A Trip to Karn: The Brain of Morbius & Night of the Doctor

So today we are taking a trip to Karn, and I will admit, this episode originally spawned the idea we need to talk Night of the Doctor, because it's absolutely amazing and we love Paul McGann.

And we thought, well, it's a nine minute, or is it, or it's, or seven minutes.

Seve-

Seven, eight minutes

... seven or eight minute, uh, mini episode from the 50th.

Thought probably not enough to stretch a whole episode of the podcast out of there, but we thought, "Hey, let's go to Karn, and let's also talk an absolutely stonking classic, which is The Brain of Morbius as well." So what we're gonna do today, we're gonna talk The Brain of Morbius, we're gonna talk Night of the Doctor, and we'll also briefly discuss the other kind of appearance of the Karn, or Assistant of Karn, in Doctor Who as well.

But, uh, let's get into it, The Brain of Morbius, and, um, this is right in my favorite season of Doctor Who, Season 13, Doctor Who Gothic era.

Matt, what are your thoughts on this era in general?

I mean, for me it's, if I had to pick two eras, I, I'm always gonna be an RTD 1 era lover.

Um, that's my era of Doctor Who.

But from classic Doctor Who, I think the Hinchcliffe Holmes era is just near on perfect.

Even the stories that don't quite come together or don't quite work still have, there's so much in them that- There's so much heart and character and, you know, interesting design elements and act- surprisingly, I think it's the era where there's consistently such great effects as well.

Mm.

You really feel like you've got not just a producer and a script editor, but you've got directors, designers, prosthetic designers, um, you know, special makeup and costume design.

Everyone's, like, top of their game in those three years.

Mm.

Uh, I, I think even if, even if there's some stories where one element sort of lets it down, nothing else does, you know? I think of, if I had to pick, like, one that's maybe the weakest, I think Revenge of the Cybermen.

But even that, I think-

Yeah

... like, the costumes are fantastic.

The Wookey Hole location shooting is fantastic.

Mm.

The, the masks on the Vogons look fantastic.

Uh, yeah, I, I-

Yeah

So today we are taking a trip to Karn, and I will admit, this episode originally spawned the idea we need to talk Night of the Doctor, because it's absolutely amazing and we love Paul McGann.

And we thought, well, it's a nine minute, or is it, or it's, or seven minutes.

Seve-

Seven, eight minutes

... seven or eight minute, uh, mini episode from the 50th.

Thought probably not enough to stretch a whole episode of the podcast out of there, but we thought, "Hey, let's go to Karn, and let's also talk an absolutely stonking classic, which is The Brain of Morbius as well." So what we're gonna do today, we're gonna talk The Brain of Morbius, we're gonna talk Night of the Doctor, and we'll also briefly discuss the other kind of appearance of the Karn, or Assistant of Karn, in Doctor Who as well.

But, uh, let's get into it, The Brain of Morbius, and, um, this is right in my favorite season of Doctor Who, Season 13, Doctor Who Gothic era.

Matt, what are your thoughts on this era in general?

I mean, for me it's, if I had to pick two eras, I, I'm always gonna be an RTD 1 era lover.

Um, that's my era of Doctor Who.

But from classic Doctor Who, I think the Hinchcliffe Holmes era is just near on perfect.

Even the stories that don't quite come together or don't quite work still have, there's so much in them that- There's so much heart and character and, you know, interesting design elements and act- surprisingly, I think it's the era where there's consistently such great effects as well.

Mm.

You really feel like you've got not just a producer and a script editor, but you've got directors, designers, prosthetic designers, um, you know, special makeup and costume design.

Everyone's, like, top of their game in those three years.

Mm.

Uh, I, I think even if, even if there's some stories where one element sort of lets it down, nothing else does, you know? I think of, if I had to pick, like, one that's maybe the weakest, I think Revenge of the Cybermen.

But even that, I think-

Yeah

... like, the costumes are fantastic.

The Wookey Hole location shooting is fantastic.

Mm.

The, the masks on the Vogons look fantastic.

Uh, yeah, I, I-

Yeah