 This story was originally going to be a four-part story. But due the shortening of the previous story, "The Dominators", from six episodes to five an extra episode had to be filled. Script Editor Derrick Sherwin therefore stepped in and wrote a new episode one for "The Mind Robber". The original four episodes, written by Peter Ling, became episodes two to five. Because of a very limited budget Derrick Sherwin composed the script for this new first episode with the intention that the only sets necessary would be the TARDIS Console Room and a white void.
As Derrick Sherwin was Script Editor BBC rules meant that he could not receive a writing credit. Therefore episode one of this story has become only episode in the shows history not to include a writing credit in the opening sequence.
This stretching of this story also resulted in the first four episodes only running between 19 and 22 minutes in length, and episode five only 18 minutes – making it the shortest in Doctor Who.
Even though episodes stopped having individual titles as of the 1966 First Doctor story "The Savages" episode two had the working title "Another World".
Distinguished actress Sylvestra Le Tousel, then acting as Sylvestra Le Tozel, plays one of the children. Also two of the other child actors, Christopher and David Reynolds, had their surnames misspelt in the closing credits of the fifth episode. In episode two it was spelt 'Reynolds' while on the closing credits of episode five it was spelt 'Reynalds'.
Unfortunately, during the week between the taping of the first two instalments Frazer Hines contracted chicken pox and was therefore unavailable for the recording of the second episode. Derrick Sherwin therefore had to quickly rewrite the scripts for episodes two and three to explain Jamie's sudden change in appearance. This was achieved by The Doctor incorrectly putting Jamie's face back together while attempting to solve one of the puzzles. This allowed Hamish Wilson to be cast as the ‘altered’ Jamie during episode two and part of episode three. This is the first time that another actor has had to stand in for a member of the main cast.
During this story Frazer Hines was joined by his cousin, Ian, who played one of the Toy Soldiers.
The Karkus was played by Christopher Robbie, who would return to the show as the Cyberleader in the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "Revenge of the Cybermen".
This story is distinguished as a rare trip into nearly pure fantasy, and a prominent feature of this story is a white ‘void’ outside of time and space that The Doctor describes as ‘nowhere’. The Tenth Doctor gives the same description to the ‘void’ in the 2006 season of the show, and Sarah Jane Smith is brought to a similar place in The Sarah Jane Adventures story "Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?".
The costumes used to portray the White Robots, that close in on Jamie and Zoe Heriot in the void outside the TARDIS in the first episode, had already been used on "The Prophet" - a 1966 episode of the anthology series Out of the Unknown. The only difference was they were repainted, from their original black, to become white onscreen. They were not actually painted white. Three were painted yellow and one was grey. The reason for this was that pure white tended to be too bright for the monochrome cameras in use at the time, causing picture flaring. (for the same reason, the TARDIS control console was painted pale green rather than white).
The Master of the Land of Fiction should not be confused with the renegade Time Lord known as The Master.
Although The Master of the Land of Fiction is never named, it is strongly implied that he is Frank Richards, creator of the popular Billy Bunter character of children's fiction. The Master of the Land of Fiction is heard to state that he wrote the adventures of Captain Jack Harkaway in the Ensign comic; in reality, it was Frank Richards who wrote these stories. (Peter Ling himself had also written for boys' comics).
The Land of Fiction also features in the Virgin Books' The New Adventures spin-off novels "Conundrum" and "Head Games" by Steve Lyons. In "Conundrum", it is revealed that the Land of Fiction was created by the Gods of Ragnarok.
On both occasions before Jamie gets turned into a cut-out, he shouts, ‘Creag an tuire!’ Frazer Hines joked on the DVD commentary that this is Scottish Gaelic for ‘vodka and tonic’. However, it is actually the motto of the MacLaren Clan of Scotland, meaning ‘the boar's rock’. These are also Jamie's last words in his last regular story, "The War Games", as he charges an English redcoat on the fields of Scotland.
The children's sequence is largely drawn from E. Nesbit's "Treasure Seekers".
Cyrano de Bergerac is treated as a fictional character (from Rostand's play), despite being historically real, as is Blackbeard.
The Karkus (a Germanic superhero from the strip cartoons in the 'hourly telepress') is from the year 2000. It is revealed that Zoe is a follower of the Karkus' adventures. The Karkus' anti-molecular ray disintegrator gun is, according to The Doctor, 'scientifically impossible'. It then promptly disappears.
The character Gulliver speaks only lines written for him by Jonathan Swift in Gulliver's Travels.
One of the fictional characters encountered is the minotaur of Greek mythology. Variations on this myth were used again in the 1972 Third Doctor story "The Time Monster" and the 1979/80 Fourth Doctor story "The Horns of Nimon".
The Unicorn scene was recorded at the Kenley Aerodrome in Surrey. Unfortunately, the horse provided had a light brown coat rather than the required white, and so it had to be painted white.
Escaping from Dulkis, the mercury fluid links begin to vaporise. The Doctor is heard to say 'This has happened before' – referring to "The Daleks" and "The Wheel in Space".
Although a caption at the end of episode five stated ‘NEXT WEEK - THE INVASION’, it would be three weeks until the first episode of "The Invasion" was broadcast. This was due to the BBC's coverage of the 1968 Summer Olympics.
In episode one of "The Invasion" it is implied that this adventure was a dream. At the end of "The Mind Robber" the TARDIS is seen to reform and return to ordinary space and the next story starts immediately with no reference to The Master of the Land of Fiction, who was going to be taken home. His non-presence indicates that episodes two to five of this adventure do not take place at all, but is a dream brought on by whatever is outside time and space. Thus, the TARDIS never really broke up.
It has also been suggested that the White Robots and Tin Soldiers are Jamie and Zoe's subconscious representations of the Cybermen and the Quarks (if, as Derrick Sherwin intended, this is a 'dream story'). The Master of the Land of Fiction might therefore be The Doctor's subconscious echo of the Gallifreyan renegade.
Episode five was recorded on 35mm film instead of videotape. The recording of this episode also brought an end to both the production of "The Mind Robber" and the fifth recording block. This story though, along with "The Dominators", was held over to Season Six.
"The Mind Robber" was the only Doctor Who story written by Peter Ling. He subsequently published several novels. Peter Ling died on the 14th September 2006.
This story was repeated on BBC2 in January and February 1992.
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story to be written by Peter Ling.
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by David Maloney.
The first time that another actor has had to stand in for a member of the main cast.
The first Doctor Who story to have individual episodes less than the normal 24 or 25 minutes in length.
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(Position = 55 out of 159)
(Position = 60 out of 200)
