Doctor Who: Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The next four parts of the episode "The Trial of a Time Lord" are known by the subtitle "Mindwarp." This segment is powerful inasmuch as it makes us\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doctor Who: Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The next four parts of the episode "The Trial of a Time Lord" are known by the subtitle "Mindwarp." This segment is powerful inasmuch as it makes us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-02T20:32:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.shadowlocked.com\/images\/stories\/whoreviews\/colin_baker\/mindwarp\/mindwarp_peri_bald.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html\",\"name\":\"Doctor Who: Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-02T20:32:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-03-02T20:32:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"The next four parts of the episode \\\"The Trial of a Time Lord\\\" are known by the subtitle \\\"Mindwarp.\\\" This segment is powerful inasmuch as it makes us\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Doctor Who: Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Doctor Who: Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp","description":"The next four parts of the episode \"The Trial of a Time Lord\" are known by the subtitle \"Mindwarp.\" This segment is powerful inasmuch as it makes us","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Doctor Who: Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp","og_description":"The next four parts of the episode \"The Trial of a Time Lord\" are known by the subtitle \"Mindwarp.\" This segment is powerful inasmuch as it makes us","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2012-03-02T20:32:18+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.shadowlocked.com\/images\/stories\/whoreviews\/colin_baker\/mindwarp\/mindwarp_peri_bald.jpg"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html","name":"Doctor Who: Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-03-02T20:32:18+00:00","dateModified":"2012-03-02T20:32:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"The next four parts of the episode \"The Trial of a Time Lord\" are known by the subtitle \"Mindwarp.\" This segment is powerful inasmuch as it makes us","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Doctor Who: Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":6586,"date":"2012-03-02T15:32:18","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T20:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=6586"},"modified":"2012-03-02T15:32:18","modified_gmt":"2012-03-02T20:32:18","slug":"doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-trial-of-a-time-lord-mindwarp.html","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who: Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ The next four parts of the episode<\/a> \u201c The Trial of a Time Lord<\/a> $\"\"$ \u201d are known by the subtitle \u201c Mindwarp<\/a> $\"\"$ .\u201d This segment is powerful inasmuch as it makes us really wonder about the Doctor\u2019s sanity and stability, and later, about Peri\u2019s fate<\/a>. Having coped with the Doctor\u2019s instability early in the Sixth Doctor\u2019s tenure, and finally begun to relax as the Doctor settled into a somewhat abrasive but highly authentic version of himself reminiscent of the First Doctor, it was somewhat disturbing to see the Doctor seeming to have lost himself and gone over to the dark side, returning to his old self too late to save his companion Per<\/a>i.<\/p>\n

Although hints have been raised that the matrix, the computer that compiles all Gallifreyan knowledge allowing us to watch along with those at the Doctor\u2019s trial, may in fact not be as incapable of lying or being manipulated as time lords believe, viewing the Doctor behaving in this way still causes some consternation. When we think of the Second Doctor\u2019s temporary transformation in \u201cThe Two Doctors,\u201d it seems as though a theme of the Sixth Doctor\u2019s tenure is to emphasize that the Doctor is not invincible, invulnerable, or incapable of being hijacked or corrupted.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ Of course, if we think back to the first episode of Doctor Who, it might have been said that the Doctor was initially the villain<\/em> of the series \u2013 a mysterious alien figure who essentially kidnaps humans rather than allow his secret to become known. So a Doctor who is at best fallible is not a radical departure from the show\u2019s roots, even if it is a departure from much of the show\u2019s subsequent history.<\/p>\n

A key overarching question that bookends this segment is who has the right to meddle in history and the affairs of planets and their inhabitants. The Doctor will accuse the time lords of having taken it upon themselves \u201cto act like second-rate gods.\u201d That the Doctor is accused of interfering and meddling by time lords becomes ironic as we see them doing so in much more drastic fashion, with at least as deadly results as in the case of the Doctor\u2019s interventions.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ Religious themes are present in the self-interested prayers Sil offers, and in king Yrcanos\u2019 vision of an afterlife involving reincarnation and eventually reaching the realm of the gods. They are also present in the discussion of love, defined by Peri as caring for someone else more than for oneself, more than for one\u2019s own life. And they are there in the technological pursuits of Dr. Crozier, which would allow a mind to be\u00a0transferred\u00a0from one body to another, essentially overcoming death. It is this last development which would so change the course of the evolution of life in the universe that leads the time lords to intervene.<\/p>\n

The episode<\/a> has some weak points (the depiction of Yrcanos the warrior-king comes across as at best a caricature) but also some great ones. I think my favorite line of dialogue is when the Doctor says \u201cIf I stopped to question the wisdom of my actions, I should never have left Gallifrey.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a list of stupid and cool things about \u201cThe Trial of a Time Lord\u201d online, and so here is a link to a condensed selection from that list<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"