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Doctor Who - The Brain Of Morbius [1976] | ![Doctor Who - The Brain Of Morbius [1976]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BDZVe1s6L._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Christopher Barry
Actors: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen
Studio: 2 Entertain Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £12.98
You Save: £7.01 (35%)
New (9) Used (4) from £9.00
Rating:  13 reviews
Format: Pal
Rating: Parental Guidance
Region: 2
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5014503181628
ASIN: B001A47GD4
Theatrical Release Date: 1976
Release Date: July 21, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk
Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen join forces for this latest classic Doctor Who release. And in The Brain Of Morbius, the pair find themselves on the planet Karn, where they encounter not only the mysterious Sisterhood, but also a scientist by the name of Solon. Solon, it turns out, is a bit of a problem, as he's busy trying to find the parts, Frankenstein-style, to put together a new body for Morbius. Morbius--you still following this?--is a once-executed criminal Time Lord, who now only exists in brain form. Hence, as you probably put together, The Brain Of Morbius, a story that digs into the Time Lords a little, and also makes for an entertaining four episodes. The adventure is best taken in the spirit of old-style Doctor Who, as it's a lot of fun, with the odd logic gap that you need to cut it a little bit of slack for. And, to be fair, some of the sequences really make the most of the comparably tiny budget, to very good effect. Backed by an excellent supporting cast, The Brain Of Morbius is a welcome Doctor Who release, and an ambitious, engaging story from the mid-1970s. Coupled with good extra features, it's well worth your time, whether old Who fan or new. --Jon Foster
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| Customer Reviews:
 "Let's do the Mindbend again!" May 27, 2008
Bob Marlowe (UK)
26 out of 32 found this review helpful
No mystery about the roots of this one, it never pretends to be anything other than Frankenstein. An almost operatic horror tale with ideas possibly nicked from House of Frankenstein, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, They Saved Hitler's Brain and many more.
Morbius is of course our monster and superbly played by Michael Spice (Magnus Greel later) in a voice only turn. When he talks of envying the life of a sponge it's sad and funny at the same time.
Uncle Tom is always at his best against a strong actor and Philip Madoc does a great turn as a Solon, scientist so completely mad that if he was real Channel 4 would do a documentary about him!
Elisabeth Sladen has been very self critical of her performance as a temporarily blinded Sarah. True she doesn't act like a blind person normally would but as she's only just been blinded, stumbling makes sense, and she barely moves her eyes. The moment when she regains her sight is wonderful.
Colin Fay is good as the obligatory deforemd assistant engaging our sympathies although some over the top music mars him being shot at.
A good design for the monster which looks like spare parts and the sisterhood of Karn work well.
A great romp of a script where a confident team go all out for entertainment with humour stopping it being too grim. Uncle Tom describes his predesssor Great Uncle Jon as the "Old Grey Model" and Solon dips into the Bob Holmes bumper book of expletives you can use in a family show to describe the sisterhood.
The major lapse of logic is trusting Solon to dissect the monster, never mind. Like the multi doctors in the mindbend sequence, best not to think about it. Recommended for everyone.
There is a making of entitled "Getting a Head on Karn" which is great stuff. Terrance Dicks gives the low down on the original script and is funny recounting his feelings on the Bob Holmes version. Cynthia Grenville must have been a very young Maren as she only looks middle aged here and for my money she's the star of the documentary with a witty recounting of how she was cast and how she saved Uncle Tom from burning. Philip Madoc and Colin Fay are present with Dudley Simpson, director Chris Barry and a very youthful Gilly Brown, but sadly no Tom or Lis. Watch out for who thinks Morbius went too far!
"Designs on Karn" is not as good as the previous Barry Newberry featurette "Designing the Aztecs" featurette and probably should have been edited into "Getting a Head"
Great easter egg in the usual sort of place "A Letter to Robert Holmes" is "Points of View" style reading of a letter of complaint and Mr. Holes reply.
The commentary is a good one with Uncle Tom, Lis, Philip Madoc, Chris Barry & Phlip Hinchcliffe. Tom is a little subdued at first but before long he's discussing "panting crumpet", never feeling cold next to Lis Sladen and laughing at his title sequence image and the "old Grey Model" line. They all clearly still love this story and so they should! A great package.
Take one cauliflower and boil... June 20, 2008
Wowbagger the Infinite (Somerset, UK)
21 out of 25 found this review helpful
My dear Father has never really "got" Doctor Who, or my love of it. His knowledge of the programme now he is in his 70's is that there is a TARDIS, some Daleks and women screaming occasionally. End of story. However, even he was obviously moved by this classic serial from the 1970's as, whenever he sees something being boiled mercilessly by my Mother on the stove, he refers to it as "the Brain of Morbius".
This is another wonderful release from 2Entertain and the BBC, long overdue in my mind. I remember the wonderful chill at the opening of this story when I was a child. The wild electrical storm, the wind blasted graveyard of a planet, the weird Sisterhood, the sinister surgeon, and all of this still stands up to most scrutiny in this modern time. Oh, sure some of it is a bit creaky in places, and there is one very clear bit where a stunt goes a bit "Pete Tong". But all the plus points are big scorers, you have Tom Baker in fine resonant form as the Doctor, Liz Sladen, never looking lovelier or so helpless (bless!)as Sarah Jane Smith and a fine turn from Operatic warbler Colin Fay as the henchman Condo. The high point though is Philip Madoc as Dr Mehendri Solon. His performance is wonderful, powerful and conveys the tortured brilliance of Solon, and also how low he has fallen and his pathetic existence on the planet Karn.
The "Making of..." mini documentaries on these are always worth a look and, echoing a previous reviewer - please God, let it be a Tom Baker commentary!
"Your puny mind is powerless against the strength of Morbius!" July 19, 2008
Hector Lerbioz (London)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
32 years old, always threatening to topple headlong into absurdity, a grand-guignol homage to the Universal FRANKENSTEIN films of the 1930's, 1976's THE BRAIN OF MORBIUS really has no right to be as good as it is. It's drenched in over-ripe dialogue, has gaping plot holes and cheap-looking studio sets swathed in dry ice doubling for the surface of an alien planet. It is, when you spend a few moments thinking about it, fairly silly.
The fact remains that it is DR WHO at the very top of its game. It treads a very fine line between self-aware humour and no holds barred seriousness, but does it so well that you'll barely notice. Robert Holmes' rewrite of Terrance Dicks' original script (under the pseudonym Robin Bland) is an engaging, well-paced piece full of interesting, clearly motivated characters and tense, scarey set pieces. However, the production is further blessed by having an exceptional cast who treat this nonsense as if it's Shakespeare. That's really the essence of ...MORBIUS - it's a stage play on television. But to say this might almost devalue the overall effect or make it sound a lot duller and flatter than it actually is. The performances and direction are as good as DR WHO on television ever managed in its first 26 years. Classically trained actors like Philip Madoc and Cynthia Grenville bring an intensity and richness to their parts that make their every scene crackle and snap as fiercely as the fire that nearly polishes off Tom Baker. Speaking of whom, he and Elizabeth Sladen are also going for it with aplomb, though by the sounds of the commentary, Sladen is less than happy with her acting "blind" in the middle segments.
I've already mentioned the less than convincing rocky tundra sets, but somehow this doesn't matter. It even adds a certain claustrophobic something to proceedings. This can also be forgiven considering how detailed Barry Newbury's sets are for Solon's castle and the shrine of the Sisterhood. Even though it's entirely studio-based, the show manages to be visually arresting - the bright reds of the shrine (the design based on those of Buddhist temples) and the subdued lighting of Solon's crumbling laboratory and entrance hall manage to imbue the drama with an evocative ambience. Christopher Barry uses the sets to full effect, shooting every moment with an energy and intent that makes me wonder if this really was the same man who was responsible for directing 1972's woeful Pertwee serial: THE MUTANTS. Only the repeat use of the "Mutt" costume in episode 1 gives any hint that this was the case. Adding the final lustre to this gem is Dudley Simpson's incidental score, using french horns and a cello, it's magisterial in its effect and tone.
This is a must-see not only for DR WHO fans but for anyone who enjoys the best TV drama from this period, and fans of the James Whale/Karloff movies of the '30's may also find much to interest them - one shot of the Doctor and Sarah walking into Solon's hall shot through the flames of the fireplace is a direct (but effective) steal from 1932's THE OLD DARK HOUSE.
The extras are, as has become standard for the WHO releases, excellent. The Making of.. documentary GETTING A HEAD is especially welcome because it appears that every supporting cast member is still alive and kicking. Cynthia Grenville is marvellously enthusiastic and manages to look younger now than she did in 1976 (though she's sadly no longer wearing a cake on her head). The unexpected CGI work in this piece is impressive too, and personally I could have done with at least another 2 minutes of the CGI studio tour which comprises another extra on the disc. The commentary (Hinchcliffe, Barry, Baker, Sladen, Madoc) is good humoured and celebratory in tone, with Tom Baker's contributions particularly amusing. Thanks to him, I cannot hear the Sisterhood's chanting now, without thinking of the phrase: "panting crumpet".
Now this is more like it.... June 10, 2008
Mr. C. J. Iredale (hezza bezza)
15 out of 21 found this review helpful
A decent release, the first for a good long while; despite being not so much plagurised and just stolen from Frankenstein (who cares?), this is a gem from the era when Doctor Who was good and before Tom Baker's ego went stratoshperic! With a wonderful performances from Tom Baker, Phil Madoc and Lis Sladen, and with some interesting information on the Time Lords this adds up to a great tale from the Hinchcliffe era. It also wound up uber-moaner and myopic trout Mary Whitehouse and that can only be a good thing. The cherry on the cake are the faces used on the mind bending contest; we are not told whether all the faces were Morbius, or whether the Doctor has indeed been round longer than we thought. Also it is fun to see Robert Holmes in there too. Nice one 2Entertain, something decent for once. Can we have another like this?
Horror-Who at it's best, thrilling stuff! July 23, 2008
L. Green (London, UK)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Barcode: 5014503181628
From the opening shots of Karn, eerily dark and swathed in thick swirling fog, you know you're in for a real classic hiding behind-sofa-ride with this serial. In the very first episode you get a gruesome beheading, a crippled servant with a hook for an arm, later delights coming in the form of a brain in a jar of green goo, the Doctor almost being burnt at the stake and a monster cobbled together from various body parts.
It's scary stuff with some real-edge-of-your seat moments, one of the most surprising being when Solon shoots his assistant Condo, literally ripping a hole in his chest, spurting blood. It's not something you'd see in the revived series and in many ways, this raw, untamed feel just adds to the dark overtones of this story. It raises questions on the ethics of what true life is in relation to Condo's subservience to Solon and Morbius's half-life as a brain trapped in a transparent case, a slave to base instinct.
The true star of this serial has to be Philip Madoc as Solon, his performance is deliciously sinister, his perseverance through all the odds to try and revive Morbius admirable, despite the gravity of what this entails. The scene where Condo knocks Morbius' brain onto the floor to Solon's dismay is particularly poignant as he cries of `such intellect, wasted on a stone floor by a mindless brute'. This is a man that has devoted himself to a cause and has lost all compassion for others, from the way he continually deceives poor Condo to his underhand poisoning of the Doctor and Sarah, his true intentions masked wonderfully behind a facade of a nice, well-spoken academic.
Villains like Solon are always a joy to watch, the battle of intellects between them and the Doctor is what the show was made for. Tom Baker puts in a great show too in this episode, really shining in the scenes with the Sisterhood as he tries to convince them of his pure intentions. Liz Sladen gets some nice moments too, her feistiness sparking brilliantly off the Doctor, and poor girl, she goes through a lot in this serial! Poisoned, tied up to a table, blinded and then chased and beaten up by Morbius - and speaking of her blindness, I think she acted this really well. Yes, the whirling arms might look a little overstated compared to today's more conservative styles of acting but if you put yourself in her shoes, if you had just lost your sight you'd be absolutely terrified and Liz really conveys this in her voice.
When this serial was first broadcast it got between 9-10 million viewers per episode. This was Doctor Who in its element, Tom Baker taking the series through the peak of its success and from serials like this you can see how so many elements of it have gone on to influence further Who episodes. It is these linkages - this episode obviously taking root from the story of Frankenstein and his monster - that weave their through history, the tension and the theme of science pushed to its most terrifying. Even the imagery lives on, the Sybilline Sisterhood of recent episode `The Fires Of Pompeii being almost a carbon copy of the Sisterhood of Karn in this episode.
Brilliantly acted, dark brooding sets and a super-tense plot + a really good behind the scenes documentary `Getting A Head' which has some fab interviews with the cast and crew - this is yet another fantastic release in the Doctor Who DVD range.
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