The Mind of Evil

He's free to come and go where he pleases and I'm stuck here on Earth... with you Brigadier!

The Mind of Evil was one of those stories that never seemed to get talked about very much. I suppose it got lost in the shuffle of all the Master stories of Season Eight and doesn't have that memorable hook item or character like others. It also is rather notable in that there isn't any real monster. Yes, there is a parasite in the Keller Machine, but the visible antagonists are just ordinary men, which probably makes this story probably the closest Doctor Who got to being a James Bond rip-off in the Bond-like Third Doctor era.

Plot Summary

The Doctor and Jo head to a high security prison where a new method of treating prisoners is being demonstrated. Dr. Kettering demonstrates the Keller Machine on a prisoner named Barnham, explaining that the evil thoughts are drained from a man's mind, leaving him safe for society. The Doctor is skeptical and becomes concerned when Barnham seems to have a bad reaction, leaving him with the mind of a child. While examining him in another room, another observer of the machine is found dead of heart failure, his face covered in bites and scratches.

The man's body is examined and it is suspected that he died due to fright. His medical records indicate an extreme fear of rats, which were consistent with the marks on his face. Dr. Kettering dismisses this and insults the Doctor's scientific prowess. However, a short time later, Dr. Kettering himself is found dead with symptoms consistent with drowning.

At the same time, the Brigadier is overseeing security at a UN peace conference in London. He is informed that he is also to provide security for a shipment of a missile scheduled for destruction, a task he delegates to Captain Yates. He is then informed by the head of the Chinese delegation's security, Captain Chin Lee, that important papers are missing. The Brigadier instigates a search for them while Captain Lee heads out and burns a set of papers, seemingly under the influence of a metallic orb behind her ear.

The Brigadier's men conduct their search but find nothing. They are soon informed that a member of the Chinese delegation has been murdered. The Brigadier conducts an investigation but finds an inconsistency in Captain Lee's story about finding the body and suspects her of murder. He also sends a request for the Doctor to join him at the conference.

After examining Dr. Kettering's body, Dr. Summers and the Governor of the prison agree to suspend use of the Keller Machine but lack the authority to dismantle it. The Doctor sets about examining the machine, hoping to get proof for it's destruction. As he examines it, he begins to envision himself on fire. Jo comes in and breaks the connection between the Doctor and the machine. The Doctor relates how the machine conjured a memory of seeing a planet on fire and projected it on him.

Captain Yates enters and informs the Doctor that he is to come to the peace conference to help investigate the murder of the Chinese general. Annoyed, the Doctor agrees and tells Jo to order the prison governor to have the room sealed, to which she agrees.

In London, Captain Lee uses the power of the Keller Machine, through the implant behind her ear to cause Sargent Benton, who had been tailing her, to pass out. She then slips away into the crowd. She passes a man setting up a tap line to a phone junction box. The man then ducks into a tent and is revealed as the Master. He then heads to a limo where he listens on Captain Yates' plan to escort the missile to it's drop off point.

After dressing down Benton, the Brigadier speaks with the Doctor. He agrees to the Doctor's demand to dismantle the Keller machine once the peace conference is over. He then takes the Doctor to meet the new Chinese delegate, Fu Peng. The Doctor ingratiates himself with Fu Peng as they chat in Mandarin. Peng eventually invites the Doctor to come back for dinner and the Doctor departs, leaving the Brig annoyed at the slow pace of discussion.

Afterwards, the Brigadier informs the Doctor that they are searching for Captain Lee on suspicion of murder and the Doctor becomes convinced that she is the same Chinese woman who assisted Professor Keller in the installation of the Keller Machine. Captain Lee meanwhile goes to see the Master. He reinforces his hypnotic control over her and orders her to kill the American delegate.

Back at the prison, a new cell is being prepared and the janitor slips a revolver under the pillow. When the new prisoner, Mailer, is brought in, he grabs the planted gun and takes the guards hostage. He heads down to the infirmary and takes Dr. Summers and Jo hostage as well.

Captain Lee calls the American delegate, Senator Alcott, over to have a secret discussion with the Chinese delegation. Alcott enters the darkened suite where Chin Lee projects a dragon fear into him using the Keller Machine. At that moment, the Doctor, the Brigadier and Fu Peng enter for their prearranged dinner. The Brigadier sees the dragon and tries to shoot it but the Doctor deflects his shot. The gunshot however does break the connection between Chin Lee and the Keller Machine and she resumes normal form and passes out. Senator Alcott also survives.

Fu Peng heads back to his embassy while the Brigadier heads back to the office. The Doctor removes her implant and lets her recover on the couch. In the morning, having convinced her that he is on her side, he takes her to see the Brigadier. She relates that she met Professor Keller at a diplomatic conference and he invited her to go with him to the prison to learn about the process. After their arrival, her memories become fuzzy. From her description, the Doctor becomes convinced that Professor Keller is the Master, intent on starting a war on Earth.

Aware that Chin Lee's hypnosis was broken, the Master monitors communications more closely and becomes aware of the Doctor's theories about his machine. He heads up to the prison to wait for him.

Mailer attempts to negotiate with the governor for his and the other prisoner's release. The governor resists, going so far as to inform UNIT of Jo's capture. This arouses the Doctor and he departs for the prison. Eventually the governor agrees to talk to the prisoners. Mailer tries to set up for him but in a moment of distraction, Jo disarms him and the guards swarm in and subjugate the prisoners. Mailer is returned to his cell as are the other prisoners.

The Master arrives and offers to fix the Keller Machine but asks to see Mailer, who was next on the list for Keller Machine treatment, first. Alone with him, he gives him a gun and a gas mask and the two of them create a mass breakout with the guards either knocked out due to gas or shot in the chaos. Jo and Dr. Summers are once again captured and placed in a cell. The prisoners take the guard uniforms and take their places.

The Doctor arrives and is brought in under guard to see the Master. The Master informs him that while he intends to kill him, he needs his help to fix the Keller Machine. He also informs the Doctor that he intends to steal the missile being transported by Yates and Benton and use it to destroy the peace conference and thus start a war.

The Doctor kicks over the desk and runs out, evading the prisoner guards. Hearing Jo and Summers crying out to him from a cell, the Doctor cuts through the Keller Machine room where the Master and Mailer are waiting for him. The Master cuffs the Doctor and hooks him to the machine, which he has temporarily repaired. He then turns on the machine and leaves the room while the Doctor begins to see visions of previous monsters he has faced.

One of the Doctor's hearts stop and he passes out. However the power of the Keller Machine expands to the rest of the prison and the Master is forced to rush back in and shut it down. He restarts the Doctor's heart and has Mailer drag him to the cell with Jo and Dr. Summers. Summers looks him over and is then taken to another part of the prison. Before passing out, the Doctor warns Jo that the Keller Machine in inhabited by a mental parasite, feeding off dark thoughts.

The Master heads back to check on the Keller Machine but finds that the creature inside the machine is not bending to his will. The creature projects the Master's fear and an apparition of the Doctor appears, laughing derisively at the Master. The Master flees the room and bars the door, determined to starve the creature into submission.

Meeting in the governor's office later, Mailer demands to know the Master's plan as to why they don't just escape. The Master informs Mailer that he plans to send the prisoners out to steal the missile being transported. He tells Mailer that he intends to threaten the peace conference and hold London hostage. In the morning sends them out to a specified location to set an ambush.

Jo calls to the guards for breakfast and the guard brings in some food. Jo attacks him and the Doctor knocks out the other guard. They hide in the governor's office and observe the prisoners and the Master leaving the prison.

The prisoners attack the convoy, killing or wounding most of the escort and knocking out Yates' radio, although he does get a distress signal off. Yates plays dead for a bit and then follows the stolen missile on a motorcycle. He spies them hiding it in a warehouse but is seen and captured before he can ride off.

Alerted by Yates' signal, the Brigadier and UNIT drive up to find the ambush. A recovering Benton tells the Brigadier that he saw a police van as part of the ambush and the Brigadier immediately suspects it came from the prison where the Doctor was headed.

In the prison, the creature in the Keller Machine manages to teleport itself out of the room and kills one of the prisoners guarding the room. His screams attract both Jo and the Doctor and Mailer and another prisoner. They enter the room to find the holding jar gone, although it quickly reappears. It kills the other prisoner and then attacks Mailer, the Doctor and Jo at once. Mailer flees and the machine goes after him, being a stronger source of evil. The Doctor and Jo head for an exit where they spy a UNIT helicopter with the Brigadier in it. They wave at it but are recaptured by the prisoners before they can do anything else.

Mailer, who escaped the machine, calls the Master and demands he come back. The Master reluctantly agrees, though he is not yet finished setting up the missile. He leaves Captain Yates as a hostage in the event something goes wrong with the missile. After he leaves, Yates manages to free himself, knock out his guard, and flee the warehouse.

The Master arrives at the prison and forces the Doctor to assist him in bringing the creature in the Keller Machine to heel. The Doctor rigs a device mimicking the wave patterns of a human brain and is able to place the signaler around the creature's dome before being overwhelmed by thoughts of his enemies. He warns the Master that it is only a temporary solution and the Master takes him back to his cell to rest, where he relates his meeting with Sir Walter Raleigh to Jo.

Convinced the missile has been stored at the prison, the Brigadier plans to assault the prison. He splits his forces into two groups. He poses as a delivery man bringing food to the prison. As he is let in, soldiers leap out the back of the truck and overwhelm the guards. They fight their way in but get pinned down in the courtyard. A second group, led by Benton, sneaks through an old underground passage and catches the prisoners from the rear. With the courtyard secure, the Brigadier opens the gates to let more soldiers in.

Mailer, hearing the soldiers overwhelm his men, grabs Jo and the Doctor as hostages. He pulls them out and Jo tries to get a drop on him on the stairs. She fails and Mailer prepares to shoot the Doctor, needing only one hostage. However, the Brigadier enters and shoots Mailer first. They have secured the prison but the Master escaped. The Doctor also tells the Brigadier that the missile is not at the prison.

After taking the surviving prisoners back to their cells, the Doctor and the Brigadier examine a map to figure out where the Master might have stored the missile. They receive a call from Captain Yates who tells them of the missile location. The Brigadier leaves Benton in charge the prison and heads down to take care of the missile. The Doctor stays behind with Jo to try and figure out how to stop the creature in the Keller Machine.

The creature manages to overload the machine the Doctor has created and it teleports outside the room and kills two guards. The Doctor and Jo discover the murder and head back to the room to investigate. The Keller Machine reappears and attacks them but it's attack is thwarted when Barnham wanders into the room looking for Jo, to whom he has developed a bond since his incapacitation. The Doctor realizes that since Barnham has already had his evil thoughts eaten by the creature, he acts as a neutralizing agent against it. The Doctor order Jo to keep Barnham in the room with the creature while he gets equipment to kill it.

While in the governor's office with Benton, the Master calls and discovers that UNIT has retaken the prison. The Master speaks with the Doctor, informing him of his intentions. The Doctor offers the Master a deal: he will return the dematerialization circuit he stole from the Master's TARDIS in exchange for the missile. The Master agrees but says he will launch the missile if any attack is made. The Doctor calls the Brigadier who calls off his planned attack and also sends a man to UNIT HQ to retrieve the circuit.

The Doctor gets an idea of how to destroy the creature and the Master. He and Jo have Barnham carry the creature into a van and they ride with it to see the Brigadier, who gives him the circuit. The Brigadier also informs the Doctor that the missile is equipped with a self destruct but that it has been disabled by the Master.

The Doctor drives to the airfield in the van with Jo, Barnham and the creature hidden in the back. As he distracts the Master with the circuit, Jo and Barnham slip out carrying the creature. The Doctor disarms the Master and knocks him down while Jo and Barnham run to the side, leaving the Master with the creature. The creature attacks the Master and he is unable to stop the Doctor running in to the hanger to reactivate the self destruct. A helicopter arrives and the Doctor and Jo run to board it. Barnham also runs but in his child-like state, he tries to help the Master. He blocks the influence of the creature and the Master gets up and climbs into the van. He runs over Barnham and flees the field.

The Doctor and Jo run back to find the impact has killed Barnham and they flee back to the helicopter. As they take off, the Brigadier activates the self destruct and the missile explodes, destroying the hanger and the creature in the Keller Machine.

Afterwards, the Doctor discovers the circuit has fallen out of his pocket. He receives a call from the Master who informs him that he has recovered the circuit and will be leaving for a while but will be back.

Analysis

The Mind of Evil is decent overall. It has some good moments and some not so good moments. It has a good amount of action, but it also has a lot of padding. Overall, I'd say it's good, but I can understand why it gets lost in the shuffle and is never really picked out as anyone's favorite Third Doctor story.

I think my highest enjoyment came from the Master in this story. He doesn't appear until halfway through Episode Two so there is a bit of a mystery about him and unlike some of his other plans, this is actually a well thought out idea of his. He screws it up of course as he fails to see that he will lose control of the mind parasite, though he does seem to have anticipated that it would grow stronger and require him to return. Still, he is not randomly siding with the Doctor or begging for the Doctor's help as in other stories. He does use the Doctor but only while he has the upper hand and is threatening Jo. In this story at least, the Master is more akin to a slightly more competent Bond villain.
For only her second story, this one was a real boost for Jo. Unlike Terror of the Autons, Jo never succumbs to mind control, she is caring and competent in her duties and she has several strong action scenes. At no point does Jo make a major contribution to the overall plot resolution, but she does her job well and does not provide any level of harm to the plans. I found Jo quite enjoyable here.

The Doctor is fairly good here, but he is a real ass as well. He starts off wrong by being openly rude about the Keller Machine. If he knew, or even suspected that it was dangerous, he should have been softer and less of a jerk and maybe they would have believed him sooner. Similarly, despite her best efforts and a lack of mistakes, the Doctor is rather rude to Jo. It is still clear that while he cares for her in a fatherly sort of way, he still does not respect her and can be overly short and snide with her. His pomposity might be alright if he was in control of the situation but for nearly the whole story, he's playing catch-up to the Master and the inmates of the prison. Arrogance comes across rather badly when you're being thwarted by others.

I rather liked that there wasn't much of a alien villain in this one. Yes, the Keller Machine parasite was of alien origin but it wasn't this lumbering monster. It wasn't even the main focus for several parts of the story as things shifted to the Master and the prisoner's plans to take the missile. I do wish the prisoners had a bit more depth to them. Mailer was the primary focus but he seemed a bit of a one-note tough and that got a bit boring after awhile. The Master was better, having more nuance in his performance, even if his plans were fairly simple.

There was padding in this story but not to an egregious degree. I think the biggest point of padding was in how much back and forth there was in how the prison was taken over, order restored, retaken over, etc. As much as I liked Jo's bit of kick ass in suppressing the initial prison uprising prior to the Master's arrival, that was clearly a point where a concept had been stretched out. I'm guessing in the initial treatment, the prison uprising didn't actually happen until after the Master arrived. Similarly, there is a lot of capture, escape and recapture by the Doctor that I'm sure was initially just one incident in the original idea. Like most Third Doctor stories, there is enough in this one that it could be pared down to four episodes and you'd lose very little in terms of story content.

I thought the direction of the story was ok. The fight scene where the prisoners take the missile was very well done with some nice location shooting. Some of the prison scenes were nice but others were somewhat bland. I'd say that this particular director had a good eye for action but was a bit drab in the standard part of the story. But I saw more positive than negative. At no point did I ever think of a shot as being bad, save the tilting and whirling of the Keller Machine escaping the Doctor's ring trap. I actually had to look away from the screen at that point as the visual was making me motion sick. But at worst, all the other shots were simply non-notable, which is still better than being outright bad.

I think this would be a fine story to show someone not familiar with the Third Doctor era or the Delgado Master as they will be reasonably entertained by it. However, there still remains the lack of a good hook and the somewhat unlikable nature of the Third Doctor in this story. The good outweighs the bad but it's not a story that you're going to put high on the re-watch list as there are better interactions between the Doctor and the Master I think.

Overall personal score: 3 out of 5