Aurora's Sundry Notes

Oh, I just finished watching Mind Robber, which is a fabulously weird Second Doctor serial from 1968. I love it. So much. I watched parts of it during the Twitch marathon in the summer, but it was one of those stories which aired either in the middle of the night or during a work day for me, so I wasn't able to see all of it - but I loved it already then. And now I've been able to see it in full and it's so wonderfully strange and trippy and out there and meta and everything imaginable. I'd just like to watch it all over again at once.

And just how amazing is the Zoe and Karkus fight?? I bet I was squealing and squeeing out loud. (And Wendy Padbury does rock that glitter jumpsuit. Where's all that 21st century fashion the 1960s promised us now?)

For those who know nothing about the story, the basic idea is that for reasons, the TARDIS ends up outside reality, and then things start getting strange.

I do hope anyone who checks out Classic Who will include this in their viewing because it's amazing, and a good example of just how weird Doctor Who can be. Also, all the three leads are utterly fabulous in it. Even if poor Frazer Hines fell ill during the filming and had to be replaced for some time - I can't imagine any other story in which they'd have been able to "turn a bug into a feature" quite like this! (That was so weird.)

(Incidentally, I thought there were a couple of tiny allusions to Mind Robber during this season's second-last episode It Takes You Away.)

Oh, I just don't have enough words for how much this era puts me in my happy place. It's just... !!!!!

And up next I'll have Invasion! Which I watched on Dailymotion in the summer because it wasn't in the marathon, but now I get to watch it again and on my TV screen. Isobel! Zoe and Isobel! Zoe and the feather boa! Zoe and the computer! Vaughn! "Packer!" All the Two & Jamie adventurous shenanigans! Cybermen in London!