Is Mindwarp really the worst story of the classic show?

[Deleted]

The death of Peri, the return of Sil and Brian f*cking Blessed... surely a classic in the making? Sadly not. The thing about Mindwarp, and this is true about the rest of the season too, is that there's an air of, "that'll do" about it. Nobody thought to go back and clarify whether or not the Doctor was actually pretending to help the mentors or was genuinely addled. I assume this is because nobody *did* know, not even the guy who wrote it. There's a famous story of Colin asking Saward and Saward simply telling him to speak to Martin who then told him to ask Saward instead. The actual story is as thin as can possible be. Kiv needs another body. That's the crux of it. The acting is truly terrible from pretty much everyone (except Crozier who seems to know what kind of story he's in) with Colin Baker giving the worst performance of any classic Doctor. As Rob correctly mentions, he's trying to outdo Brian Blessed who in turn is trying to camp it up as much as humanly possible to the point that any tension or suspense instantly dissipates when he's on screen. And I'm f*cking sick of these grimy-looking underground caves. I didn't mind in Caves of Androzani because it was directed with such flair, but this just looks bland and lifeless. Could they seriously not set it somewhere else, a castle or something? Even the sets in The Twin Dilemma look better than the ones in Mindwarp! Time and the Rani is better than this and you can't convince me otherwise.

[rushy]

I don't hold it in my bottom 30. Blessed is hilarious, it has based Sil in it and Crozier drinking tea during surgery is my one of my favourite visual gags in the entire series.

Its only flaw is an incoherent narrative.

[Deleted]

Oct 30, 2023 11:09:59 GMT rushy said:

I don't hold it in my bottom 30. Blessed is hilarious, it has based Sil in it and Crozier drinking tea during surgery is my one of my favourite visual gags in the entire series.

Its only flaw is an incoherent narrative.

Sil is awful in it. None of the menace he had is retained from Varos. He's some sort of giggling comic relief character for small kids in this one. I agree about the tea bit with Crozier which is funny to be fair. 

[burrunjor]

I agree it's terrible, also whilst I'm all for the show being a bit darker and pushing the boundaries I think the way Peri is killed is too unpleasant and horrible. It's not just a question of she dies in combat or even alone like Adric. She is brutally tortured for hours and in some respects violated first. Even for a dark, adult show like Buffy, if it was to kill one of its leads like that, it would probably be too much. It was such a horrible ending it's no wonder they had to undo it, with possibly the most ridiculous retcon of all time until the Timeless Children LMAO.

To be honest I don't blame the writers for that retcon. They couldn't possibly have left it like that, so I still place the blame of the retcon on this adventure.

Meanwhile Brian Blessed gives the absolute worst performance of his career. I was in absolute f*cking hysterics watching him, and whilst that may be entertaining it did completely ruin what was supposed to be a dark story.

I wouldn't rate it the worst however. That probably falls to The Leisure Hive which is just so boring it almost put me into a coma. Brian Blessed's ridiculous OTT performance would probably wake me up from a coma with laughter.

[rushy]

The real truth everyone is afraid to admit

Mindwarp >>> City of Death

[Deleted]

Oct 30, 2023 13:02:23 GMT rushy said:

The real truth everyone is afraid to admit

Mindwarp >>> City of Death

Mindwarp isn't even on par with Timelash let alone City of Death 

[rushy]

They're both better than City of Death. Timelash has Paul Darrow, after all.

[rushy]

Of course, End of Time >>> the whole lot of them

[Deleted]

Oct 30, 2023 13:16:01 GMT rushy said:

Of course, End of Time >>> the whole lot of them

I'd love to see the proper script for this episode. 


[And the Master and his clones go: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha]

[burrunjor]

Oct 30, 2023 13:31:27 GMT @kengrubshaw said:

Oct 30, 2023 13:16:01 GMT rushy said:

Of course, End of Time >>> the whole lot of them

I'd love to see the proper script for this episode. 


[And the Master and his clones go: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha]

That reminds me of a bit in Alan Partridge where he realises he laughs genuinely at a joke, but realises he still has about a minute left and can't fill it with anything else so he pads out the laughing at his joke to fill it. 

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAH (looks at clock) AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (looks at clock)  AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (looks at clock) AHAHAHAHAHA news at ten."

That must have been what happened with RTD's run time.

[Deleted]

That scene is apparently genius from Simm according to some fans, but whenever Ainley even slightly chuckles to himself he's considered a panto villain.

[burrunjor]

Oct 30, 2023 15:38:31 GMT @kengrubshaw said:

That scene is apparently genius from Simm according to some fans, but whenever Ainley even slightly chuckles to himself he's considered a panto villain.

Similarly Roberts saying Drezz for the Occasion is making the Master too camp, whilst Missy French kissing Capaldi, flying in as Mary Poppins, killing cute fan girls because she's jealous of them (which she only manages through teleporting powers and guards not reacting when she puts lipstick on RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM showing she is free) switching accents and prancing around looking as though she's drunk, and essentially being the same bullshit guys fantasy character Moffat came up with three times before is her channeling and honoring the legacy of Roger Delgado.

[iank]

Mindwarp probably is the single worst story of classic Who. It really is dreadful on every level.

[Spark Doll King]

I would watch Mindwarp 100 times over Underworld. Is it bad yes, but it's at least entreatingly bad.

Underworld is soooo boring that I actually lose track of space & time while watching it.

[rushy]

Underworld would be alright if it wasn't for the dreadful greenscreen. But I'd still watch Mindwarp ahead both it and ESPECIALLY before Invasion of Time, which is the televisual equivalent to overcooked cabbage. Williams should've had the wit to realise he was out of money.