Mehendri Solon

Doctor Mehendri Solon was a human physician and scientist of great renown. He was a follower of the Time Lord tyrant Morbius.

Serving Morbius
Solon grew up on Earth. (TV: The Brain of Morbius) At some point, Solon authored a famous paper on microsurgical techniques in tissue grafting, which the Fourth Doctor had heard about or read. Solon overcame the "problem of tissue rejection".

After writing the article, and dogged by rumours that he had joined the personality cult of Morbius, Solon went into hiding on the planet Karn.

Although Morbius was eventually executed and his body disintegrated, Solon managed to save his brain and was able keep it alive. (TV: The Brain of Morbius, PROSE: Warmonger)

Recreating Morbius
While living in an isolated castle on Karn, Solon developed the techniques which enabled him to create a new body to house the still-living brain of Morbius. Assisted by his simple Dravidian servant, Condo, Solon managed to slowly construct a horrendous patchwork body out of the alien survivors' of the many spaceships that crashed on the planet, including the bodies of a Mutt, a Birastrop and possibly a Crustacoid. He planned to house Morbius' brain within the body once it was completed.

When the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith arrived, having been sent by the Time Lords, Solon needed only a head to finish his monstrous creation. He hoped to use the Doctor's. In his last moments, Solon managed to complete the surgical work on the new Morbius, using an artificial casing for the head instead of a biological one. The Doctor, having been imprisoned in the castle, killed Solon by creating cyanide gas and blowing it into his laboratory through a ventilation shaft. The gas had no effect on Morbius himself, due to the lungs Solon had given his new body. (TV: The Brain of Morbius)

Behind the Scenes
Christopher Barry considered trying to cast horror film icons Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price. John Bennett and Freddie Jones were also considered before the part went to Philip Madoc.