This story in a nutshell: An Empire being held together by
people just being terribly nice to each other...
Teeth and Curls: Despite the fact that you can feel that
both the series and the actor is winding down to the departure of the fourth
Doctor, Tom Baker is still on fine form for his penultimate story. Witty and
avuncular, intelligent and thoughtful and even surprisingly gentle in places, I
don't think there is a single moment in season eighteen where the character
falters. He doesn't know all the planets in N-Space, just the interesting ones.
If he knew everything that was going to happen then where would the fun be? How
gorgeous is his chemistry with the Keeper, especially when he sympathises with
the aching passing of time on the body (very fitting in season eighteen). When
the chips are down and Tremas does not want to give the Doctor the plans for
the Source Manipulator the Doctor is at his most vicious and sarcastic. I
certainly wouldn't want to be in his way when he gets like that. He laughs when
dangerous thoughts pop into his head.
Pudding Bowl Haircut: It is bizarre how well Adric fits with
Tom Baker's Doctor as he was originally envisaged, the cheeky monkey who would
get a clout around the ear by the most acerbic of Doctors. It was when he was
partnered with Davison's moderate Doctor where things started to go very wrong
because suddenly Adric felt as though he could throw his weight around and
betray the Doctor on a whim and still hop back in the TARDIS at the end of
every adventure. He would try any of that shit with Tom Baker's sizeable
incarnation or he would get a smack and a boot out of the TARDIS into the
vortex. Yeah, it's surreal how well these two characters match because Baker
and Waterhouse are two actors that probably should never have come together
(it's like pairing up Laurence Olivier and Hayden Christensen). In the immense
shadow cast by the fourth Doctor Adric is pensive, subtle and always trying to
impress. Waterhouse rarely looks natural on screen but when he is with Baker,
he is really trying and that is as good as it is going to get. Adric is
being given opportunities that he never should have had and the Doctor reminds
him of that fact. He spends much of the story sneaking about and behaving
mischievously, something that cannot be helped given that he is cast into the
role of a trouble maker at the Doctor's side. His rapport with Nyssa is very
sweet, they probably be the most boring couple in the universe but I do think
they would last the distance.
Alien Orphan: It is bizarre to re-visit Nyssa in her very
first story because I feel as if I have written so many words about this
character and her astonishing development over at Big Finish Towers. On the
basis of her performance in this story, I wouldn't say that Nyssa was ideal
companion material but that is mainly because for an introductory story she is
on the periphery of the action for a lot of the time. Saying that I think
Sutton acquits herself beautifully as ever. Like the rest of her tenure she
might no always be given the spotlight but she makes sure she is always doing
something in the background, quietly stealing the limelight. I like characters
that surprise and whilst Nyssa is never going to be a candidate for Traken,
Warrior Woman she sure comes in handy with an ion bonder when the Master's grip
tightens on them in the latter episodes.
Hehehe: If you are going to complain about a spoiler that
the Master features in The Keeper of Traken then tough shit, you're about 30
odd years too late to have a whinge. Now listen up because I wont say this very
often about the character during the eighties...what a triumphant return for
the character. It is expertly woven into the story and a genuine surprise when
it is revealed and Bidmead and Byrne even go to the effort of ensuring that
continuity is maintained between The Deadly Assassin and this (I'm not so
fussed about continuity and canon but there are an army of Doctor Who fans out
there that would happily strangle the two creative minds behind this story for
messing about with either). The pullback to reveal that the statue is a TARDIS
with the Master inside watching events is one of the most dramatically
satisfying twists the show. Entirely unsuspected and fan pleasing but expertly
built into the narrative. It's not until Utopia that the Master would make such
a calculated and yet thrilling return. Episode four is the best of the lot
because it takes the best of Traken society and twists the knife in, the Master
perversely turning the planet to poison. Beevers matches the theatrical tone of
the rest of the story and as a result he is nowhere near as terrifying as Peter
Pratt was in The Deadly Assassin but he does savour the dialogue with some
relish. It's a shame we never saw what else Beevers might have done with the
part on screen because his elevation to the de facto Master over at Big Finish
Towers (especially in stories such as Master) shows that he has perfected
purring menace.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'A whole Empire being held together by
people just being terribly nice to each other.'
'It's a pity about that poor chap having to sit in that
chair for thousands of years but it is magnificent.'
'What can't be cured must be endured.'
'This types not really my forte.'
The Good:
* Traken itself deserves a great of discussion because it is
one of the most full formed and realised worlds that Doctor Who ever presented.
That's the interesting thing about the season that Chris Bidmead script edited,
he wasn't really interested in dragging Doctor Who into contemporary times and
plonking the TARDIS down on Earth every five minutes - he wanted to head out
into the universe and see what was out there (in his own cold, calculated way).
I don't think there is a single season that shies away from the Earth as much
as season eighteen (and that is saying a lot coming off the back of the
Williams era which populated Doctor Who with so many insanely colourful
worlds), we get to see Brighton beach at the beginning of the year and London
at the end but the heart of this season is beating for fairytale worlds
bewitched by science. And Traken is perhaps the greatest representation of
that. It is a planet with customs, politics, backstabbing, harmony, style, a
class system, military, myths, culture...it has in every respect been thought
through (with the design giving the details in the script an even greater boost).
Despite it's fairytale leanings, I can believe in this world and there are
plenty in the shows run that I don't (Aridius, Dulkis, Atlantis both times, the
underworld, Galifrey (of Arc of Infinity), Karfel and Lakertya to name one from
each Doctor). It has been built up to such an extent that when the flames die
and the Keeper dies it feels like a palpable event that will fundamentally
change the lives of everybody on this planet, despite the fact that we have
only seen a handful of people.
* Roger Limb and I have a very unstable relationship.
Sometimes we get along famously when a director reigns in his electronic
excesses and forces him down an instrumental path (Graeme Harper mostly) but
more often than not he is polluting a story with wall to wall synth that is
unpleasant enough to turn make mould grow on your pubic hair, whatever sex you
might be. I'm looking at Four to Doomsday, Arc of Infinity and Terminus in
particular. However you can begin to understand why he was booked originally
after you have taken a listen to the score for Traken, which is wistful, poetic
and lustrous. Don't get me wrong it is still being produced by fondling with a
computer until it bleeps with pleasure so there is no doubt that this synth
city but within that remit it is remarkably atmospheric for the most part.
* I love the unusual structure to the story in episode with
the entirety of the planet, its customs and populace being revealed to the
Doctor (and the audience) before we even step forward on the planet. With the
Keeper popping by for a cuppa we get a built in mystery and gloomy portents
whilst he takes control of the ship and pilots them to the Union.
* Isn't it melancholic to think that Anthony Ainley gives
possibly his finest performance in his first Doctor Who story with countless
appearances still to come. There are two times when I think he really rocks it
as the Master (The Five Doctors and Survival) but I think his two memorable
moments in the show are as Tremas and the Portreeve in Castrovalva. Tremas is
your token nice guy and that is not an easy role to make interesting (think
Kimus in The Pirate Planet or Gebek in Monster of Peladon) but Ainley makes him
an engaging character, inquisitive and funny, a caring husband and father,
politically savvy and confrontational. He's a great character and so likeable
it almost makes me wish that he had hopped into the TARDIS at the end of the
story and the Master had jumped Adric's bones (an evil Matthew
Waterhouse...after what I heard in Dark Shadows that might have been worth
seeing!).
* The Melkur statue is one of the most beautifully designed
pieces of work to have sprung from the classic series; solid, stylish, fearsome
and a little bit sexy. Watching a stature lumbering about the sets should be
cumbersome and clunky (The Stones of Blood) but with the lighting down, the
movements fluid and eyes aglow it is quite a visually stunning exercise. Add in
the silky menace of Geoffrey Beevers voice and the disquieting effect is
complete.
* The closing scene of Traken is entirely unexpected and
exciting, the thought of a younger Master distilled from such a good man and
corrupted, is really stimulating. At this point we had no idea that we would
ever see Nyssa again so
The Bad:
* Sheila Ruskin doesn't give a bad performance, per se but
it does take theatrical to a whole new level in television terms. It almost
works within the confines of this story because this is the Doctor Who
equivalent of 'shouting at night' (as Patrick Troughton would put it) but there
is the odd occasion where her performance rockets to the stratosphere and
you're left checking the door hoping that nobody walks in that isn't a fan and
you blush down to your toes. 'The evil is here before you! Before your
eyes!' she exclaims, hands fluttering before her face before she faints as
if all this melodrama is too much for her. At least you can't say she doesn't
go for it.
* I'm not sure why any director opts for the painted on eyes
effect to suggest glowing orbs. It never looks convincing even with the addition
of CSO.
* Science intruded on the series in a very profound way in
season eighteen and took what could be some fun stories and made them a lot
colder and more clinical than they perhaps needed to be. Sometimes it worked
out well (Full Circle, Warriors' Gate) but sometimes it was like the elephant
in the room, intruding when the series should be all about adventuring. The
Leisure Hive, Logopolis and The Keeper of Traken would all be more enjoyable if
the technobabble had been toned down a little. Frankly the show comes across as
being a little pretentious because of it and I cannot think of another period,
before or since, where I would point that particular finger at Doctor Who. When
the Doctor is trying to find a way to defeat the Master and he is discussing
prime numbers and computations to do so it isn't the most thrilling of methods
to dispatch his arch enemy. Pertwee cut through all this nonsense by simply
reversing the polarity each week.
* Tom Baker has a huge dribble of snot hanging out of his
nose during one scene. How did nobody notice that?
* One point where the studio bound nature of the story is
obvious is during the storm sequence as the Keeper dies. It looks exactly as it
would if it were being conjured up on stage, a wind machine and some dodgy
lightning lighting. It doesn't convince for a moment.
Result: 'They said the atmosphere was so full of goodness
that evil just shrivelled up and died. Maybe that's why I never went there...' Depending on what you are after in Doctor
Who (cerebral or exciting, stylish or dynamic) The Keeper of Traken is either
the most thrilling prospect or a theatrical snooze fest. Fortunately I like
both approaches (I'm starting to wonder if I'm in love with ALL Doctor Who,
whether it is good or bad) and so I can see a great deal to admire in this
prosaic entry even if I wish it ditched the technobabble and the direction was
tightened up. I couldn't decide whether it belonged under the good or bad
column so I'm going to discuss John Black's direction here. He's cursed with
the early to mid eighties static camera issue, making me wonder if they were
just too heavy to budge about the studio (I jest) and leaving the actors to
move around the set whilst he pops off for tea and crumpets. This is in no way
a dynamic story or even a particularly imaginatively shot one. However where he
scores massively is his collaboration with the design department, ensuring that
the sets and costumes dazzle the eye and cheat the viewer into thinking that
this has been realised far more stylishly than it in fact has. He would pull
off the same trick in Four to Doomsday but the script is working against him
there. With Traken he has a lustrously designed planet, rich in colours and
baroque design which is tied to an intriguing narrative with some genuine
surprises and drama up its sleeves. It's so visually decorative and
dramatically satisfying, it's like a perfect magic trick. You've a number of
towering performances from Tom Baker, Anthony Ainley, Geoffrey Beevers and John
Woodnutt plus a wealth of memorable lines to savour too. With the advent of the
return of the Master, Traken has possibly the best ace up its sleeve of the
season, even more impressive than the Doctor's regeneration in the next story. I
want this to be an absolute powerhouse but it is a little too slothenly for
that but if every Doctor Who story was constructed with this much care the
entire run would be elevated slightly. Theatrical, melodramatic but also
detailed and surprising: 7/10
7 comments:
Adric as King Joffrey?!
You are wrong. Peter Capaldi and Samuel Anderson are like pairing up Laurence Olivier and Hayden Christensen. I never saw Danny Pink as a real person. Adric may be annoying but is much more companion that Danny.
Adric and Nyssa are not boring, their friendship is much more credible than Tegan and Nyssa. It's a shame that their friendship was not developed in Season 19.
Adric and Nyssa are not boring? Really? Their chats about telebiogenesis and synthesising enzymes? It's about as tedious as television comes!
Ha! Ha! But it's the WAY they said it ... do you know what telebiogenesis and enzyme synthesis really means as subtext to a young 'un (cough, urbandictionary.com :-P )
Keeper of Traken was always one of my personal favourite stories from my youth- I did a lot of my first watching of Dr. Who when the reruns were up to the late Baker era (I think the first episode I ever watched was The Power of Kroll or something) and this one stuck in my mind (the fact that it was one of the handful of Dr Who novelisations I owned -and still own- helped). It's just so memorable, which I largely credit to the Melkur.
It's good to see Adric working as a character here- he's almost like the Baker Doctor's protege or apprentice. Real shame the character went so wrong after this point.
Watching all in order. Very entertaining, some wonderful set pieces, cliffhangers to part 2 and especially 3 outstanding. I like the distorted Master TARDIS noise, Beevers is a very good villain, forget the different look to Pratt. What an amazing plot twist and a shock for the Doctor. Anthony Ainley is superb as Tremas. John Woodnutt rolls his r's brilliantly, I still don't understand what submitting yourself to rapport means. Cassia was a bit OTT, saying 'a sign, the power of Melkur' to herself, but a strong female villain and wicked stepmother. Adric is again bearable, appears to have swallowed Romana's technical abilities. Very convenient to have everything to destroy Melkur in the TARDIS. Who knew Tony from The Bill was Melkur, Reg is in next season as well..
The final scene is punch the air brilliant. What an important story. I liked Ainleys Master and never really tired of him. How sad to read how much he loved playing the character, sad in that the show can affect people in that way. He played it to the hilt. Best of the season so far.
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