Attack from the Mind ( TV story ) Attack from the Mind was an unproduced story by David Halliwell . It was to have been the third segment of " The Trial of a Time Lord " . Synopsis . At the Doctor ' s trial for meddling , the Valeyard presents evidence from the future to show that the Doctor will not learn the error of his ways . The TARDIS is lured to the planet Fred , where tunnels are being excavated by the rodent - like natives who are plagued by vivid mirages . The Doctor and Mel are captured by the Freds , but the Doctor is freed by the lemurine Penelopeans , beings who now dwell within their own imagination . The Freds are hunting for their control centre to prevent them from returning to corporeal form ; the hallucinations are the Penelopeans ' defence system . The Doctor agrees to bring a Fred back in time so that the Penelopeans can devise a form of protection against them . However , he is recaptured by the Freds , who complete their excavation . In fact , the Penelopeans are homicidal beings who retreated into their own minds so that they would not wipe themselves out . They have been toying with the Freds - - a peaceful race - - out of boredom . The Doctor and Mel escape to the TARDIS as war breaks out between the Penelopeans and the Freds . The Valeyard explains that the intervention of the High Council would be required to deal with the consequences of the Doctor ' s meddling . Story notes . David Halliwell was part of the original writing team for what would become " The Trial of a Time Lord " . He and Jack Trevor Story were asked to develop the " future " element of the evidence against the Doctor . These would be two linked two - part adventures , which would share most of their sets ( as had also been done in Season 12 with " The Ark in Space " and " Revenge of the Cybermen " ) . Halliwell ' s story would introduce new companion Melanie Bush . After an initial meeting of the writers with script editor Eric Saward on 9 July 1985 , Halliwell quickly set to work ; Saward accorded his segment the title " Attack From The Mind " in mid - August . In mid - September , Saward requested various changes to the scripts . The planet Fred ( which stood for FRee Equal Democracy , with Penelope an acronym for PENultimate ELegance Order and PoisE ) would now be planet Trike , and the Trikes would not speak with the East End accents Halliwell had intended . Conflict would be generated amongst the Trikes by dividing them into a militaristic camp and visionary camps . Several elements were excised , such as the Doctor being willing to use the TARDIS to change history , he and Mel being miniaturised by the Penelopeans , and the Doctor shooting his enemies dead . The story would now end with the Penelopeans losing their powers and the Trikes in control , to segue into Story ' s " The Second Coming " . However , Story was struggling mightily , and Saward found " Attack From The Mind " listless . Consequently , after five drafts , Halliwell ' s scripts were abandoned on 18 October . ( REF : DWM 201 , DWMSE 3 ) The " future " segment of " The Trial Of A Time Lord " was ultimately written by Pip and Jane Baker and would become " Terror of the Vervoids " .