Savage mud-dwelling creatures which lived in the dense jungles of the planet Eden. A biologist named Tryst had mounted an expedition to this region of space to catalogue the numerous lifeforms there - capturing living specimens of flora and fauna on laser crystals which could be projected onto a screen. Travelling on the space-liner Empress with his device, Tryst appeared alarmed when they were involved in a hyperspace collision with a smaller survey vessel - the Hecate. This resulted in the projection becoming unstable - allowing the Mandrels to break out and roam the liner, killing anyone they encountered.
The Doctor and Romana had responded to the Empress' distress signal, and discovered that the highly addictive drug Vraxoin was being smuggled aboard. Within the Eden projection they found a special agent hidden, a man named Stott, who had been investigating Tyst's expedition. The source of the drug, and its means of transportation remained a mystery.
When a Mandrel was electrocuted, its body rapidly broke down into a grey powdery substance - pure Vraxoin. It transpired that Tryst was in league with the Hecate pilot - Dymond - to smuggle the Mandrels, having learned how they produced Vraxoin when dead.
The Doctor lured the creatures back into the projection which he then stabilised, and Stott agreed to return it to Eden, with the whole planet placed under protective quarantine. Tryst and Dymond were arrested by customs officers with the help of the Doctor and Romana.
Appearances: Nightmare of Eden (1979).
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