I AM KING YRCANOS!
Over the years of Doctor Who, there have been excellent performances, bad performances, hammy performances and blatantly over-the-top performances. Brian Blessed as King Yrcanos in Mindwarp is in a class by itself. One's enjoyment of this story is going to be more or less tied to one's enjoyment of his extremely over-the-top performance.
In this story, the Doctor and Peri stumble across a hideaway of Mentors, one of whom (Kiv) is dying from a swelling brain. He has hired a doctor named Crozier to develop a process that will allow his mind to live on in a new body. One of the experiments is on King Yrcanos who frees himself while the Doctor is being experimented on. The Doctor is separated from Peri and Yrcanos where he gains the trust of Crozier and the Mentors. Meanwhile, Yrcanos and Peri align with a group of rebels but are recaptured while trying to get to a stash of weapons. Peri is taken by Crozier to experiment on and the Doctor frees Yrcanos to rescue Peri. They free the slaves as a distraction but before they can get to Crozier's lab, the Doctor is taken out of time by the Time Lords. Peri's body is used to house Kiv's mind, effectively killing her, and we last see Yrcanos break into the lab and appear to kill everyone in it.
For the most part, I enjoyed Brian Blessed's performance. He is way over-the-top hammy, but he's clearly having such a good time doing it that you can't help but enjoy the ride with him. It also makes the few times that he does go quiet and introspective all the more enjoyable due to the contrast. However, like this story overall, there are points where it goes too far and the enjoyment goes out of it.
If I had to pick a single thing that bothered me most about this story, it was how much I could cut out of it. There is a point early in episode two where the Doctor is separated from Peri and King Yrcanos who then meet up with Yrcanos' squire Dorff. If you stopped the story there and then immediately jump to the last two or three minutes of episode three, where King Yrcanos, Dorff, and Peri are recaptured, you would miss very little. Kiv is transferred to a temporary body and Yrcanos recruits the resistance to aid him, but it is very little advancement overall.
The other thing that bugs me is how odd the end is. We are treated to three episodes of Crozier being good at his job but still fighting with working out the specifics. Then we find that he has suddenly perfected the process to transfer Kiv and kill Peri? I know there is going to be more revealed at the end of the Trial as a whole, but it was a sloppy and rushed ending to this story.
Still, there is a lot to like about this one. It has moments of good atmosphere, especially in using the dim lighting to hide flaws that might otherwise exist. There are also nice moments of humor, such as the Doctor suggesting to Peri that they use the "skedaddle technique" or Crozier finishing his cup of tea before performing CPR on Kiv after his first mind transfer.
On the whole, I'd say it's one I wouldn't mind watching again. In fact, I think I might pick up on some of the nuance that eluded me on first watch. But I don't think I would select it as a classic story to watch just because I was in the mood for an adventure.
Overall personal score: 3 out of 5
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