‘Mindgame Saga’ DVD review: Is ’90s ‘Doctor Who’ spin-off just for completists?

In the history of Doctor Who, the post ‘TV Movie’ years, when the series was off air with little hope of revival, spawned many creative fan endeavours.

While some took to writing novels or audio dramas, independent film producers Reeltime Pictures carved out a way to make their own little slices of the Whoniverse, licensing characters and monsters from their creators.

Made in 1998, with a script from Doctor Who script editor Terrance Dicks, and rights to use both the Sontarans and the Draconians, (both of whom debuted during his tenure), Mindgame takes the form of a bottle episode.

Three soldiers, one of each of the monsters plus a human – played by Sophie Aldred (best known as Ace) – are abducted by tramsmat beam and confined to a single cell as part of an alien experiment. Inducing them to fight, the alien seeks to discover which of the species is worthy of becoming their allies for a universal invasion.

From a story perspective, the blunt militarism of the clone warrior contrasts well with the Draconian’s sober, sophisticated demeanour, and of course, the human’s charm and cunning shines through.

The story is not Dicks’ finest hour though, the weakest point being is the unnamed lupine alien, who suffers from an immobile mask and delivers lines which are de facto narration for the bleeding obvious. In truth, we wonder if a mysterious, invisible alien presence might have been better.

1999’s Mindgame Trilogy follows the three surviving participants further, each enjoying their own vignette, and the results are better. The Sontaran fares well, enduring a crisis of conscience on the battlefield, while the Draconian provides an engaging monologue as a prisoner again and the doomed space pilot runs the gamut of emotions while trapped in her ailing spacecraft, as she dares to hope for rescue before her air supply runs out.

Across the two films, Sophie Aldred gives her all as the human space pilot, who may be taken for Ace if you choose, and she certainly gets to demonstrate her range (though she’s doubtless the most well-spoken space mercenary ever). Miles Richardson (better known on audio as Irving Braxiatel) gives a Draconian who is thoughtful and eloquent, and doubtless many fans will be pleased to see another example of their species – not glimpsed since ‘Frontier in Space’.

Stymied by the bombastic dialogue and an inflexible mask, plus the ubiquity of modern Sontaran interpretations, Toby Aspin’s Field Major Sarg is the least interesting of the three, though he fares better on his own in Mindgame Trilogy, where the role is taken on by John Wadmore, and he has the full focus of the story.

Seen from the light of 2016, eleven years into new series Doctor Who, the Mindgame films exist as a bit of a curio. Despite the limited budget, the special effects hold up fairly well, and the costume design is reasonable, with the Draconian faring better than the Sontaran.

Released on DVD, a second disc provides a making of documentaries for both films and a modern day retrospective which helps set them in context.

While the Mindgame Saga might have a limited wider appeal, it will doubtless be of interest to older fans, who perhaps recall the period in which they were made, or the ardent Doctor Who completist.