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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sterling 60s release, 6 April 2005
This review is from: Doctor Who - The Mind Robber [1968] [DVD] (DVD)
With many of the best Patrick Troughton stories missing or fragmentary, it's wonderful to get to know this marvellous story from the late sixties, an era when the series was evolving into a rather groovy, loose-limbed style. The Doctor Who season containing The Mind Robber was by all accounts somewhat chaotic behind the scenes, much like the social trends of the age generally. But this story retains a remarkable integrity and manages to reflect the show's best traditions of adventure and excitement while energetically breaking new story-telling ground. I had never seen this particular story until buying the DVD recently, and enjoyed it more than I ever expected. While there are some places in the 2nd and 3rd episodes where the story on first viewing seemed to veer into over-indulgent territory, the triumphant concluding episodes wrapped up and the earlier action beautifully. The final duel of the storybook heroes made me almost fall off my chair laughing, and was a delicious reward for staying with this story to the end.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
much better release, 21 Mar 2005
This review is from: Doctor Who - The Mind Robber [1968] [DVD] (DVD)
After the slightly disappointing release of Horror of Fang Rock, this is much improved. The story is great. Although the story was recorded at a time of great strain for the programme, it prospers. Great performances and an unusual story. The remastering of the story is first rate. I watched the VHS version after this and it is remarkable how much better it is on DVD. In many ways, this makes the old black and white stories so much more important to own on DVD. The special features are better than the previous effort this year. The documentaries are more meaty and the Basil Brush feature is amusing, if not terribly relevant. The commentary is good but not the best I have have heard. All in all, a good buy.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Something different., 18 Aug 2006
This review is from: Doctor Who - The Mind Robber [1968] [DVD] (DVD)
This is a very good DVD release, which I enjoyed watching. The Doctor and his companions Jamie and Zoe are transported into a mysterious land of fiction. There they encounter Gulliver, Medusa, the unicorn, the minotaur, and ultimately the Master, who is controlling the whole domain. (Note: this is not the same Master who would appear later in the series!) In addition to this, Jamie suffers the fate of having his face changed for a while!
Here's a story that is thoroughly imaginative and rather different from any of the surrounding stories. The excellent Patrick Troughton, in his third and final year as the Doctor, performs as well as always, and there is a fine showdown in the final episode between him and Emrys James as the Master. Mentioning the final episode, reminds me of one disappointment regarding the story - the ending! It seems to be quite abrupt and unsatisfying.
There are some good extras on the DVD too. I'm not keen on the Basil brush segment. However, there is a good documentary featuring Fraser Hines, giving his memories of his time on the series.
Certainly a better story than 'The Dominators' which preceded it. A good addition to the Doctor Who DVD series.
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