Mindgame (Doctor Who)

Last updated

The Mindgame series is a series of direct-to-video spin-off productions based on the long running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who . The two films in the series are Mindgame (1998), Mindgame Trilogy (1999). They were produced by the independent Reeltime Pictures company. All films have been reissued on DVD.

Contents

All story elements relating to Doctor Who were licensed from their respective authors. [1]

Overview

While Mindgame tells the story of a human, a Sontaran and a Draconian trapped together in a prison cell, the Mindgame Trilogy continues their story after they escaped. Mindgame is written by Terrance Dicks. The Mindgame Trilogy is separated into three little stories: Battlefield is written Terrance Dicks while Prisoner 451 is written by Miles Richardson and Scout Ship by Roger Stevens. [2] The stories are directed by Keith Barnfather. [3] The stories were released as Region 2 and 4 DVDs. [4] [5] Furthermore they were released on video in PAL and NTSC by Reeltime Pictures. [6] While Sophie Aldred plays the human and Miles Richardson the Draconian in all the stories, the Sontaran is played by different actors. Toby Aspin plays the Sontaran in Mindgame and John Wadmore in the Mindgame Trilogy. [7]

Mindgame

Mindgame
Directed byKeith Barnfather
Written by Terrance Dicks
Produced byKeith Barnfather
StarringBryan Robson
Sophie Aldred
Toby Aspin
Miles Richardson
Edited byBrian Comley
Production
company
Release date
  • 1998 (1998)
Running time
30 minutes

Story

A human, a Sontaran, and a Draconian trapped together in a prison cell. Another alien has trapped them there to find out about their strengths and weaknesses. The alien wants them to fight against each other. However, the Sontaran, Draconian and human work together and the alien is killed by the human. The Sontaran, Draconian and human return to the place where they have been before they were kidnapped.

Critical reception

Paul Clarke calls the drama "a short but sweet character drama that is clearly Doctor Who on the sly". [8] Stuart Gutteridge from Pagefillers describes Mindgame as a "rushed piece of work" with a very simple plot. According to him it has a predictable ending but is nothing less than entertaining. Reuben Herfindahl thinks that Mindgame is the worst professional Doctor Who related video he has ever seen. The only positive thing about this video is the acting of Sophie Aldred and Miles Richardson. The writing is bad. Richard Radcliffe adds that he found the characters ordinary and predictable. [9] Kathy Sullivan thinks that the characters are "over relying on stereotypes". According to her it is a "good short story with nicely-done costumes and special effects". [10]

Mindgame Trilogy

Mindgame Trilogy
Directed byKeith Barnfather
Written by Terrance Dicks
Miles Richardson
Roger Stevens
Produced byKeith Barnfather
Starring Sophie Aldred
Miles Richardson
John Wadmore
Edited byRobin Lee
Music by Nicholas Briggs
Production
company
Release date
  • 1998 (1998)
Running time
30 minutes

Story

Battlefield (Terrance Dicks)

Field-Major Sarg is wounded and dying on a battle-scarred planet unless the Sontarans come back for him. He thinks about his previous experiences with the human and the Draconian. He believes that Sontarans and other species might work together, but is not this unthinkable for a Sontaran. Sarg’s commander arrives and hears Sarg’s thoughts on Sontarans and other species working together. The commander executes Sarg for treason.

Prisoner 451 (Miles Richardson)

The Draconian is in the prison and going to face certain death. He thinks about his previous experiences and finally his crime is revealed. He fell in love with the complete works of William Shakespeare.

Scout Ship (Roger Stevens)

The human pilot is going to die soon, her spaceship is broken. The only thing that is working is the onboard camera. She captures her last moments on the spaceship on camera before killing herself.

Critical reception

Richard Radcliffe from Pagefillers thought that the segment with the human was predictable. He believed that the Sontaran segment was the best and that the actor was a lot better than the actor who acted the Sontaran in Mindgame. He also thought that the set, the SFX and Terrance Dicks writing were impressive. Stuart Gutteridge added that the location and the CGI effects added an atmosphere to the proceedings in the Sontaran story. According to him the segment with the human was the most emotional of the three. [7] Kathy Sullivan recommended the film. She believed that the trilogy was much darker and gave the actors an opportunity for powerful performances, but it also left her rather depressed by the end. [10] Paul Clarke called the film a "modestly impressive trilogy". The Sontaran segment was an "enjoyable study in Sontaran psychology, even if there is not really the time for it to be anything more than the simplistic". Furthermore, he thought that the special effects were remarkably effective. [11]

Novelisation

Mindgame
Author David J. Howe
Cover artistAndrew-Mark Thompson
Publisher Telos Publishing
Publication date
August 2020 [12]
Pages138
ISBN 978-1-84583-986-4

A novelisation of these films by David J. Howe was published August 2020 by Telos Publishing. [13] [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sontaran</span> Fictional race from the Doctor Who franchise

The Sontarans are a fictional race of extraterrestrial humanoids principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who and its spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. A warrior race characterised by their ruthlessness and fearlessness of death, they were conceived by writer and future story editor Robert Holmes and first appeared in the 1973 Doctor Who serial The Time Warrior.

State of Decay is the fourth serial of the 18th season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 November to 13 December 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNIT</span> Fictional military intelligence organization in the Doctor Who franchise

UNIT is a fictional military organisation from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Operating under the auspices of the United Nations and initially led by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, its purpose is to investigate and combat paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to Earth. Several UNIT personnel played a major role in the original Doctor Who series, and it was a regular feature from The Invasion (1968) until The Seeds of Doom (1976).

Terror of the Autons is the first serial of the eighth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 January 1971.

Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Peter Darvill-Evans is an English writer and editor.

The Time Warrior is the first serial of the 11th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 15 December 1973 to 5 January 1974. The serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontaran race. The serial also introduces the name of the Doctor's home planet, Gallifrey.

The Sontaran Experiment is the third serial of the 12th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast on BBC1 on 22 February and 1 March 1975.

Reeltime Pictures Ltd is a British film, television and video production company and a distributor of the films of other companies, founded in 1984 by Keith Barnfather.

Robot is the first serial of the 12th season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 28 December 1974 to 18 January 1975. It was the first full serial to feature Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, as well as Ian Marter as new companion Harry Sullivan. The serial brought a full end to the Pertwee era, as it was the final story with the production team of Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks. It was also the final regular appearance of UNIT, who had become regulars starting with the first Jon Pertwee serial Spearhead From Space.

The Androids of Tara is the fourth serial of the 16th season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 25 November to 16 December 1978.

Frontier in Space is the third serial of the tenth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The serial was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 24 February to 31 March 1973. It was the last serial to feature Roger Delgado in the role of the Master.

The Android Invasion is the fourth serial of the thirteenth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 November to 13 December 1975.

<i>Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans</i> 1994 Doctor Who episode

Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans is a film spin-off of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was released direct-to-video in 1995 and was produced by the independent production company Dreamwatch Media, a division of Dreamwatch magazine. Initially available only through mail order and specialty shops, it was subsequently released to retail by Reeltime Pictures in 1997. It features two races of aliens, the Sontarans and the Rutans. The Sontarans and Rutans were licensed from the estate of their creator Robert Holmes, although the appearance of the Sontarans had to be modified to avoid legal complications with the BBC, which owned the design of the creatures.

<i>Wartime</i> (film) 1988 Doctor Who episode

Wartime is a 1988 direct-to-video science fiction film produced by Reeltime Pictures. It is the first professionally produced, authorized independent spin-off of the British television series Doctor Who, and the only such production to be made while the original run of the show was still on the air.

<i>Dæmos Rising</i> 2004 Doctor Who spinoff film

Dæmos Rising is a direct-to-DVD spin-off of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was released direct-to-video and produced by the independent production company Reeltime Pictures. It is a sequel to the Third Doctor serial The Dæmons and the 1995 Reeltime video Downtime and is also a tie-in to Telos Publishing's Time Hunter range of books, another Doctor Who spin-off.

<i>Doctor Who</i> season 12 Season of television series

The twelfth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 28 December 1974 with Tom Baker's first serial Robot, and ended with Revenge of the Cybermen on 10 May 1975.

<i>Doctor Who</i> season 11 Season of television series

The eleventh season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 15 December 1973 with the serial The Time Warrior, and ended with Jon Pertwee's final serial Planet of the Spiders. The season's writing was recognized by the Writer's Guild of Great Britain for Best Children's Drama Script. This is the Third Doctor's fifth and final series, and also the last consecutively to be produced by Barry Letts and script edited by Terrance Dicks. Both Letts and Dicks would work for the programme again, however - Letts in Season 18 and Dicks on future stories, e.g. Horror of Fang Rock.

References

  1. ↑ Shaun Lyon (10 November 2003). "Mindgame DVD". Doctorwhonews.net. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Reeltime Pictures Mindgame / Mindgame Trilogy". Thedoctorwhosite.co.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Doctor Who: Will this film do the series justice?". The Daily Telegraph. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Mindgame". Timelash. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Mindgame Trilogy". Timelash. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Mindgame. Mindgame Trilogy. Reeltime Pictures". Drwhoguide. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  7. 1 2 Stuart Gutteridge and Richard Radcliffe. "Reeltime Pictures. The Mindgame Trilogy". Pagefillers. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Paul Clarke. "Mindgame" . Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Reuben Herfindahl, Stuart Gutteridge and Richard Radcliffe. "Reeltime Pictures. Mindgame". Pagefillers. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  10. 1 2 Kathryn Sullivan. "Mindgame, Reviewed by Kathryn Sullivan" . Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  11. ↑ Paul Clarke. "Mindgame: Trilogy". Whoniverse.net. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  12. 1 2 "Mindgame – Target Edition – Telos Publishing". 2 September 2020.
  13. ↑ TELOS ANNOUNCE NEW REELTIME NOVELISATIONS! (YouTube video). Time Travel TV. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.