The Keeper of Traken: Buff Statues and a Mishandled Master Reveal
What is with those painted-on teeth?
Plot summary
The benevolent Keeper of Traken employs the Doctor to face a patient and strangely familiar evil.
Notable for:
First appearance of Nyssa; originally not intended to be a companion.
First appearance of Anthony Ainley as both Tremas and the Master (one being an anagram of the other).
Second appearance of the “decayed” Master; first time Geoffrey Beevers plays the Master — he would reprise the role in Big Finish stories (Dust Breeding and Master) since BF couldn’t reach a deal with Ainley, who died in 2004.
The original decayed Master mask was in bad condition, so they used face paint.
First story after the E-space trilogy; kicks off the “new beginnings” regeneration trilogy.
Traken is later destroyed by the entropy wave in Logopolis. Nyssa may be the only survivor.
Pete commentary:
The Keeper of Traken starts off strong: The Doctor being approached by the Keeper as a “good” free agent with experience confronting evil echoes the White Guardian 2 seasons previous. Here in the Classic series we’re starting to see the Doctor get a reputation in the cosmos, which makes sense. It’s like when you rise to a certain level in your professional career — you start to get “inbounds” for gigs more often.
This is the first time the Doctor and Adric kick off an adventure alone together. There’s a clear pattern to their banter: Adric asks pointed questions and the Doctor proceeds to put him in his place again and again. You get the sense Johnny Byrne is writing to their real-life dynamic, and generally Adric gets the short end of the stick. You’d feel bad for him if only he wasn’t so annoying.
Adric gets at least one good quip in, telling the Doctor that a lot of the time he doesn’t make sense. That goes double for the Fourth Doctor.
You can definitely see why Nyssa was chosen as an ongoing companion. Sarah Sutton really shines in her role (like the scene where she’s confronted by Kassia — which feels lifted from a Shakespeare play), and she has a strong innocent quality that makes you really feel the peril when she’s in danger. And her “six gun” reputation starts here, zapping a bunch of Fosters with the ion bonder. No wonder she’s a crack shot in Arc of Infinity.
Blink and you miss the line where Kassia is Tremas’ second wife (presumably), making her Nyssa’s (wicked) stepmother.
Why didn’t the Keeper give his consuls a heads-up that he was employing the Doctor? A lot of the tension of the story depends on the poor communication between the Keeper and the Trakenites, and there isn’t much reason for it other than “he’s old.”
The painted eyelids on Kassia are in a running gun battle with Geoffrey Beevers’ fake teeth as the worst effect of the whole story.
Conversely, the “atmosphere safe” looks pretty great.
The design of this episode gives a strong Shakespearean feel, which matches up with much of the dialogue. Showy robes, lots of greenery, and balance of big atriums vs. alcoves and corners. The costumes in particular give a strong sense of having been thought through, especially Nyssa, Tremas, and Kassia.
Although we’ve never heard of Traken before, the Keeper is surprised that Adric doesn’t know its reputation of peaceful harmony. This isn’t a terrible thing — I like that Doctor Who is building out its universe a little more, at least for this arc.
The “Fourier analysis” that Adric does was certainly a Bidmead add. Nyssa is probably being kind to him for not laughing at suggesting something so primitive.
Nyssa and Adric working together to sabotage the source gives them something to do, something seemingly important even, and it nicely hints at a budding relationship. But the whole climax essentially ends with a bunch of technobabble that it’s hard to know what’s going on. There’s a bunch of wind and POOF — show over. At least Adric gets to play with a Lego set before the end.
“This type isn’t really my forté.” Baker ticks off his DW bucket list: a dad joke so bad it’s good.
The whole idea of a place that’s so good and pure that evil literally turns to stone when it appears in its midst is worth unpacking. My main comment is that everything in the episode suggests Traken is far from the utopian paradise that everyone thinks it is: The Fosters are easily corrupted, as is Kassia. They have weapons, and are quick to use them to kill. Death sentences are tossed out like hotcakes. The are a couple of ways to reconcile this:
It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to infer that much of the peace Traken enjoys isn’t because impure thoughts are alien, but because of the power of the Source and the Keeper, and the trust the Trakenites have in that system. That’s why this adventure can even happen: Because the Keeper is dying, those evil thoughts are seeping through. That leads to…
Because there typically isn’t any evil/injustice, there is no system in place to deal with it when it’s present. Thus things get extreme pretty quickly (“Kill them!” et al.) and no one knows how to question/stop it. The only thing evil needs to succeed is for good people to do nothing, and, without the direction of the Keeper, the Trakenites just don’t know what to do. By episode 4, they’re basically, “Well, I guess Melkur’s in charge,” which is absolutely nuts, but you’re distracted enough that you go with it.
Baker’s still got it: He delivers the “people being terribly nice to each other” line perfectly, and he’s a delightful (and clearly persuasive) prisoner. Also a highlight: sarcastically scolding Tremas for putting his honor above the safety of his entire planet. When he comes face-to-face with the Master, however, Baker chooses to underplay his reaction, which deadens an already lifeless scene.
Why does the Doctor sneak up on Adric at the end of episode 2?
Speaking of that climax, doesn’t the Foster with the “net gun” see Kassia taking orders from Melkur? Is she really paying him THAT much?
I like that Kassia clearly DOESN’T want the Keepership and just wants things to go back to normal with her and Tremas, even with Melkur in charge. She’s clearly being at least partially controlled/hypnotized by the Master, since none of that makes sense, and she eventually resigns herself to taking on the Keepership anyway. She’s so far gone at this point that she’s basically a vehicle for Melkur now, and you don’t miss her when she’s gone. What did Tremas ever see in this woman?
Speaking of Tremas: Why the hell is his name an anagram of “Master” when he’s not the Master for most of this? I must say, this leads to some delightful head canon, where a future Master must go back and suggest the name to give his past self a hint of what to do should the whole “take over the Source” thing not work out.
Like this episode overall, the Master reveal starts off strong and then loses the thread:
Melkur, evil, got it.
Someone is controlling Melkur! With 2 screens!
“Find your TARDIS, Time Lord!” OMG he knows what TARDISes are! But the “Time Lord” thing makes no sense since the Master is one too. As misleads go, it’s not great.
Subtle TARDIS noise when Melkur disappears — could it be…?
BIG REVEAL: Master turns to camera for no reason, in disappointing makeup.
Melkur makes “quips” about old scores being settled, lack of recognition.
Doctor brought into the Master’s TARDIS: “Oh, it’s you” 😐
Geoffrey Beevers does a great job. His delivery as Melkur is excellent, and the “air” he gives his lines perfectly matches the tone. It only gets bad when you see him in bad Halloween makeup, but his deliciousness when he’s probing Tom Baker’s body is kind of fun. I wish they’d gone further with that.
That said, the final twist is actually quite inspired. The Master taking over Tremas hits you hard, mostly because of Nyssa and her wonderfully tragic final line. It also turbocharges your head canon: I remember debating with my brother if this is a special Time Lord power, but then in the next episode they make clear that he’s able to do this because he still has some lingering power from the Keepership.
The Master can turn his TARDIS into a robot? That’s interesting — let’s do that again. Also, did he materialize around a “real” Melkur, or was he there for 20+ years? If the latter, he must have put himself in stasis or something, setting an alarm to wake him up when the Keeper started to die. Or maybe he really was paralyzed by the “goodness” of Traken. Let’s discuss!
What did Pete’s family think?
Jack and Grace both said it was “pretty good.” They were intrigued by the idea that Melkur was the Master. There was much incredulity about the consuls trusting Kassia after she was obviously the bad guy.
Four Questions to Doomsday - Pete
Why did the Randomizer take us here? Well, I asked for something that messes with canon, and I got it. The connection to The Brain of Morbius is almost too obvious: villains whose time is up who are trying to get an artificial extension —by using the Doctor’s body. They both succeed, but only when they fall back on Plan B.
What if the evil plot had succeeded? The Doctor et al. don’t enter the code in time, and the Master gets full control of the Source. He proceeds to enslave the Traken Union, turning it into a version of his vision from Last of the Time Lords: creating his own mini empire, informed by Time Lord technology, enabling a war on the cosmos. He takes over the Doctor’s body, as he does in The Power of the Doctor. His outfit is a hybrid of the first four Doctors: scarf over fancy dress, with a ribbon bow tie and recorder/stovepipe hat.
Where's the Clara splinter? Clara has been laying the groundwork for Traken to be corrupted (knowing that it needs to fall before it can rise again), often giving the Fosters a little extra money for favors (not those kind of favors).
Dalek, Ogron, Professor Hayter, Viscount Banger, Fixed Point in Time, or Lady Cassandra? Slightly awkward Dalek. Starts off strong with great ideas and design, but it wobbles after Melkur gets what he wants. Luckily, it rights itself at the end.
Chris commentary:
Sarah Sutton, manic pixie dream princess (the rest of the cast dubbed her "the fairy")
The theater nerds versus the science nerd couples (Adric/Nyssa and Doctor/Tremas)
Was Tremas really that good to begin with? He seems awfully unconcerned about the loss/betrayal of his wife. Why did they get married exactly? And who was his first wife, Nyssa's mother? You'd think she'd get at least a shout-out … was Tremas a wife-killer?
According to the books she's called Lucina and died in childbirth. A likely story. According to Big Finish she died when Nyssa was young!
Shout out to Geoffrey Beavers for the audiobook
Soooo the Keeper just flies around the cosmos sharing his wedding video, huh? I really wanted a scene where he has to Bluetooth in to the TARDIS scanner, enter a PIN, needs tech support etc.
The Source? In 1979? C'mon. (They even say "some Force" at one point!)
It's much funnier if you hear it as "the sauce."
That's a perfect example of how this fails to meet suspension of disbelief. Another: the "wind" at the end. There are no Marcel Marceaus in the cast, put it that way.
What's the deal with the Master's other 12 regenerations?
Terrance Dicks is mean to Adric in the novelization, adding "he could eat enough for two" in the breakfast scene.
Why does Tremas have a bunch of eggplants lying around?!
Really love the Doctor's Time Logs, that he's so resolutely analog. Is this a continuation of the 500-year diary?
The BBC was in the middle of a blockbuster series of Shakespeare dramas, hence all the cool costumes.
Sit up, Keeper! No wonder you're dying if you're slumped like that. And does no one in the galaxy get their nails cut?
"a whole empire held together by people just being terribly nice to each other" is a really nice premise. Almost like one you could imagine Douglas Adams having a lot of fun with.
Is the Master drawn to utopias so he can mess with them?
Melkur looks like he's posing on muscle beach … and he certainly gets the ladies! (By being a really good listener?)
Is Melkur itself the Master's TARDIS, or did it just have the grandfather clock inside? Or the Master's control room somewhere else? Why keep it as a grandfather clock when that stands out on Traken? Was the chameleon circuit temporarily busted?
JNT wanted Sarah back for the end and then Leela, called them both!
The Master's clothes change when he regenerates. Discuss!
Four Questions to Doomsday - Chris
Why did the Randomizer take us here? Another energy crisis! Also Johnny Byrne once lived with the Beatles. Geoffrey Beavers bingo (with Ambassadors), ruined Master bingo, Master on-screen regeneration bingo (unless you count Power of the Doctor), Doctor-Adric solo TARDIS team bingo
What if the evil plot had succeeded? No Tegan and no regeneration?! No Watcher?! The end, but the moment has not been prepared for? Or (assuming the Doctor and Adric manage to escape again) does it all unfold the same way, with the Watcher guiding everything and Logopolis being the first planet that the Master decides to conquer?
Where's the Clara splinter? Keeping all those revolting Melkur-worshipping peasants at bay. Or making sure the Doctor arrives out of E-space somewhere near Traken? She got Tremas and Kassia together?
Dalek, Ogron, Professor Hayter, Viscount Banger, Fixed Point in Time, or Lady Cassandra? It looks lovely, but I can't judge it – this was my first real season, a really strong memory, the lead in to Logopolis etc. It's a Fixed Cassandra in Time!