The Brain of Morbius

Calling this 'Frankenstein in space' (which it is) sells the story way short. Brain of Morbius wraps a gothic horror homage in a dense blanket of Timelord mythology and weaves the story together with an immortal fire cult. That may sound like a lot, especially for a 4 part serial, but the action flows seamlessly between the Sisterhood of Karn and the mad scientist Solon's laboratory in a truly organic way that reveals ancient Timelord history while providing motivation and background on both factions. The writing is supurb and the performances are some of the best in the classic era. An excellent use of practical effects for the theatrical set pieces and most of the props create a vivid atmosphere that, while not always convincing, holds up to the test of time better than much of what would come over the next decade of the program. The plot is heavy on body horror as you would expect but there are some excellent twists with Sarah Jane and the Doctor both that keep the story engaging. The unanswered questions from the climax about the Doctor's past (were those previous incarnations / the Other? regenerations of Morbius?) are still debated today and feature centrally in some of the mythos of the show. An absolute classic.

Correctly this is acclaimed as one of the true classics, it really is exceptional and fully deserving of classic status.

Famously the story is heavily influenced by Frankenstein. It has the Gothic horror feel that was common in this era of the series, being one of the most Gothic horror based stories of all in fact. As well as the style it also shares the idea from Frankenstein of a 'mad' scientist putting a being together from parts of other bodies.

The Doctor and Sarah are forced to land on Karn where scientist Solon is carrying out his experiments to try to create a body to house the mind of evil Time Lord criminal Morbius. The Sisters of Karn (who reappeared in the 2013 mini-episode The Night of the Doctor) are also on the planet and think The Doctor has come to steal the elixir of life that they worship and protect.

The story and all the dialogue is absolutely first class. Intelligent, entertaining, literate, exciting - everything you could want. Also the production as a whole is very well made and extremely atmospheric in its presentation. The incredibly good performances from Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen are taken for granted in this era. Unsurprisingly Philip Madoc who had already played characters in Doctor Who (such as in The War Games) to immensely impressive effect gives another awesome performance as Solon. There is very little to fault. The final episode goes into full Frankenstein's monster on a rampage mode which is perhaps less intelligent than the rest of the story but extremely entertaining.

One of the very best stories of all time in what I rate as the very best season ever of Doctor Who. Superb!

This must be one of the more macabre doctor who serials but boy do I love it. A docto who twist on Frankenstein’s monster essentially. There’s much atmosphere and gorgeous design work to be seen and the script is solid enough.
Really this is one of Toms more underrated classics ( still classic but not discussed as much as a fair few of the others in this status)

This story borrows from Frankenstein in many ways that are very obvious. However, what the final product illustrates is how you can borrow from a public domain story, offer your own twists and produce something brilliant.

The story has a great sense of atmosphere. It has some spooky touches as well as some fairly intense scenes. Solon is a marvelous monomaniac villain. Morbius in his final form and all the forms leading up to him is chilling. The It also introduces the Sisterhood of Karn who are very creepy in their own way.

Meanwhile, both the Doctor and Sarah are superb. Sarah is put through her paces and shows her strength as a companion. She shows admirable grit and courage, while also showing some very real and relatable human fear.