THE LAND OF FICTION: DREAM OR REALITY?

The Doctor’s adventure in the Land of Fiction was certainly an interesting one. He battled against fairytale creatures and encountered figures from literature, but was this all a dream or a manifestation from The Doctor’s mind? Some evidence would certainly suggest this.

Unlike other serials which dealt with similar subject matters, The Mind Robber is almost certainly an exception to the rule. For example, the Minotaur which terrorises The Second and Zoe is not the same version as the one which appeared in The Time Monster. The Minotaur in the Land of Fiction is almost certainly a manifestation of some sort of dark force, whilst the one the Third Doctor encountered was the ‘truth behind the myth’. A Medusa also appears, but again other serials have but the ‘truth behind the myth’ into context.

It is also not quite clear how the TARDIS crew got to the Land of Fiction. Unlike The Celestial Toymaker where it is made clear the TARDIS had been taken over by the Celestial Toymaker and brought to his domain. There is also the fact the Second Doctor is sitting in the exact same position as he was towards the end of episode 1 of The Mind Robber and the first episode of The Invasion. The exact same position, without any indication that he moved. Did the TARDIS ‘reset’ itself and its occupants after The Second, Jamie and Zoe left the Land of Fiction, but before the TARDIS explosion that propelled them to the Land in the first place If so how?

The Doctor also hates computers for some reason. So having a giant computer would provide a suitable antagonist for The Doctor to battle. The Doctor’s dislike for computers would also provide the antagonist with some motivation. Perhaps the computer was given sentience purely based on The Doctor’s dislike and mistrust of computers. There is also an interesting observation that Zoe notices lit candles during their investigations. Zoe knows what candles are, but in The Space Pirates she has no idea. This could be a simple continuity error, but it’s interesting, nonetheless.

It also seems that the production office DID intend for this serial to be nothing more than a dream. Script editor Derrick Sherwin rewrote the first episode of The Mind Robber but went uncredited. He also wrote The Invasion which was the proceeding serial. In the stage directions Sherwin detailed that the picture should be defocused only for it to snap back to normal, revealing The Doctor sitting in the same position before the TARDIS broke up in the previous serial. The stage direction would almost certainly suggest that The Doctor is perhaps waking up from a dream.

So was The Mind Robber simply a dream or a mental battle within the mind of The Doctor. Its hard to say. The show has produced experimental stories in the past where The Doctor has visited strange dimensions, universes, realms and other worlds. So maybe the Land of Fiction is just one of those waiting to be revisited once more.