Mind of Evil

My one abiding memory of "The Mind of Evil" is of not being able to hear it. The family two doors down sadly had an autistic son, whom they used to deal with by simply locking him out the house so he could scream his head off in the garden all day. And did he scream. Was I tactless to resent having to close my windows while I watched the days Doctor Who tape?

But that's got nothing much to do with "The Mind of Evil", an odd story that feels more like it belongs in Season 7 than as part of the following year. Perhaps its the pseudo-hard-sci-fi subject matter, the idea that a machine could be created that drains the evil from a mans mind? Maybe it's the return of Don Houghton, author of the similarly sociologically aware "Inferno" from the previous season. Or perhaps it's the unfortunate fact that the whole thing only exists in colourless monochrome. Still, with plush location footage of a cigar-smoking Master in the back of a limo and a conversation held entirely in Hokien, this was as an unlikely successor to the brash "Terror of the Autons" as ever might be imagined.

Doctor Who frequently tried "new starts", and just as often reverted back to type soon afterwards. "Spearhead from Space" is like cheese to "The War Games" chalk, for example, but there's more than a little of Season 6 in "The Ambassadors of Death". And "Meglos" actually has a less convincing jungle than Season 17's "Creature from the Pit", and its TARDIS-bound action and costuming are more than a little reminiscent of that season. Part of the reason for this could be the stamp that individual writers placed on their stories; "Inferno" is spread over a whole quarter of Season 7 for example (as well as being among its most popular stories) so in a way it helped define the feel of the season: the moody and expensive location filming, the non-fantastical monster, the broody and intolerant Doctor. It's no wonder that when Houghton returned the next year, his story had Season 7 footprints all over it.

So which stories are in the "wrong" seasons? Stick "Mind of Evil" in Season 7 for starters, perhaps swapping it with "Spearhead from Space", a 4-part alien invasion tale that doesn't really belong where it sits. "Evil of the Daleks" arrives a story too early, and should by rights be a part of the Season 5 "monster era" (a position it even cheats its way into by means of a repeat). And "The Invasion of Time" would sit well as part of Season 16, it's tack and gaud being more reminiscent of "The Androids of Tara" than "Image of the Fendahl" or "Horror of Fang Rock" (which, by the way, deserves the credibility of joining Season 14). And "Silver Nemesis" is a total Season 24 refugee, being too silly and not complex enough for the following year.

It's a fun game, if you want to have a go, not that it changes anything. "The Mind of Evil" remains an enjoyable if heartless part of Season 8, mixing the Masterly schemes of one year with the grainy realism of the next.