The Brain of Morbius ( TV story ) The Brain of Morbius was the fifth story in season thirteen of " Doctor Who " . It referred to the Doctor ' s past and had a scene featuring mindbending that introduced contentious elements to the shows ' mythos . The story was influenced by Mary Shelley ' s " Frankenstein " . Synopsis . Mad scientist Mehendri Solon is building a body from spare parts to house the disembodied brain of the evil Time Lord Morbius . He fancies the Doctor ' s head as the final piece . . . Plot . Part one . On a dark and stormy night on a rocky and remote planet , an injured alien crawls from the wreckage of a space capsule . He doesn ' t get far . A brutish killer with a hook for a hand emerges from behind a rock and raises his knife . The hook - handed murderer , Condo , brings the severed head to his master , Mehendri Solon , who finds it unsuitable for his purpose . The TARDIS materialises nearby and the Doctor emerges in a rage , certain some external influence — most likely the Time Lord s — has made them land here . He eventually realises from the stars that they are within " a couple billion miles " of Gallifrey . Resentful at being expected to do the Time Lords ' dirty work , the Doctor sulks while Sarah Jane explores . She sees a vast plain strewn with the wreckage of dozens of spaceships . They find the decapitated corpse of the crash victim , which the Doctor identifies as a Mutt . Their presence is observed by a red - robed woman , Ohica of the Sisterhood of Karn . She reports to their High Priestess , Maren , who suspects their arrival is connected to their Sacred Flame . A product of superheated gas , the Flame produces the Elixir of Life that makes them immortal . However , the Flame has been dying . Without the Elixir , the Sisterhood is doomed . The Doctor and Sarah arrive at Solon ' s castle . Solon greets them awkwardly , remarking on the Doctor ' s " magnificent head " . He orders Condo to bring wine . The Doctor recognises Solon as a distinguished scientist , a genius in the field of organ and tissue transplantation . His reputation was wrecked by his rumoured connection to the followers of Morbius , a notorious Time Lord criminal . Solon dismisses the idea as mere professional jealousy that nevertheless prompted him to relocate to the planet Karn . A burst of wind forces the front door open and blows the cover off a clay bust . The Doctor suspects the Sisterhood ' s involvement , and in the aftermath recognises the bust as Morbius only to succumb to wine drugged by Solon ' s servant . Sarah , who has not drunk , feigns unconsciousness . Solon tells Condo to prepare the Doctor for an operation . They carry the Doctor to the lab . Meanwhile , the Sisterhood form a circle of meditation and focus on the TARDIS , which they teleport into their chamber . They identify it as Time Lord technology . They are convinced the Time Lords are plotting to steal the last drops of the Elixir of Life . Solon and Condo go to repair the generators before the operation . While they are away , the Doctor ' s form glows and disappears , teleported by the Sisterhood . Sarah Jane sneaks into the lab looking for him . She opens a curtain and is confronted by a monstrous creature , a patchwork of sewn - together alien body parts , missing only a head . . . Part two . Returning to find the Doctor gone , Solon realises he has been captured by the Sisterhood and goes with Condo to fetch him back . Sarah follows secretly to the Sisterhood ' s lair . The Doctor awakens to Maren ' s accusation : he is a Time Lord agent sent to steal the Elixir . The Sisterhood once willingly shared the Elixir with Time Lords suffering post - regenerative trauma . Now , protecting the last few drops , the Sisterhood use their collective psychokinetic energy to crash any passing spaceships , which Solon then scavenges for body parts . The Doctor ' s denial isn ' t believed , and he is sentenced to burn at the stake . During the rite , Solon and Condo burst in . Maren , furious at the intrusion , refuses Solon ' s requests , first to preserve the Doctor ' s head , then to accept Condo in the Doctor ' s place . They exit sheepishly , and the ceremony continues . Sarah frees the Doctor before the flames reach him . A flash of power from Maren ' s ring , however , blinds her as they escape . Condo angrily confronts his master about being offered in the Doctor ' s place . Solon begs for his life , promising to replace Condo ' s hook with a real hand . This calms the hulking servant for the moment . Solon , in a secret lab , talks to an unseen voice who berates him for the delay in finishing the body . Solon persuades the voice , whom he calls Morbius , for more time . The Doctor arrives with Sarah for a consultation . Solon informs them the Elixir is the only remedy for her blindness . The Doctor resolves to return to the Sisterhood to obtain it . Solon sends Condo with a message to the Sisterhood , again asking for the Doctor ' s head . Solon exits , and Sarah hears the voice and follows it into the lab . She cannot see that the voice of Morbius emanates from a disembodied brain in a large vat . The brain accuses her of being an agent of the Sisterhood sent to destroy him . Part three . Solon finds Sarah and rushes her out of the lab . From outside , she overhears their plan . Once he has the Doctor ' s head , he will transplant Morbius ' s brain into the body of spare parts he is creating , freeing him to again wage galactic war . She locks in Solon , then stumbles out to find the Doctor . The Doctor is captured and brought again to Maren . He realises he ' s been duped by Solon ; Sarah ' s blindness is only temporary . He persuades Maren to let him examine the Sacred Flame , convinced there must be a natural reason for its failing . He drops a firecracker down the shaft . It dislodges a buildup of soot , and the Flame is restored to its full height . Condo unlocks the lab door , and Solon sends him to retrieve Sarah . Condo finds her . He is ready to dispatch her , but he takes pity on her blindness and returns her to Solon ' s castle . When Solon mentions the Doctor is also a Time Lord , Morbius panics , certain the Time Lords have tracked him down . Desperate , he compels Solon to operate at once , using an artificial brain case in place of the Doctor ' s head . As Solon prepares to operate , Condo recognises one of the creature ' s arms as his own . In a blind rage , he attacks Solon . In the struggle , he knocks over the tank , and Morbius ' brain falls to the floor with a splat . Solon pulls a gun and shoots Condo several times . He drafts the unwilling Sarah into helping him operate , not knowing the extent of the brain ' s damage . During a break in the operation , Solon finds the Doctor ' s apparently lifeless body left by the Sisterhood . He reflects bitterly on the irony . Meanwhile in the lab , Sarah ' s eyesight returns as Morbius rises behind her . . . Part four . The operation has restored Morbius ' s motor functions , but his higher cerebral functions have yet to be connected . The result is a savage monster . Solon is attacked and knocked out , Sarah is saved only by the wounded Condo ' s self - sacrifice , and Morbius storms out into the night . The Doctor awakens . He convinces Solon the creature must be hunted down . Together they find and tranquillise the creature , but not before it kills one of the Sisterhood . Solon convinces the Doctor he ' s going to dismantle the creature . Instead , he locks the Doctor out of the lab , leaving him free to complete the operation . The Doctor injects cyanide gas into the lab , killing Solon , but not before Morbius arises , fully sentient . Morbius confronts the Doctor . He says he now has the lungs of a birastrop , rendering him immune to the cyanide . He boasts that despite his monstrous appearance , his followers will rise to join him once more . The Doctor challenges Morbius to a potentially deadly mindbending contest . It overloads after a fierce contest of wills . The Doctor falls , inert . Morbius reverts to his earlier savagery . The Sisterhood , armed with torches , corner Morbius and drive him over a cliff to his death . The Doctor ' s life is restored with a fresh draught of Elixir produced by Maren ' s self - sacrifice to the Sacred Flame . The Doctor gives Ohica a pack of firecrackers in case they have any more trouble . He departs with Sarah in the TARDIS . DVD , video and laserdisc releases . DVD releases . Notes : VHS releases . Released : As noted above , initial home - video releases of " The Brain of Morbius " used a heavily edited omnibus movie print , with a running time of less than an hour . This was apparently in an attempt to make the serial acceptable for young viewers ( in the US it was released on Playhouse , a children ' s imprint of the CBS Fox label ) . This edit was heavily criticised and eventually an uncut version was released ( though American viewers had to wait a decade ) . Similar edits were not released for other serials . Laserdisc release . " The Brain of Morbius " was one of the few episodes to be released on LaserDisc . Because it was released early on in the format ' s life cycle , it carries the " LaserVision " branding rather than the later " LaserDisc " label for which the format would be most commonly known . As with most early LaserDiscs , this release is known to suffer from severe disc rot . It was released in July 1984 as " The Brain of Morbius " .