Had I written this piece a couple of years ago, the only really big problem with The Brain of Morbius would be the mind-wrestling sequence suggesting that William Hartnell wasn't the first Doctor.
The Three Doctors had already clearly contradicted this, the Time Lords themselves saying so.
Hinchcliffe and Holmes thought there might have been earlier Doctors, which is why they included this scene in this form, but we could easily dismiss it by pointing out that it is Morbius who loses the battle - so the faces we saw must have been his. He's the one who is pushed back along his timeline.
Unfortunately, some hack writer decided that this sequence couldn't simply be left alone as a bit of an aberration, and it just had to be addressed when he was put in charge of the programme...
We now have the whole Timeless Child thing to put up with, all because of this one scene. The problems of the mind-wrestling sequence are multiplied.
If these incarnations of the Doctor were wiped from his mind, how can he picture them?
If the Doctor being a white man for 13 incarnations has been a problem for some people, he's now been a white man for 21 consecutive incarnations, thanks to Chibnall.
Everywhere the Doctor goes, he encounters people who look just like us. So how come, out of a dozen or so wrecked spaceships, not one of the passengers or crew had a humanoid head?
Why did Solon not use Condo's head? Why just one of his arms?
Terrance Dicks' criticism of this story is perfectly valid. If Solon is the greatest surgeon in the universe, why has he come up with such an ugly, mis-matched body for the person he idolises? Surely he knows Morbius will have some concerns about the way he looks, if he is going to seek to pick up where he left off?
Why does Solon only want to use the Doctor's head? Can't he simply transplant Morbius' brain into the Doctor's intact body - especially when he finds out he is a compatible Time Lord?
Is Kriz, the Mutt, a Solonian mutant, or just a reused costume? If it is a Solonian then what is it doing flying around the galaxy during this period of transformation? Do they still transform if away from Solos, where the atmospheric changes of the seasons are supposed to play a role?
Why did Maren not use the Elixir to make herself younger and fitter?
If the Sisterhood can see into people's minds - other than those of the Time Lords - why have they not seen what Solon or Condo were up to?
Why don't they tap into Sarah's mind and find out what she has seen and heard? They would have known the Doctor wasn't here by choice for a start.
Why did Solon insist on continuing to work on Karn - right under the noses of the Sisterhood, and only a short hop away from Gallifrey? Why not smuggle the brain to an obscure planet with lots of humanoids he could have used?
Sunrise on Karn look remarkably like the turning on of a light bulb...
How does the Doctor recognise where they are from the stars when the sky is overcast and a thunderstorm is about to commence?
His perception varies. He knows he's on Karn, and that Solon was reputed to be a member of the Cult of Morbius, yet takes ages to recognise the bust as that of the evil Time Lord.
When trapped in a locked room, the Doctor thinks the way to go is to poison the only people who can let you out.
No comments:
Post a Comment