Doctor Who: New Beginnings (The Keeper of Traken / Logopolis / Castrovalva)
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DVD details
Actor: Peter Davison, Tom BakerBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 292 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2010-03-02
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: E4013
Studio: BBC Worldwide
Product features:
- These three stories saw the return of the Doctor's arch-enemy, The Master, as well as the transition from Tom Baker's Doctor to Peter Davison's. The Keeper of Traken: A distress call brings the Doctor (Tom Baker) to the tranquil planet of Traken, where a living statue poses a deadly threat. (4 eps, 98 mins) Logopolis: The Doctor's (Tom Baker) plan to enlist the help of Logopolis's mathematicians f
DVD Reviews of Doctor Who: New Beginnings (The Keeper of Traken / Logopolis / Castrovalva)
DVD Review: A whole new beginning
Summary: 5 Stars
Three stories from a very turbulent era of the classic BBC series Doctor Who have hit the shelves, either in a box set or as three individual discs - a much more expensive option! Grouped together under the title "New Beginnings" or alternatively "The Return of The Master", these three stories very much make up the `end of an era' and a fresh start for the errant Time Lord.
Tom Baker had been playing the part of the Doctor since 1974 and although it was by now very accepted for different actors to play the part, he had become so entrenched in the role that the public very much saw him as "The" Doctor and for a whole generation of younger viewers, he was the "Only" Doctor. Behind the scenes, Baker had become more and more difficult to work with and changes in the production team at the start of season 18 had irritated him even further. His annual threat to leave the show was presented in due course and this time - it was accepted! New producer John Nathan-Turner was eager to stamp his own identity on the show and recasting the central role was one that certainly excited him. Although he briefly considered Richard Griffiths for the part, his one and only choice was the much younger actor Peter Davison, who was already very well known to TV viewers from his work on All Creatures Great and Small.
By the time The Keeper of Traken, the penultimate story of season 18, was in production, Baker's departure had been announced and plans were well under way to ease the transition to the new Doctor, to be played by 29-years-old Peter Davison, the youngest actor yet to take on the part. In order to make the change over smooth and take the opportunity to halt the declining ratings and re-launch the almost eighteen-years-old show, Nathan-Turner made many sweeping changes to the look of the programme as well as many cast changes in addition to the role of the Doctor. At the start of the season, new music, opening titles, costuming and design elements had given the show a very much needed lift although in retrospect, they may not all have been particularly successful. Despite the departing lead actor, he also made many other cast changes, including dropping the Doctor's companion Romana (played by Baker's wife Lalla Ward) and his robot dog K9. Three new companions were introduced throughout the season, with Adric, a teenage boy played by Matthew Waterhouse arriving in story three and Nyssa, a teenage girl played by Sarah Sutton, appearing first in The Keeper of Traken. Tegan Jovanka, an Australian air hostess played by Janet Fielding came on board in the last story of the season, the middle segment of this set, Logopolis, the last of Baker's tenure. As if all these changes weren't enough, The Master, the Doctor's fellow Time Lord and bitterest enemy, was resurrected after a few years out of the show, played by both Geoffrey Beevers and Anthony Ainley. Finally, with another needed revamp of the graphics and a move to a new day and time slot, plus the scheduling two episodes per week, Peter Davison takes on the role in the third of the set, Castrovalva. So many changes...
The three stories themselves stand up quite well, although all are rather indicative of the Nathan-Turner approach to the show - hugely complicated story lines that often don't make much sense before repeated viewing. Perhaps script editor Christopher H. Bidmead, who also penned the scripts for both Logopolis and Castrovalva, is more at fault here, but scripting and story telling is often cited as the key weakness in Nathan-Turner's ability. Indeed, the wonderful extras included on these three discs feature many interviews with the cast and writers, most notably Tom Baker and Peter Davison, who are nearly all somewhat critical of Nathan-Turner and his approach to the show. Costuming seems to be something that irritates both the lead actors, but the ever changing cast list and the expansion of the companions is something that clearly neither was happy with, as the writers and Directors involved echo. The "in-jokes" that were beginning to pepper the scripts is also clearly an irritant to all but the producer.
The disc's extras are really phenomenal and even if these stories aren't your favorite, the extras will make it all worthwhile. Apart from many, many new and extremely frank interviews, there are all sorts of news and archive shows to enjoy, including many features on Davison's winning of the role. Each disc has its own commentary, The Keeper of Traken featuring the late Anthony Ainley, who thus marks his one and only commentary contribution. For me, Ainley is one of the problems that overshadows these three stories. He starts off in the role of Tremas; a character that is taken over by The Master at the end of the Traken adventure, going on to appear as The Master in the next two stories and throughout the subsequent nine years of the original show. A hammier actor is unimaginable. His pantomime-like performance did a lot to destroy the integrity of the character. Geoffrey Beevers, who plays The Master in the majority of the Traken story would have made a much, much more sinister and believable character and it's such a shame he wasn't offered (or at least didn't accept) the role full time. One extremely annoying feature of the Traken commentary is that Ainley and Matthew Waterhouse keep repeating lines from the show, which actually makes it sound like there's a time delay echo on the disc. It takes some getting used to. Sarah Sutton and writer Johnny Byrne add their thoughts to the Traken commentary. Tom Baker and Janet Fielding (together with Christopher H. Bidmead) provide the Logopolis commentary and alas, Baker is almost silent throughout the recording. He contributes very little indeed. Peter Davison joins Fielding and director Fiona Cumming for Castrovalva.
The new dawn for the show really did arrive with Davison. Although I'm no fan of his portrayal of The Doctor, the revamp came at the right time and salvaged an otherwise dying show, giving it a complete new lease of life. The move away from Saturday tea-time to a later weeknight slot proved a hit and the ratings improved dramatically. What Baker, Davison, Bidmead, director John Black and others in the accompanying documentaries have to say about the new (and passing) era of the show is fascinating. The honesty from Baker is extremely revealing and almost makes this set an invaluable addition to the Doctor Who library on its own.
More Doctor Who: New Beginnings (The Keeper of Traken / Logopolis / Castrovalva) reviews:
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Description of Doctor Who: New Beginnings (The Keeper of Traken / Logopolis / Castrovalva)
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