The Making of The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Two, Mindwarp was the second of four documentaries in the Making of The Trial of a Time Lord series. As the name suggested, it concerned itself with the making of Mindwarp.
Topics discussed[]
The documentary opened with Philip Martin, Jim Sangster and Nicola Bryant discussing how Paintbox was used to affect location filming seen at the outset of the serial. Bryant went on to describe her discomfort during the beach scenes in which she was tied to a rock. Colin Baker also offered his memory about the beach scene — a story about the duties of the on-location vision mixer.
The casting of Brian Blessed and Patrick Ryecart were then discussed by Martin, Bryant, Michael Jayston — and Ryecart and Blessed themselves.
Clayton Hickman, Sangster, Baker and Bryant went on to consider Nabil Shaban's Sil. This was followed by an assessment of the Lukoser character, with Hickman calling him "the best werewolf ever".
A brief discussion then ensued about the quality of the lighting and the sets. Bryant revealed that the cost of the main door to the laboratory set had come to be known by the actors, and it became a running gag whilst filming Mindwarp, since the door cost more than Bryant's salary.
Eric Saward then called it the best story of that season. Meanwhile, Colin Baker revealed that he had difficulty understanding how to play his part during the serial, especially when it came to the scene where the Sixth Doctor tortured Peri. Of paramount concern was the question of whether: a) the events never happened and were being revealed in an inaccurate way by the Matrix; b) the events did happen, but the Doctor was "faking" it for the benefit of whoever might be watching; or c) the Doctor simply went mad because of the attack on his mind, and therefore the events were completely real. In the end, Baker chose to play the scenes according to the first theory, but he got no help from either director Ron Jones or Saward in adopting that approach, and, at the time, he couldn't reach writer Philip Martin. However, Philip Martin revealed that he had intended that the Doctor actually go mad for a bit.
Finally, the several interviewees discussed what they thought of Peri's departure from the series.
Booklet synopsis[]
A new documentary in which the cast and crew look back at the production of this story. With actors Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Michael Jayston (The Valeyard) Brian Blessed (Yrcanos) and Patrick Ryecart (Crozier), writer Philip Martin, script editor Eric Saward, TV historian Jim Sangster and writer Clayton Hickman.
People interviewed[]
to be added
Crew[]
to be added