Doctor Who - New Beginnings (The Keeper of Traken [1981] / Logopolis [1981] / Castrovalva [1982]) [DVD] [1963]

JUST as the looming, entropic undoing of the universe casts shadows before it the Doctor cannot ignore, this loose trilogy - and Logopolis in particular - has cast a long shadow across many seasoned Whovians' lives. Season 18 was a death-haunted, melancholy thing given it was `children's TV', a moody sequence of stories about partings, loss, societies in decay; in Tom Baker's finale even the Doctor couldn't escape, saving everything, but not himself. Could this box still evoke the same dark feelings it did in a ten-year-old, a quarter of a century on? Delighted to report - appalled to report - it's `Yes.' Logoplis is how to say 'goodbye' properly.

These stories appeal because they're Doctor-centric. ...Traken, the slightest of the three but ideas-rich and beautiful looking, opens with the kind of Doctor-companion exposition not seen since the Hartnell era. John Nathan-Turner's tenure as producer would eventually become top-heavy with references to the show's past, but here it's still beguiling (perhaps thanks to the guiding hand of golden Pertwee-era stalwart Barry Letts), the looks back adding gravity as the end of everything looms. It's all in Baker's face, suddenly older, more gravely etched than before. The excellent commentaries across all the stories add texture, and the lead actor admits in his that, having agreed to stand down, he had many fears about the future - a neat mirror to the Doctor's own unspoken fear that perhaps there wouldn't be a future. The grin wasn't hiding the fear, and so all-the-more heroic, in the face of a dreadful unknown.

Logopolis is the dark heart of this set, brooding and funereal. In terms of its (still slightly wooly) science - perhaps even in its attitude to life and death - this is where the show first started to grow up, and touch on the `after-effects' that Russell T Davies threads through his stories. So many moments still resonate - the darkening control rooms as the Doctor and (not-as-bad-as-you-remembered) Adric explore the recursive loop trap (writer Christopher H Bidmead admits his fascination with the TARDIS as a jumping-off point - and what fan isn't fascinated by the ship?); the Watcher; the Cloister Room and more, the Cloister Bell - a harbinger of doom nightmarishly distorted by the very unraveling it heralds. If you can get this set for under £20 then do; it's worth it just to hear Baker say `the Cloister Bell' in ep. one, though he has so many memorable lines here - `Because he's here' of the Watcher, `Nothing like this has ever happened to me before', the rant at the `companions' he `never chose' and of course `It's the end...'; you will see that sequence a dozen times if you watch this lot soup-to-nuts, and never fail to thrill at the sickly dying fall of that helter-skeltering music as the Doctor - The Doctor for so many viewers - lies broken at the foor of the Pharos.

Castrovalva can't compete, but sets up the massively-underrated Davison Doctor neatly nonetheless. To make him so young and vulnerable was a brave and necessary step, and the excellent documentaries and add-ons give both the outgoing and incoming Time Lords a chance to have their say about playing the role. It emerges that Castrovalva was the fourth Fifth Doctor story recorded, to give the new man time to find the characterisation, then unpick it as the regeneration starts to fail; Davison's determined creative struggle with the role throughout his period in the TARDIS (which he rounded out with his finest performance) is one of the fascinating subtexts in this set, as is the help he got from his `second self' - there are many nods to both Patrick Troughton and his portrayal of the Doctor throughout, including the story of his amazing appearance on the Castrovalva set... bending the rules of time, and all that... Davison's archive interviews (Pebble Mill, Nationwide, Swap Shop) hint at a slight zany, unhinged humour under the pleasant open manner and floppy-haired, head boy good looks; shame that couldn't have broken free when he donned the cricket sweater. Still, splendid fellow.

Highly recommended then, though with one small proviso: fans of Christopher H Bidmead (especially his excellent Target novelisations of Logopolis and Castrovalva) might be slightly disappointed to find that he comes across as a slight chump in parts of the commentaries, although it's possible he's sending himself up - possible. He even mentions at one point that he himself had recently re-read the novelisations and thought them rather good. Talk about recursive trap...

Anyway, don't be frightened by that grinding, tolling bell in your mind. You need this. And I didn't even mention the Master (a ghostly chuckle fades on the edge of hearing)...

Depending on how you approach the 3 serials in this box set, they're either tawdry relics of a cheaper, slower age of television; or they're pure gold. There are so many reasons to enjoy the release of NEW BEGINNINGS, but even fan boys like me can see that not everyone is going to be bowled over. So let's get the criticisms out of the way first.

Generally, there are a number of problems that beset all of the productions. Firstly of course: the effects, though not ALL of them fall flat. For instance, after the poorly staged struggle between the Doctor and the Master on the Pharos project gantry, the sequence at the climax of LOGOPOLIS where Tom Baker's Doctor regenerates into Peter Davison's version works extremely well. However, this is one of the few exceptions. The fake eyes painted on Kassia's lids when she's possessed in THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN, the risible model work in LOGOPOLIS and the cheesy visual representations of the recursive trap in the citadel in CASTROVALVA aren't exactly high points.

Secondly, despite what I'm going to say about the acting later, it has to be said not everyone deserves a BAFTA. For example, Sheila Ruskin is well cast as the zealous, obsessive Kassia in THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN. But for my money she overplays certain moments. Witness her stagey collapse after the murder of Seron in episode 2.

This though is nothing compared to Anthony Ainley's Master in CASTROVALVA. Either he or the director seemed to think that his commendable underplaying in the previous tales was a bad idea, and he often relishes his part just a little too much. Take a look at the moment in episode four when he cries out: "My web! MY WEB!" All seriousness instantly evaporates. OK granted, it's a dreadful line to which an Oscar winner might have difficulty supplying credibility. Certainly his earlier, well-judged performance as Tremas suggests that he was capable of better.

Matthew Waterhouse's Adric too is a liability. In the huge shadow of Tom Baker's stellar performances, we don't notice him so much and he's less irritating. But he has this odd bouncy walk that suggests he's not comfortable in front of a camera. Called on to have a big emotional moment he makes an absolute pig's ear of it. In CASTROVALVA, he and Ainley in the Master's TARDIS have a competition to see who can be the most appallingly OTT. It's hard to say who wins.

Despite all this, I confess I love these stories. TRAKEN's pace, fairy-tale and mythological resonances, its detailed, opulent set designs, Shakespearean characters (not to mention dialogue) and sting-in-the-tail ending make it the best of the set. Spellbinding.

LOGOPOLIS might look cheap, but there's no denying the grandeur of the ideas and the emotional power of the 4th Doctor's swansong. Ainley's Satanic Master is genuinely creepy here and he would only be this good again 8 years later in his final story, SURVIVAL. Tom Baker's moody, brooding performance is a haunting thing of beauty. Paddy Kingsland, my favourite of all the 1980's DR WHO composers provides a rich, funereal and melancholic score.

Peter Davison gives a likeable, well-acted debut in CASTROVALVA, though his Doctor is so fragile and unstable for much of the time, it's anyone's guess at this stage how he's going to turn out. Luckily, this allows Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding's companions to shine. Tegan is rarely more sympathetic than here, and one can see the unused potential of the practical Nyssa. The large multi-levelled sets of the citadel are effective, and there is much to admire in the production and script.

As usual, the extras on the discs are excellent and a massive selling point. Photo galleries, commentaries, contemporary trailers, interviews and news items are all present. Most fans will want to see BEING DOCTOR WHO in which a mostly enthusiastic Peter Davison discusses his approach to the role. But best of all are the moments in the documentary A NEW BODY AT LAST where Tom Baker is surprisingly candid about how difficult he had become to work with and how this led to his leaving the show. A lot of the studio footage from the time would seem to bear this out. Far from ruining one's image of the man, one has to admire his honesty and self-awareness! 26 years later, the man is still a hero.

For this review, the best way to get around this boxset is to review each serial separately:

-'The Keeper of Traken' brings the events in this 'mini saga' to a start. Even though 'Keeper is the weakest story of the three, it still has much to offer. Geoffrey Beaver's brilliant portrayal of the villain is truely spectacular. And, of course, there's also Anthony Ainley's great double part (for those who know.) 'Keeper also shows a solid performance from Baker (not Waterhouse!) and introduces the lovely Nyssa.

-'Logopolis' brings the Baker era to the climax it deserves. Logopolis is, indeed, the best in this set. It's got interesting (and real) scientific concepts, truely funny moments, truely serious/shocking moments and, of course, The Master. Plus, of course, a lovely planet of Mathematicians (guess what that's called!)

-'Castrovalva' opens up the Davison era of the show. This was actuarly the forth recorded serial in Davison's first season. You can clearly see that Davison is confident in playing his role and plays his 'confused' Doctor with great skill. Never before has The Doctor went through his regenerations in one swift move. Plus- you also find out that the TARDIS has a whole room dedicated to cricket!