The Brain of Morbius
Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius
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The Brain of Morbius |
Target novelisation Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius |
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| Author | Terrance Dicks |  |
| Published | 1977 | |
| ISBN | 0 426 11674 7 | |
| First Edition Cover | Mike Little |
| Back cover blurb: Why do so many spaceships crashland on Karn, a bleak, lonely and seemingly deserted planet? Are they doomed by the mysterious powers of the strange, black-robed Sisterhood, jealously guarding their secret of eternal life? Or does the mad Dr Solon, for some evil purpose of his own, need the bodies of the victims? And more especially, the body of DOCTOR WHO... |
Keeping the Bland story but predicting something novel... by Tim Roll-Pickering 20/2/04
The turbulant story of how The Brain of Morbius was changed by Robert Holmes from Terrance Dicks' original concept of an artificial entity creating life into a somewhat "Bland" more straightforward homage to Frankenstein movies is now well known amongst Doctor Who fans, though how many people outside the production team, and possibly the Doctor Who Appreciation Society as well, knew this back in 1977 when the novelisation first appeared is unknown. With Terrance Dicks producing the novelisation, this time under his own name (though "Robin Bland" is still credited as the television story's author), there was the possibility of adapting the original story and allowing it to see the light of day, but Dicks has instead opted to go down the route to adapt the televised version. However the page count for this book increases to 140 pages and Dicks has managed to work in many subtle enhancements to the story. Twenty-five years before he wrote Warmonger, Dicks produces a brief outline of how Morbius set about trying to dominate the universe and invading Karn before being repelled by an Time Lord initiated alliance of all civilisations. We also get a clear positioning of when the Morbius incident took place within the Doctor's personal timeline - he had fled Gallifrey but had heard about it due to the scale of the events (but unfortunately for those with philosophical queries about how the current affairs a time travelling society spill into linear time and reach a traveller roaming through eternity are not outlined, though this is perhaps wise given the need to actually tell the story). Those of you familiar with Warmonger may want to read this book to see how closely Dicks has followed the brief descriptions in his more recent novel.
Although following the course of the television story, Dicks pours a lot of effort into fleshing out the characters. We learn how Condo crashed on Karn and the exact nature of his relationship with Solon, how Maren was old when the Elixir of Life was discovered and has remained still ever since, what the homeworld of Kriz (the character killed by Condo at the start of the story) is like (and, according to this, it doesn't seem as though he originated on Solos), how Solon is managed to save Morbius' brain and just how fanatical his devotion to his master is, and how Sarah reacts to Condo's feelings for her and exploits them to her advantage. Of especial note are the scenes at the climax, where the televised version of two of them have generated heated argument amongst fans to this day. The Doctor's decision to use cyanide gas is openly questioned by Sarah and elicits the reply that unless Solon is stopped millions of lives will be in danger. From the description of the Doctor's tone and manner, it is clear that this is not a decision taken easily and so the basic moral precept of the series does not feel as violated here as it does on screen. Later the mind-bending game is explained clearly, making it absolutely clear that the images seen on the screen are that of the losing player, and although Sarah only sees a confusion of images pre Hartnell, it is clear that these originate from the Doctor whilst Morbius' explosion is due to his brain casing not being able to stand the pressures and not because he is losing the game. Whilst the wider implications may not be accepted by all, there is no ambiguity here as to what is happening or what is meant.
Otherwise the novel is a strong, well paced adventure, as with all the previous Dicks adaptations of Holmes. For television the story was realised completely within an electronic studio, but here in the book Dicks is able to enhance the descriptions so that Solon's castle seems even more decayed, the Sisterhood's shrine even more elaborate and the exterior of Karn even more darker and gloomy. The result is one of Terrance Dicks' strongest novelisations that really stands out and shows how the direct adaptations of the televised versions should be done. 10/10
Doctor Who and Dr Frankenstein by Noe Geric 8/7/21
I never was impressed by the TV version of The Brain of Morbius. I always thought it was overrated and not so incredible as some says. Of course, it's a great classic of the Doctor Who gothic era, a sci-fi version of The Monster of Frankenstein, but among all the Tom Baker episodes of Season 12 and 13, I find it just average. But of course, the novelisation changed that!
I love when novelisations add something to the original story, or even completely change it. I was impressed by The Crusaders, which changed the ending and is still one of my favorite novelisations. In The Brain of Morbius, Dicks didn't change that much. He put some backstory for Maren and Morbius (and that will finally become Warmonger). Some lines are changed, and some scenes are added.
As always, I read the novelisation of a story I can barely remember, then I discover a new adventure in a story I've already seen on TV. I could just remember the mind battle and the body appearance of Monster Morbius, so everything else seemed new to me. I was particularly disappointed by Terrance Dicks' writing style: it's poor. Not bad, but poor. Sarah Jane is more generic than ever, Ohica is Sarah Jane 2.0, and Maren has a very poor characterization. After reading The Doctor, Solon and Morbius manage to bring that story to life with dialogue good enough for it to be interesting. The action isn't helping the pace: we get to the castle, then to the temple, the castle again, the temple again, and the castle again and... Karn feels small. It's a giant runaround on a whole planet! Solon seem to be indestructible: he survives when you think he's definitely dead, but he's simply killed by the gas the Doctor sends into his lab. I nearly forgot Condo, who dies too quickly for his own good. The character was nice, a bit irritating, but he died perhaps too quickly for me too care about his fate...
I don't know what to think of that book: it's an interesting story deep inside it, there are some clever scenes, the Doctor IS the Fourth, and the Solon/Morbius pairing is a funny but interesting menace. It follows the original story, but not too much, and I spent a very good time reading it (if I try not to think about the prose style, it's horribly written): 8/10
Entertaining, but surely not the book of the year.