The Mind of Evil

The Mind of Evil is the first proper Master story. Delgado is commanding as the Moriarty to Pertwee's Holmes and hatches an epic (although a little overly complicated) master plan. The plot could be a bit tighter as the story drags a bit at parts but overall the pace is pretty good and the extra time allows for a deeper depth of storytelling. This isn't the best Master story but it's well above average and a great example of the era.

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

This is a fascinating serial featuring a mind control machine that removes evil from prison inmates. While visiting the prison where it's used in place of capital punishment, the Doctor that even those using the machine don't have answers as to where "the evil" goes. The Doctor senses that an evil creature is inside and when the Master turns out to be involved, truly the Doctor and UNIT are in for a challenge.

The concept is an intriguing and creepy one, with some thought provoking moment. Jo has some good moments as well. The Brigadier is his usual charming and dashing self. The Master's plot still seems very Bond villainesque but better thought out than his previous alliance with the Autons. The one big flaw in the Master's plot is why he was killing envoys to the peace conference. We learn that the Master's plan is to blow up the conference to ignite a global conference to cause a worldwide disruption. It's not a horrible plan, but why the devil kill individual ambassadors in advance? All that did was clue in UNIT.

The story gave some nice looks at characters under influence of the machine. We learn the Doctor is still haunted by the events of Inferno. And the Master...well he has his own big fear, but I won't spoil that part.

Not a review as such, just a fond memory. This series has my first ever memory of Doctor Who. After seeing episode two I wouldnt walk past a Post Office engineers tent placed over a manhole in the pavement as I knew the Master was inside. My mum still remembers it as well & it was over 40 years ago.

Great story. Amazing colour restoration.