But there's no time to deal with the Keller Machine, as the Doctor is needed to investigate the Chinese delegate's death. This leads to a nice little moment where the Doctor and the new delegate, Fu Peng, converse in Hokkien, much to the Brigadier's bemusement. Of course, it does mean that we're already poking fun at the Brigadier's expense, but at least in this case it arises naturally from the situation. It's perhaps more alarming to hear the Doctor refer to Mao Zedong as a personal friend -- you'd think Mao's policies would be the antithesis of everything the Doctor stands for. But in any event, the Doctor soon surmises a link between the previous delegate's death and the deaths seemingly caused by the Keller Machine at Stangmoor Prison. We learn that Captain Chin Lee is the link, and that she's been used by the Master. Yes, we got an episode without him (and the Radio Times didn't spoil the surprise), but he's already back, being chauffeured around while smoking cigars and listening in on UNIT phone conversations. He's certainly a lot more suave in this story than in Terror of the Autons (and considering how suave he was in that, that's saying something), and interestingly, the story, with its three separate storylines (the prison, the World Peace Conference, and the Thunderbolt nuclear missile), snaps into focus. And while we've been primarily following the Peace Conference thread, an attempted takeover of Stangmoor by the inmates takes place, with Jo still inside. But that's not the cliffhanger: instead we have Chin Lee, under the Master's orders, attempting to kill the American delegate by transforming into a giant pink dragon...
The Master hooks the Doctor up to the Keller Machine. (The Mind of Evil Episode Three) ©BBC |
And then the Doctor attempts an escape, but he's quickly recaptured by the Master, who hooks him up to the Keller Machine and turns it on...