although at some point in the future (the eventual DVD release?) it wouldn't surprise me if it was colourised. This six part story was directed by Timothy Combe & this opening episode is really just setting things up & in itself fairly forgettable although still watchable. Apparently originally called 'The Pandora Machine' the script by Don Houghton doesn't really feel like Doctor Who at the moment with virtually no sci-fi elements & no monsters while the whole plot about reconditioning criminals was based on A Clockwork Orange (1971) & the Peace Conference sub plot was added to stretch the story out over it's allotted six episodes. The Mind of Evil moves along at a nice enough pace, the set-up is intriguing & different from the usual Doctor Who story although whether this continues for the rest of it's duration remains to to seen. Overall I liked it & thought it was worth the 25 minutes it takes to watch it but ultimately when all said & done it's nothing particularly special.

This episode has no monsters, aliens or special effects in it so I can honestly say The Mind of Evil: Episode One hasn't a single bad special effect in it which makes a nice change. The locations are nice enough as are the studios although the hand rails on the stair in the prison wobble as people walk up them! The Keller machine itself is a rather clunky looking thing with a horribly dated looking computer the size of a small shed controlling it.

The Mind of Evil: Episode One is a good start & I enjoyed it but I felt some of it was padded & there's still five episodes left! Nothing special on it's own but worth watching & one has to bear in mind it's part of a larger story.

Owes A Lot To Season Seven

[Theo Robertson · 8/10 · 12 August 2010]

This is the second story of season eight of DOCTOR WHO and whilst Terror Of The Autons set the groundwork for the season Mind Of Evil seems a slight throwback to the previous year . Much of the location is set at Stangmoor Prison which is not a place you'd associate with a programme often dismissed as being for children

Writer Don Houghton stated he was influenced by A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and most of the plot revolves around a new process involving The Keller Machine that can destroy the negative thought processes that leads to criminality . As it turns out the creator Emile Keller is in fact the Master and the Keller Machine contains an alien parasite that feeds on minds

Thereare a couple of problems with the story construction . One is that the main plot becomes padded out with political intrigue involving the major powers . This was a common problem with classic DOCTOR WHO in general and the Pertwee era in particular - if you watch the episodes consecutively one after the other then it doesn't hang together like a feature film does . The plot sometimes runs around in circles with people getting captured , escaping and getting recaptured again

Director Timothy Combe does try to make the story very cinematic . There's excellent location work at Dover Castle and a couple of very impressive set pieces , one involving a missile being abducted and another where UNIT liberates Stangmoor Prison . He also makes the Keller Machine menacing which is no mean feat considering it's a mere prop . Unfortunately this led to the story going way over budget which meant Combe was barred from ever working on the show again , a pity because both here and in his only other story for the show The Silurians shows he was a superb director . Even sadder he didn't go on to make feature films

The Doctor meets A Clockwork Orange

[andrew-huggett · 7/10 · 28 August 2012]

Although quite padded this is an enjoyable early Doctor versus The Master romp. There is a central idea which is quite interesting but which resembles the Star Trek episode 'Dagger of the Mind' (1966). There are also nods to 'A Clockwork Orange'. However, the multi-stranded story of peace talks, nuclear missiles and prison rioting becomes slightly repetitive. Would have been more interesting to have concentrated on the Keller Machine. Roger Delgado is truly excellent as The Master, and there's an amusing sequence when the Doctor speaks in fluent Chinese as the Brigadier looks on in bemusement. There is some good location filming around Dover castle while the missile and use of helicopters is well realised. This serial now exists only in black and white and I actually think this improves matters because it helps to mask the crude CSO video effects which are quite distracting in other contemporaneous stories of the period.

A start with true terror.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 11 January 2019]

I loved Pertwee's early stories, each of them featured a real and tangible threat, Mind of Evil is no such exception, it starts off with a terrific episode, in 25 minutes, it manages to set the scene, introduce the characters, provide a threat, and place The Doctor in danger. I find it a really well paced, intriguing episode, with some really big characters. I love the music, I love what was done with the obviously small budget, and I love the concept of the machine itself.

The music is wonderfully seventies, I prefer it in black and white, somehow it reminds me of Troughton's era, and I could just have easily seen him and Jamie caught up in the events at Stanmore Prison.

Loved it. 9/10

The Mind Bending Plot of Evil

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 9/10 · 25 September 2014]

Review of all 6 episodes:

This story starts really well with an intriguing and gritty opening episode and although it fades a little bit by the end it is still overall very good.

The story involves The Master having a mind controlling machine which extracts evil from criminals. It also features a prison take-over, a world peace conference and an attempt to steal a powerful missile. Some of these elements are slightly muddled padding to fill out the 6 parts. Following on from a tight four-parter it is probable that if this one was similarly pared down it would be nearer to top Doctor Who standards rather than just a good medium quality one. Instead, in order to pad things out there is a rather complex and not fully credible plot. The plan hatched by The Master is a bit too convoluted and too reliant on everything going exactly to plan and schedule. As a result it is seen by some as too unlikely as a plot. However, the good qualities of acting, characterisation, action, scary 'monster' (the Keller Machine) and political intrigue all go towards glossing over the relatively small concerns over the plot.

The Master (Roger Delgado) makes for a superb adversary again despite his occasional indecisive ways and Mailer (William Marlowe) is a well acted and convincing henchman. Jo Grant (Katy Manning) is a stronger character in this than in Terror of the Autons (her first story) and this establishes her much better. The Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) and UNIT are good additional support as ever and there is a gritty prison setting plus exciting military and political elements. I am not a fan of the music and sounds created by Dudley Sutton but accept that at the time they were fresh and innovative and while the incessant noise of the prison riot is very annoying it is more realistic than a quiet riot!

This is a very enjoyable serial; action packed, interesting and well produced. It could have been better but is still a solid adventure.

Episode ratings: Episode 1 - 9, Episodes 2 & 4 - 8.5/10, Episodes 3, 5 & 6 - 8/10 = 50/60

Overall: 8.33/10

Suitable for Children?

[lucyrfisher · 9/10 · 3 May 2014]

There is a lot of death and violence in this story, much of which takes place in a brutal prison that's eventually taken over by the inmates. Colour has been restored, which accounts for some oddly orange complexions and salmon-pink walls. Nobody does evil like Roger Delgado! When he tilts his head forward his deepset eyes are completely in shadow. There is a strange interlude in which he and the Doctor collaborate in a friendly manner to neutralise the Mind Parasite, but once the thing is no longer a threat, the Master goes straight back to cackling and preparing to eliminate most of the human race. It's a shame Captain Chin Lee disappears from the story early on. She is an appealing villainess - but of course she is only being manipulated by the Master (I also like his sinister, unspeaking chauffeur). Chin Lee does rather give the game away by walking like a robot, though. Scenes I remember from seeing it as a child - Jo Grant's motherly concern for the doctor as he lies in a coma, and for Barnham (Neil McCarthy), who has had the evil removed from his brain.

A Disappointment Given What This Story Could Have Easily Been

[philip2029 · 5/10 · 30 December 2021]

A disappointment, put politely. And a story so stacked with factors favouring it to become an all-time classic as well: really excellent leads, a proven top writer and a plot that could have been one to (metaphorically) die for.

Mind of Evil was for years an early Pertwee story I'd heard a few things about and wanted to have a good look at; the concept of the Keller machine and the ethics of tampering with the brains of criminals was obviously such good turf for Dr Who to delve into.

But it flops - not least because the plot is continually sidetracked into irrelevant avenues mainly soon abandoned but not before having destroyed the main flow of the action.

Most critically, there's almost no development of the nature or mission or even dilemmas encountered by the alien is that has decided to live in the machine that plays god with the criminal's minds, nor even why an innocent is immune to its spells.

Pity the writer Don Houghton, who either (given other work, surely unlikely) blithely turned in duff goods this time or foolishly opting to compromise on how the story was produced while keeping his writing credit. His work on Inferno will always stand - perhaps he should have packed up and abandoned Who there and then.