The Mind’s Eye: On a planet with no name, the Doctor finds himself confronted by a faulty memory and some killer plants.
Mission of the Viyrans: The Doctor and Peri take a holiday on the planet Gralista Social, but soon discover they aren’t the only time-travelling aliens in town.
THE MIND’S EYE
I’ll admit my expectations for “The Mind’s Eye” weren’t the highest. I’ve never been a big fan of Colin Brake’s Doctor Who work — his writing isn’t bad, just very average — and none of the 3/1 releases to date had really impressed me. Yet I was pleasantly surprised by the November 2007 release: it’s very well-constructed, entertaining drama that’s solidly rewarding and worth a purchase.
There isn’t much about “The Mind’s Eye” that warrants in-depth discussion, unfortunately. Brake uses the well-worn amnesiac Doctor plot device, but it’s mostly there to help throw the listener into the action right from the start, and thankfully the Doctor gets his memories back without much effort. It’s an efficient tool that lets us learn the plot by experience rather than via narration. The characters are developed believably and have sufficient depth — yes, the twist involving Takol (Rebecca Front) and Hayton (Owen Teale) is predictable, but it’s nonetheless entertaining.
The interesting parts of “The Mind’s Eye” come from the main threat: the killer plants who induce elaborate dreams in their victims while they feed. These dreams function as a window into the souls of Peri and Erimem, and it is in these sequences that Brake’s writing shines. Erimem envisions herself as the ruler of a futuristic colony modeled after her own ancient Egypt. While this is a simple combination of her life before and after meeting the Doctor, she’s also experiencing a loss of control: a rebellion threatens to topple her rule, and assassins are at her doorstep. Meanwhile, Peri’s dream sees her settling down with a boyfriend (Richard Laing), trying to gain the trust of her future stepson Kyle (Thomas Brodie-Sangster). Yet she, too, is helpless: Kyle contracts meningitis, while she also stumbles across an apparent affair between her boyfriend and a friend. Perhaps I’m reading too much into this, and perhaps these stressful dreams are just a result of the plants, but both companions dream about leaving the Doctor and about a lack of control. The vagaries of travel in the TARDIS might be too much — do companions truly leave to reclaim control of their lives?
Peter Davison doesn’t have a great deal to do here — the Doctor mostly reacts to the plot, and his best scenes involve convincing his companions to leave their dreams. Nicola Bryant gives her usual solid performance — and Peri sounds substantially more intelligent than in “Son of the Dragon” — but Caroline Morris is again the star, with heavy hints being dropped about Erimem’s impending departure. Teale, the best thing about Torchwood’s “Countrycide,” and Front combine to form a fine pair of classic Doctor Who “science gone mad” villains. Laing, though, is just terrible: he fails to convince as Ukarme as his line readings sound stilted and flat, and he’s not much better in any of his three additional minor roles.
The production receives my usual repetitive praise: excellent sound design by Steve Foxon, including one praiseworthy scene in which he communicates a plant shriveling up and releasing its grip on a person without any descriptive dialogue. Barnaby Edwards’ direction keeps things moving along at a brisk pace. CD extras include interviews with the whole cast — including a brief, entertaining discussion with Davison about “Spamalot” — and brief chats with Edwards and “Mission of the Viyrans” scribe Nicholas Briggs.
Overall, “The Mind’s Eye” is a very solid release. It’s the best of the three-part releases, and would have received a better rating if not for one terrible acting performance. This is well-plotted, well-characterized, entertaining science fiction: it doesn’t break any boundaries, but there’s certainly a place for strong, pulpy Doctor Who. Brake comes in for a lot of stick in the fan community, but he certainly doesn’t deserve any here.
7/10
MISSION OF THE VIYRANS
Er, what?
Nicholas Briggs’ “Mission of the Viyrans” appears to be laying the groundwork for a story to come later. Certainly Nicola Bryant is the best thing about it, as we see Peri plunged into a nightmare scenario — this is some of the best acting we’ve had out of Bryant, who sounds terrified throughout. Unfortunately, I don’t think the framing story works — a race of aliens manipulating her memories so she forgets what happened? I’m also not sure I like the concept of the Viyrans themselves: they created deadly viruses (and they’re called Viyrans! get it?!) and are now acting like an interstellar biohazard cleanup crew. That’s… well, that’s not interesting at all, honestly. It would appear they’re capable of time travel, but as they seem to erase this story’s events, the plot loses its significance. It seems like Briggs is trying to recapture “Mission to the Unknown,” using a one-part story to foreshadow a coming epic — but “there are dangerous viruses around” isn’t quite as gripping as “the Daleks are coming.” A head-scratcher of a release, and one I’m struggling even to grade. We’ll call it average.
5/10