Wednesday 5 November 2014

The Keeper of Traken


Love the theme arrangement, but Tom looks wrong in the titles. 



So this is N-Space. 


"I'm just saying a lot of the time you don't make sense..." 




Nice bit of movement in the star patterns on the scanner screen. I miss the scanner screen. 


Quite a shocker that the Keeper has the power to just appear inside the TARDIS. 

The Doctor is invited to Traken for a nice little disaster. 

Adric's not local. 

It's a very odd exposition heavy start... 

...but very charming in its own way.  

I absolutely LOVE the music in this.  


The Keeper weaves the tale of the calcified Melkur in the grove; a fly trapped in honey. 

We meet Kassia, who tends the Melkur with fresh flowers, as if it's a grave of sorts. 


A skip forward and Kassia is marrying the not-at-all-suspiciously-named Tremas, played by that nice Anthony Ainley.

At the reception the other consuls tease her about Melkur. 

Traken is odd looking but not just plain corridors so it has character. Fantastic, rich, costumes. 

The Keeper sacks Kassia as chief moss-remover and gives the job to Nyssa. 

His story told, the Keeper promptly vanishes. 


Bizarre flowery dialogue for most of the Trakenites, it's a bit like this wants to be a Shakespearean play. 

Kassia's unhappy on her wedding night.  

Melkur speaks! "Soon..." 

Needless to say, Adric is as irritating as hell. 

All the music in s18 reminds me of the TV version of the Hitchhiker's Guide, which was roughly the same time. 

John Woodnut is always excellent value for money. 


Tremas thinks there's something strange in his neighbourhood.  



Ainley's performance is a revelation; it shows up how much of his Master's failings were the fault of writers & directors.  


The Keeper's time of ending is near. Tom knows how that feels. 



After being in a colossal sulk earlier in the season, Tom actually seems quite upbeat at times in this one. 


The Doctor & Adric arrive in the grove... 


...but soon run into trouble. 

The consuls vote to summon the Keeper. 

But it's the Doctor & Adric who arrive, and although he claims not to like name-dropping, the Doctor does just that, telling them that the Keeper asked for their help. 

Melkur disappears the TARDIS... The Melkur's a great bit of design, very unusual. Surprised no bugger did a Melkur gnome, or 11 Doctors gnomes for some anniversary tat.

Melkur's turned his glowy red eyes on the Keeper & he starts calling the Doctor "evil". What a shit-stirrer. 

Oddly paced episode, this. Lots of exposition at the start, showing us Traken's society, the history of Melkur then not a lot happens after they arrive apart from a typical "caught by the guards" cliffhanger. 



Into part 2 & the story can actually start now. 

"Tremas, isn't it?" With that lazy anagram, Pertwee would've been tugging at his fake beard by now. 

Melkur's on the prowl, but the Doctor just wants some breakfast. 

Lot of effort gone into that grove, set dressing-wise. 

The Doctor's introduced to Tremas' daughter, Nyssa, who he immediately leaves behind with Adric. Don't know what she did to deserve that. 

Such a great vocal performance from Beevers. Wonderful that he's now getting to build on this with Big Finish. 

The consuls visit Seron's quarters, hugger-mugger. Apparently. 




Kassia's plans go for a burton when Seron takes Tremas' place in rapport with the source. 


Tremas & the Doctor have trouble getting past the corrupt Proctors to get into the grove. Tremas knows a back door. 

Melkur gives Kassia a control device to wear around her neck... 

Why does the Melkur have twin scanner screens? Obviously meant to be Melkur's eyes, but a bit daft really. 

Adric sneaks into the grove to see what goes on there for himself. Melkur calls him a sheep.  

Adric's readings seem to indicate a TARDIS in the grove. He's not wrong. 

When Seron enters rapport, Kassia gets the red eye and cuts him down at Melkur's behest...

 Then she pins the blame on the Doctor and her husband... 

They decamp to the grove... 

...but there Melkur roots them out like weeds. 

The TARDIS reappears... 

...but so does Kassia, and she only has eyes for Tremas. 

Kassia's Proctor's spring the trap... 


"Oh no, Kassia, it is only just beginning!" 

What, at the end of part 2? Sheesh.  

Massive recaps typical of this season. 


The first part of Melkur's genius plan is to lock the Doctor up for a bit. 

The Proctors took Tremas' ring.



The consuls are lovely, well drawn characters.  

Melkur's on a roll by now, bossing Kassia with quite the swagger. He nominates Kassia for the next Keeper...  


Nyssa says Melkur has made Kassia mad, but she thinks she's doing it all for Tremas. 

As per The Visitation, when the going gets tough, Nyssa starts fiddling with suspicious looking devices. 

Melkur's plan ticks along nicely as the others nominate Kassia to be next between the sticks. After all, Katura's too old and Luvic's a complete tool!
 
Nyssa to the rescue... 


Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak, Somewhere in this town... 

Melkur's started throwing his weight around & is zapping Kassia with her Star-Trek style laser collar wotsist. 

The Doctor wants a shufti at the Source plans but Tremas is reluctant to share. 
He's worried about keeping his honour intact. 


It might help us give a monkey's if we vaguely understood or cared what the Source was. 

The source of all their power or whatever, yeah, but it'd hard to feel a real sense of threat here. 

Melkur exerts a rather more hypnotic influence over Kassia when it comes to it... 


...and she ascends to take on the No. 1 jersey. 

This goes down a storm on most of Traken... 

"Look into my eyes..."  


Finally, as Kassia's moment comes, we see the true face of "Melkur"... 

Why didn't the Doctor recognise the Master's voice? Maybe because he was sort-of regenerating a bit at the end of The Deadly Assassin?

Kassia sits in the big chair when the Keeper croaks.  

Long live the new Keeper, yeah? No, actually. 

Kassia's done for and Melkur's got himself a nice new chair. 


Melkur's throwing his weight around even more now he's Keeper... 


...imprisoning the consuls and using the proctors as his private army. 

The Doctor's plan is rather drastic - destroy the source. 

There are also lots of pointless scenes of Adric & Nyssa techno-waffling meaning that they just aren't really very involved in the story, when they should be.  


And Saward isn't even in the script editor's chair yet. 

He checks out the blueprints but Melkur is soon on the scene to burn them. 

Melkur toddles off... 

...and the Doctor thinks one head is better than three! 

Adric and Nyssa faff in the TARDIS on special padding duty.  

The Doctor starts his sabotage but Melkur shows up to spoil the party. 

Along the way, many old scores will be settled... 

More guff with Adric & Nyssa. Get on with it. 

Love this bit where Melkur has the Doctor and Tremas hypnotized.  

The Melkur invites the Doctor into his parlour. 

"Of course - the Master!" Well, duh! 

Having escaped Gallifrey with some of the power of the Eye of Harmony to sustain him a little longer the Master plots to use the powers of the Keepership to possess the Doctor's body, and gain 9 more regenerations. 

 Beevers gives it some welly with that last scream. 

But Adric's tampering has whipped up a storm allowing the Doctor to escape when the Master's TARDIS burns. 

Tom's stumbling around and has forgotten his phone number again. Average night out. 

So the Source is saved, with the Master and his Melkur TARDIS expelled. Luvic the idiot becomes the new Keeper. Traken won't last long with him in the big chair, mark my words. 

The Doctor & Adric say farewell to Tremas: "You're luck's just about run out..." Too true. 

Quite an abrupt departure here.

The Doctor hints that the TARDIS needs an overhaul... 

Tremas sends Nyssa off, while he checks out a grandfather clock he's never noticed before... 

...and is paralysed when he touches it out creeps the Master and possesses him, transforming Tremas' body into a Delgado-lite appearance... 

It's a brilliantly creepy scene when the Master possesses Tremas. "A new body... at last!"


TTFN! K.
Coming Soon... Logopolis

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