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Classic Who S6 • Serial 2 · (5 episodes)

The Mind Robber

Other variations of this story: The Mind Robber (TOTT version)

4.31/ 5 354 votes

First aired Saturday, September 14, 1968
Production Code UU
Directed by David Maloney
Runtime 100 minutes
Time Travel Alternate Reality
Tropes: (Potential Spoilers!) Clockwork The Doctor Falls Lost the TARDIS Robots
Synopsis

To escape from the volcanic eruption on Dulkis, the Second Doctor uses an emergency unit. It moves the TARDIS out of normal time and space. The travellers find themselves in an endless void where they are menaced by white robots.

Having regained the safety of the TARDIS, they believe they have escaped — until the ship explodes. They find themselves in a land of fiction, where they are hunted by life-size clockwork soldiers and encounter characters like Rapunzel, the Karkus, and Swift's Lemuel Gulliver.

5 Episodes:

First aired Saturday, September 14, 1968
Runtime 20 minutes
Written by Derrick Sherwin
Directed by David Maloney
UK Viewers 6.6 million
Appreciation Index 51

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives in a white void, having made an emergency take-off to escape the volcanic eruption on Dulkis. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe find themselves in the Land of Fiction, where characters from the imagination come to life, and The Master, the mysterious ruler, chooses the Doctor to take his place.

First aired Saturday, September 21, 1968
Runtime 20 minutes
Written by Peter Ling
Directed by David Maloney
UK Viewers 6.5 million
Appreciation Index 49

Synopsis

With the TARDIS destroyed, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe find themselves in a strange forest patrolled by mysterious soldiers.

First aired Saturday, September 28, 1968
Runtime 20 minutes
Written by Peter Ling
Directed by David Maloney
UK Viewers 7.2 million
Appreciation Index 53

Synopsis

The Doctor realises that the travellers are trapped in a world where fiction is real and where creatures are a threat if people believe in them.

First aired Saturday, October 5, 1968
Runtime 20 minutes
Written by Peter Ling
Directed by David Maloney
UK Viewers 7.3 million
Appreciation Index 56

Synopsis

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe reach the citadel at the centre of the land, where they finally encounter the Master of the Land of Fiction.

First aired Saturday, October 12, 1968
Runtime 20 minutes
Written by Peter Ling
Directed by David Maloney
UK Viewers 6.7 million
Appreciation Index 49

Synopsis

With Jamie and Zoe having been turned into fiction, the Doctor must find a way to save them without suffering the same fate or becoming part of the Master Brain.

Ratings are from TARDIS Guide members only.

Related Stories:

Other adaptations of this story: