The legendary Time Lord villain Morbius returns during the Time War with a lust for vengeance and a vendetta against the Doctor.
Morbius is a legendary Time Lord, a tyrant who led and lost civil war in that ancient society long ago. The Fourth Doctor encountered what was left of him in ‘The Brain of Morbius,’ where a devotee hoped to restore the villain with a new body.
On audio, we last met Morbius in the first trilogy of the Dark Gallifrey saga. That tale showed another of his desperate survival stratagems, only to be again thwarted by the Doctor, (or an aspect of him at least). While it’s definitely well worth a listen, all you need to know is that Morbius survived and that he’s back, seeking revenge.
But Morbius has been changed by his journey through the Time Vortex – and his enemy is now a different man, one who has forsaken the name Doctor.
Morbius the Mighty
It’s a soft restart for the War Doctor and the story finds him initially out of action. Infected by a virus, he’s temporarily incapable of travelling in time without writhing in agony. Forced to take respire, he’s convalescing on a remote planet in the care of Cora, a former Sister of Karn.
Meanwhile, Morbius resurfaces in the temporal conflict between the Time Lords and the Daleks. After a chance encounter in the Valley, a rip in the fabric of time, he is soon up to speed on the Time War. Naturally, he plans to turn the situation to his advantage.
Between the pair are The Third Power, the group responsible for the Doctor’s aliment. Born of the conflict, they have their own agenda and seem keen to play one side off against the other.
In Summary
The midst of the Time War is a perfect place for Morbius. It lets us see the warmonger in action, outsmarting both the Daleks and the Time Lords. At the head of a fleet of warships, fixated on his objective, he’s dangerous and utterly possessed of self-belief. However, he’s also driven by a desire of vengeance and his obsession with the Doctor is all consuming. Building on his previous work, Samuel West gives another powerhouse performance as the delusional villain who believes in his own manifest destiny.
Against him, Jonathon Carley is superb as the War Doctor too. He really does sound uncannily like the late John Hurt. The fractious patient/nurse relationship between him and Shelia Ruskin’s Cora was a joy.
As Morbius’ increasingly troubled henchman Judd, Gareth Armstrong is excellent too. His character is well-employed to imply that Morbius’ forces are greater than the production can afford to voice. Pamela Nomvete intrigues as 1-8-1, the representative of the Third Power. The group are an interesting idea, and it would be great to hear more from then.
The role the TARDIS plays in the tale and the decision to revert to the Eighth Doctor’s console room, as shown on the impressive Sean Longmore cover, is well-reasoned too.
More Morbius please!
Morbus was indeed mighty, but there was so much potential in this setting that it’s a shame that the storyline was wrapped up within three episodes. However, like the proverbial bad penny, or indeed the TV movie Master, he keeps turning up. Let’s hope Tim Foley can be persuaded to bring him back for another encore.
Doctor Who – The War Doctor Rises – Morbius the Mighty is out now. It’s available on Collector’s Edition CD (+ download), or download only, from Big Finish.