The ''Mindgame'' series is a series of

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

spin-off productions based on the long running

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

science fiction series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

''. The two films in the series are ''Mindgame'' (1998), ''Mindgame Trilogy'' (1999). They were produced by the independent

Reeltime Pictures Reeltime Pictures Ltd is a British film, television and video production company and a distributor of the films of other companies, founded in 1984 by Keith Barnfather. As well as producing corporate and business television, it has made a number ...

company. All films have been reissued on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

. All story elements relating to ''Doctor Who'' were licensed from their respective authors.

Overview

While ''Mindgame'' tells the story of a human, a

Sontaran The Sontarans ( ) are a fictional race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial humanoids principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series ''The Sa ...

and a Draconian trapped together in a prison cell, the ''Mindgame Trilogy'' continues their story after they escaped. Mindgame is written by Terrance Dicks. The ''Mindgame Trilogy'' is separated into three little stories: Battlefield is written

Terrance Dicks Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English author and television screenwriter, script editor and producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', working as a ...

while Prisoner 451 is written by

Miles Richardson Miles Richardson (born 15 July 1963) is a British actor. Early life Richardson was born in London to parents Ian Richardson and Maroussia Frank, both founding members of The Royal Shakespeare Company. His father was from Edinburgh and his m ...

and Scout Ship by Roger Stevens. The stories are directed by Keith Barnfather. The stories were released as Region 2 and 4 DVDs. Furthermore they were released on video in PAL and NTSC by

. While

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''D ...

plays the human and

the Draconian in all the stories, the Sontaran is played by different actors. Toby Aspin plays the Sontaran in ''Mindgame'' and John Wadmore in the ''Mindgame Trilogy''.

''Mindgame''

Story

A human, a Sontaran, and a Draconian trapped together in a prison cell. Another alien has trapped them there to find out about their strengths and weaknesses. The alien wants them to fight against each other. However, the Sontaran, Draconian and human work together and the alien is killed by the human. The Sontaran, Draconian and human return to the place where they have been before they were kidnapped.

Critical reception

Paul Clarke calls the drama "a short but sweet character drama that is clearly Doctor Who on the sly". Stuart Gutteridge from Pagefillers describes Mindgame as a "rushed piece of work" with a very simple plot. According to him it has a predictable ending but is nothing less than entertaining. Reuben Herfindahl thinks that Mindgame is the worst professional Doctor Who related video he has ever seen. The only positive thing about this video is the acting of

and

. The writing is bad. Richard Radcliffe adds that he found the characters ordinary and predictable. Kathy Sullivan thinks that the characters are "over relying on stereotypes". According to her it is a "good short story with nicely-done costumes and special effects".

''Mindgame Trilogy''

Story

Battlefield (Terrance Dicks)

Field-Major Sarg is wounded and dying on a battle-scarred planet unless the Sontarans come back for him. He thinks about his previous experiences with the human and the Draconian. He believes that Sontarans and other species might work together, but is not this unthinkable for a Sontaran. Sarg’s commander arrives and hears Sarg’s thoughts on Sontarans and other species working together. The commander executes Sarg for treason.

Prisoner 451 (Miles Richardson)

The Draconian is in the prison and going to face certain death. He thinks about his previous experiences and finally his crime is revealed. He fell in love with the complete works of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Scout Ship (Roger Stevens)

The human pilot is going to die soon, her spaceship is broken. The only thing that is working is the onboard camera. She captures her last moments on the spaceship on camera before killing herself.

Critical reception

Richard Radcliffe from Pagefillers thought that the segment with the human was predictable. He believed that the Sontaran segment was the best and that the actor was a lot better than the actor who acted the Sontaran in Mindgame. He also thought that the set, the SFX and Terrance Dicks writing were impressive. Stuart Gutteridge added that the location and the CGI effects added an atmosphere to the proceedings in the Sontaran story. According to him the segment with the human was the most emotional of the three. Kathy Sullivan recommended the film. She believed that the trilogy was much darker and gave the actors an opportunity for powerful performances, but it also left her rather depressed by the end. Paul Clarke called the film a "modestly impressive trilogy". The Sontaran segment was an "enjoyable study in Sontaran psychology, even if there is not really the time for it to be anything more than the simplistic". Furthermore, he thought that the special effects were remarkably effective.

Novelisation

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of these films by David J. Howe was published August 2020 by

Telos Publishing Telos Publishing Ltd. is a publishing company, originally established by David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker, with their first publication being a horror anthology based on the television series '' Urban Gothic'' in 2001. The name comes from ...

References

External links

* * {{Sontaran stories 1998 thriller films British science fiction films Direct-to-video film series Film spinoffs British film series Reeltime Pictures 1990s English-language films 1990s British films 1998 science fiction films English-language science fiction films English-language thriller films