The Brain of Morbius - What a Marvellous DVD!

[Stephen Morgan]

Article up on the RT site, it looks good, some re-instated music, commentary from Tom, Liz, Chris Barry and Hinchcliffe, four featurettes, one of those on the making of the story, plus an easter egg, wonder what that will be? July 21st is the release date, I can't wait.

[Ralph]

Yay! A decent DVD at last!!

[SiHart]

Hooray for finally getting Dudley Simpson interviewed!

Si xx

[Dave Tudor]

July 21st is the release date, I can't wait.

Ooh, just in time for me birthday!

[SiHart]

Maren!



Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

Maren's aliiiiiiiiiiive?!

[Andrew Curnow]

She looks younger than she did - maybe there is something to this elixir after all...

I love Brain - it's so often overlooked because of the popularity of the stories around it, but it's a real gem. The ending is a bit 'deus ex machine' but it has some real style and a strong sense of atmosphere to it. Plus the score by Dudley, and Michael Spice as Morbius, plus of course the brilliant Solon. It's just great.

[Wayne]

Good news! This is an old fave of mine.

[Matthew T]

She looks younger than she did - maybe there is something to this elixir after all...

Wasn't the actress made up to look old in BoM?

[Andrew Curnow]

Reading the RT, apparently so. I realised she had a bit of make-up on, but I genuinely never realised that she was actually quite a young woman under all the gunk. Amazing.

[Wayne]

I realised she had a bit of make-up on, but I genuinely never realised that she was actually quite a young woman under all the gunk. Amazing.

It's not just that, it's the voice that fools you as well. She sounded old!

[Si Hunt]

Reading the RT, apparently so. I realised she had a bit of make-up on, but I genuinely never realised that she was actually quite a young woman under all the gunk. Amazing.

You know that was actually her when we see the shot of her as a young woman in the flame at the end?

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

You know that was actually her when we see the shot of her as a young woman in the flame at the end?

Bloody hell, I never knew that, I thought it was some nameless extra. Seriously?!

[Andrew Curnow]

Likewise, I just assumed it was just some extra who they reckoned looked a bit like a younger her.

Clearly they've missed a trick on the extras - they should have a mini-doc called "The Elixir of Life - It's All True" on just how surprised everybody is to find out how young Maren is!!!

[Wayne]

"Pip was Surprised!"

[Si Hunt]

Yes, I'm pretty sure I read that. It looks like her too, if you look at the shape of the face/cheekbones. I think that was the idea, to age her up and then use her sans make-up for the end.

Si.

[SiHart]

Really, did people not realise that was make up? I'm stunned!

Si xx

[SiHart]

Oh Philip Madoc is on the commentary too, they just forgot to put him on the list!

Si xx

[Larry]

? July 21st is the release date, I can't wait.

Same here one of my all time favourite stories..

[Jonno]

From Andrew Pixley's Archive, DWM 329 :

The shot of Maren regaining her youth in the sacred flame was achieved by mixing together images of Grenville and Martine Holland (one of the Sisterhood extras) who stood against black drapes and were superimposed over the fire.

You know why this is coming out hot on the heels of S4? There's a reference by the Doctor to Vesuvius and Pompeii!

[Pip Madeley]

The shot of Maren regaining her youth in the sacred flame was achieved by mixing together images of Grenville and Martine Holland (one of the Sisterhood extras) who stood against black drapes and were superimposed over the fire.

So Si Hunt and Si Hart are wrong?

[SiHart]

Well you know... it does happen from time to time. I always knew she was a youngish woman made up to look old, so I assumed they just removed the make up and used her au naturel, so to speak.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

I'm not saying it IS wrong, but Pixley has recently said that information unearthed since his archives has left them far more unreliable than he thought at the time.

That said, in this situation it's very likely he was right and I got it wrong - sorry! I always thought it was her though, because it looked like her! And it does beg the question - why wasn't it? You've got an actress you've aged up and need to show her younger. Why not just scrape off the latex?

Si.

[Logo Polish]

Depending on the way in which the scene was recorded, I suppose it might have been quicker to just get someone else to record that bit rather than wait for the make-up to be removed.

[Dirk Gently]

It was probably recorded live at the time. I.E they probably had both actresses in front of cameras & used a cross-fade to regress her from one to the other. Not having seen the segment for some time I can't be sure though.