VHS : Doctor Who - The Mind of Evil [1963]

Rating: - Your darkest fears...
It's a shame the previous reviewer wasn't actually paying much attention when watching this story. The Keller machine yes; Krendler machine..? Afraid I've never heard of it!
This is another highlight from the Barry Letts/John Pertwee era of Doctor Who. Having previously only read the Target novelisation I wasn't quite sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. The insidious Master has, using an alter-ego, created a machine that supposedly 'cures' violent criminals and makes them fit for re-integration into society. The Brigadier despatches The Doctor and Jo Grant to witness the first demonstration of the machine in action and they see a hard-core thug become a seemingly sweet and gentle man.
Of course, The Doctor is rightly suspicious, and when people who have been near the machine begin dying unnaturally he unearths The Master's diabolical plan...
Whilst the action is spread somewhat thinly over the now unimaginable six half-hour episodes, there is plenty going-on and it actually gives space for the burgeoning relationship between The Doctor and his assistant to flourish. How I bet Gordon Brown wishes he had access to such a machine - just imagine all the 'hoodies' and knife-wielding maniacs transformed into top-of-the-class do-gooders..!

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Rating: - Sub-standard, I'm afraid
Hmmm. This one was a bit of a disappointment, I'm afraid. I was expecting this to be just as good as Pertwee's other opening episodes, but it failed to do so. It has its plus points, of course, earning it the 3 stars. UNIT get to run about in proper military fashion and raid a prison, which is cool, Roger Delgado is The Master, a role which can't go awry no matter what you do, and Jon Pertwee is the Doctor, again, flawless performance. But the problem is nothing happens for a long period of time. The first four episodes seem to drag for ages, and only when the Krendler Machine starts to operate properly and the plot shifts up a gear in the final two parts that this story shows the potential it had. Not really bad, just not as good as it should have been.

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Rating: - Non Stop Action
The Master returns for his second outing, which contains plenty of enjoyable moments.The eerie and effective noise that The Keller Machine emitts, is the most brilliant thing about it. There are superb performances from all the cast, and some excellent characters portryed. If you haven't seen this yet, then I advise you buy it!

Simon Bannister

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Rating: - Prison will never seem the same again!
A very good and effective story line - Frankenstein meets Dr Who. The concept of mind control in 1971 was not new, even for Dr Who (the Mind Robber). However, this story line allowed Pertwee to excercise his natural superiority to its full. His flipant dealings with the so called experts at the start, his natural assuming of control at the prison plus his typical condesention of the Master come thru very pertly in this story, as they do in most Pertwee story lines. I think the best part of the story (as I recall even from 30 years ago) was firstly, the creepy idea of a machine (or intelligence) causing one to face up to ones most horrid fears (and lose) and then secondly, to find that the good Doctor himself was subject to the same! I couldn't sleep for days after that!