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The Mind of Evil

30TH JANUARY 1971 - 6TH MARCH 1971

(6 EPISODES)

“The Mind of Evil” was the second serial in the 1971 ‘Master’ season and, despite his inclusion being a late addition to Don Houghton’s script, the Master is once again used brilliantly, orchestrating the use of the Keller Machine – a device used to purify the minds of criminals – for his own sinister purposes.

Roger Delgado is absolutely fantastic once again, whether he is disguised as a workman, puffing on a cigar, hijacking missiles, or taking over a prison. Houghton’s script even allows us a little bit of insight into the Master’s mind – when the Mind Parasite inside the Keller Machine attacks him with images of his deepest fear, we see that it is the Doctor, towering over him, mocking and taunting him. Although Houghton could not possibly have foreseen it at the time, this fits in beautifully with what we would later learn about the character in the Big Finish audio drama “Master” and even through his appearances in the recent 2007 series.

However, for me it is Jo Grant that steals the show – this serial is undoubtedly one of her best. I have always thought that the short, nervous and half-blind Katy Manning was one of the Doctor’s most memorable and endearing companions – why? She is just nice! The way she dotes on the Keller Machine’s first ‘victim’, Barnham (Neil McCarthy), really shows just how noble and caring she is. She does not care whether Barnham was a sinner, or whether he had become a saint or an idiot or whatever else – she just saw that he was helpless and so decided to look after him and in the end, directly due to the bond she that forms with Barnham, the Doctor and UNIT are able to save the world from the Master. Fantastic stuff.

Another reason that I like this story so much is that it sees UNIT caught up in world politics, providing security for a peace conference. This works marvellously in two completely different ways. Firstly, the drama and the tension is first class – you can almost see the

veins bulging in the Brigadier’s forehead because he is under so much pressure. However,

in contrast this story also contains some of UNIT’s best ever character moments; there are some completely hilarious scenes of camaraderie between the Brigadier, Benton and

Yates. Throw the rude and homicidal (well, she is hypnotised so we can let her off) Chinese Captain Chin-Lee into the mix, throwing accusations all over the place – “perhaps your men take bribes” etc – and you have something really special on your hands. I think that this serial marks the one occasion in the UNIT era where the production team got the balance

between drama and humour exactly right.

It is also interesting to see the Doctor thrown into this political arena – he really is a natural

at it. The Doctor charms the Chinese delegate with his ability to speak his native language, and then goes on to impress him further with his name-dropping – apparently the Doctor is close friend of Chairman Mao, which is something of a worry, admittedly. I really can see

why some people dislike this ‘establishment’ Doctor…

Looking at the Doctor more generally, in “The Mind of Evil” he is still exhibiting much of the ‘earthbound angst’ that characterised the early part of Jon Pertwee’s tenure. At the demonstration of the Keller Machine at Stangmoor Prison, he is obnoxious and rude to the scientists performing the demo – albeit with good reason – though when it becomes clear that the Master is involved, the Doctor seems to cheer up slightly despite the evident

danger. Again, Houghton cannot have foreseen it when he was writing this script back in

1970, but the Doctor / Master relationship as depicted here foreshadows “Last of the Time Lords” etc wonderfully. Before I went back and re-watched these old UNIT serials following broadcast of the 2007 series, I never truly appreciated just how faithful Russell T Davies has been to the strange, twisted Doctor / Master relationship as it was originally portrayed.

It is also fascinating that when the Mind Parasite attacks the Doctor, his deepest fear is revealed to be fire. As we see Zarbi, War Machines, Ice Warriors, and Cybermen all dance before the Doctor’s terrified gaze, we hear Dalek voices crying out. Soon after the ordeal, the Doctor speaks of once having seen “…an entire world consumed by fire...”, perhaps referring to those critical scenes on Skaro at the end of “The Evil of the Daleks.”

Like “The Ambassadors of Death”, this story will long be remembered for some of its ambitious action sequences. For once HAVOC took a back seat during filming, the producers instead opting to use the RAF and Royal Marines to storm Stangmoor Prison. The UNIT era is often compared to James Bond, and stories like this one and set pieces

like these are the main reason why. However, I note that some lessons had been learned from the previous season though – rather than shoot an expensive and elaborate missile hijack, director Timothy Combe instead chose to shoot some unconscious soldiers lying in an empty truck. It may not have been glamorous but it did the job!

And so whilst season eight’s second story is its least talked-about, in my opinion it is quite possibly the best. I think the main reason that it is so often overlooked is that, bar five minutes or so dodgy colour footage, the serial exists only in the form of monochrome 16mm film recordings. This does not bother me at all though; I find that black and white is often more forgiving than early 1970s colour, especially where there is extensive CSO use.

However, regardless of the quality of the extant episodes, “The Mind of Evil” is an absolutely mesmerising story, and comes highly recommended.

Copyright © E.G. Wolverson 2008

E.G. Wolverson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

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