The Brain of Morbius (TV story)

Synopsis
The Doctor and Sarah Jane land on Karn, a planet not far from Gallifrey, and the Doctor suspects the Time Lords have brought him here for a purpose.

The Sisterhood of Karn are the guardians of the Sacred Flame, which produces the Elixir of Life that makes them immortal. Now that the Flame is dying and the elixir almost gone, the Sisterhood has grown paranoid and use their collective psychic energy to crash any passing spaceships.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane are caught between the Sisterhood's wrath -- they believe that the Doctor has come to steal the remaining Elixir for the Time Lords -- and the machinations of mad scientist Solon, who has been building a creature from various body parts from the spaceship wreckages and fancies the Doctor's head as the final piece.

Solon is preserving the brain of the tyrannical Time Lord Morbius and plans to transplant it into the complete body. Discovering that the Doctor is a Time Lord, Morbius is convinced that he's been sent to destroy him. In desperation, Solon is forced to use an artificial brain case in the place of the Doctor's head, and the result is a hulking, murderous monster.

The Doctor wins the trust of the Sisterhood by restoring the Sacred Flame, and they are able to destroy Solon and Morbius.

Plot
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Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
 * Morbius - Michael Spice
 * Solon - Philip Madoc
 * Maren - Cynthia Grenville
 * Condo - Colin Fay
 * Ohica - Gilly Brown
 * Sisters - Sue Bishop, Janie Kells, Gabrielle Mowbray, Veronica Ridge
 * Kriz - John Scott Martin
 * Monster - Stuart Fell

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Felicity Trew
 * Costumes - L Rowland Warne
 * Designer - Barry Newbury
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Make-Up - Jean McMillan
 * Movement - Geraldine Stephenson
 * Producer - Philip Hinchcliffe
 * Production Assistant - Carol Wiseman
 * Production Unit Manager - Janet Radenkovic
 * Script Editor - Robert Holmes
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Studio Lighting - Peter Catlett
 * Studio Sound - Tony Millier
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - John Horton

Story Notes

 * Some fans have noted that some stories which share similar ideas:
 * Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, in which a scientist attempts to create new life by joining together the organs of a number of deceased bodies.


 * Curt Siodmak's 1942 novel Donovan's Brain, in which a scientist tries to keep the disembodied brain of an evil billionaire alive.

Ratings
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Myths
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Location Filming
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Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors
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Continuity

 * Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible expands on who the Sisterhood are, how they came to be and their animosity with the Time Lords / Gallifrey.


 * Warmonger covers much of Morbius's reign before he was captured by the Time Lords.


 * The Hoothi, briefly mentioned in this story, play a significantly greater role in the novel, "Love and War."


 * Though it looks the same, it is unclear whether the Mutt seen and killed at the beginning of this story is one of the same creatures seen in "The Mutants."

DVD and Video Releases
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Target Novelisations
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