The Keeper of Traken is a story that I didn’t know much about until I watched it. I remember that I saw it in my local HMV priced at £6.49 which I considered a bargain. It was when VHS’s were still on sale even though the DVD had superseded it as the watchable format. Quite like when I watched the Aztecs for the first time, I absolutely enjoyed this adventure. The story is the first to feature the Master since ‘The Deadly Assassin’ back in 1977. Again, the Master is deformed but in slightly more effective make up this time. It also sees the debut of Nyssa (played by Sarah Sutton). This was intended to be a one off appearance but Sutton impressed so much that she was offered a longer contract.
The story is set in the Traken Union which is an empire of peace and harmony. The Union is headed up by the Keeper, the Keeper has enormous power (he’s able to appear and disappear inside the TARDIS). Unfortunately that harmony is threatened by Melkur who is a creature that arrived on Traken but became calcified in the grove. The Keeper asks the Doctor to visit traken but is soon arrested. The story spends a long time with the council thinking that the Doctor is responsible for the terrible things happening on Traken but its Kassia that is pushing through this ludicrous idea. She has now being taken over by the Melkur who we soon discover is actually the Master’s TARDIS. Whilst the Doctor spends some time with Tremas, Adric spends a lot of time with Nyssa. Nyssa is a smart person who is the daughter of Tremas and the step-daughter of Kassia. It doesn’t take long for Nyssa to start behaving like Adric and they actually work quite well together with Sarah Sutton dragging Matthew Waterhouse through a lot of the scenes. In fact, take Waterhouse out of the story and my feelings about this story would be exactly the same.
Normally the Master’s plan could be accused of lacking in originality. Whilst this isnt the most original its far better than other plans. Due to the fact he has no proper body, he wants to become Keeper so he has ultimate power. That’s quite a plan that the Master has but alas it comes to nothing as the Doctor works it all out and comes up with a plan just in the nick of time. Just when you think that everything is safe now that the Master has been stopped however the shock twist at the end when Tremas (swap those letters around and it makes – Master!) is taken over by the Master and Anthony Ainley’s eight year association with the show begins. But this is not the last that we will see of the Master and he will go on to appear in the next two stories. Even though I knew (and suspect that a lot of people who had never seen this story before) that Ainley would go on to play the Master, I thought the way that it was done was very well thought off. The special effects used were also impressive, they manage to look credible even today.
Tom Baker’s final season is a sad one in many respects. Gone is the exciting and often mad Doctor that we saw in stories like Robot and even in the Key to Time series and it has been replaced by a grumpy and slow moving (and thinking) Doctor. I have often felt that he stayed in the role about two years too long. This is one of his better performances but its hard not to yearn for the heyday of his tenure. Sarah Sutton is wonderful in this story and shows why she is one of the best companions in Doctor Who with Matthew Waterhouse serving a purpose I suppose. Geoffrey Beevers is absolutely brilliant as the Master, his voice is what makes the character so impressive and when he returned in the 2003 Big Finish play ‘Master’ it shows what a great actor he is.
The Keeper of Traken is one of my favourite stories from this series. Even though it is entirely studio based it doesn’t suffer because of it. The story is one of the few stories to grab me on the first view. As I mentioned at the beginning, only the Aztecs has affected me in the same way. The story has well written characters and the direction and set designs were also perfect. Well worth a watch to even the newest of Doctor Who fans.
The story is set in the Traken Union which is an empire of peace and harmony. The Union is headed up by the Keeper, the Keeper has enormous power (he’s able to appear and disappear inside the TARDIS). Unfortunately that harmony is threatened by Melkur who is a creature that arrived on Traken but became calcified in the grove. The Keeper asks the Doctor to visit traken but is soon arrested. The story spends a long time with the council thinking that the Doctor is responsible for the terrible things happening on Traken but its Kassia that is pushing through this ludicrous idea. She has now being taken over by the Melkur who we soon discover is actually the Master’s TARDIS. Whilst the Doctor spends some time with Tremas, Adric spends a lot of time with Nyssa. Nyssa is a smart person who is the daughter of Tremas and the step-daughter of Kassia. It doesn’t take long for Nyssa to start behaving like Adric and they actually work quite well together with Sarah Sutton dragging Matthew Waterhouse through a lot of the scenes. In fact, take Waterhouse out of the story and my feelings about this story would be exactly the same.
Normally the Master’s plan could be accused of lacking in originality. Whilst this isnt the most original its far better than other plans. Due to the fact he has no proper body, he wants to become Keeper so he has ultimate power. That’s quite a plan that the Master has but alas it comes to nothing as the Doctor works it all out and comes up with a plan just in the nick of time. Just when you think that everything is safe now that the Master has been stopped however the shock twist at the end when Tremas (swap those letters around and it makes – Master!) is taken over by the Master and Anthony Ainley’s eight year association with the show begins. But this is not the last that we will see of the Master and he will go on to appear in the next two stories. Even though I knew (and suspect that a lot of people who had never seen this story before) that Ainley would go on to play the Master, I thought the way that it was done was very well thought off. The special effects used were also impressive, they manage to look credible even today.
Tom Baker’s final season is a sad one in many respects. Gone is the exciting and often mad Doctor that we saw in stories like Robot and even in the Key to Time series and it has been replaced by a grumpy and slow moving (and thinking) Doctor. I have often felt that he stayed in the role about two years too long. This is one of his better performances but its hard not to yearn for the heyday of his tenure. Sarah Sutton is wonderful in this story and shows why she is one of the best companions in Doctor Who with Matthew Waterhouse serving a purpose I suppose. Geoffrey Beevers is absolutely brilliant as the Master, his voice is what makes the character so impressive and when he returned in the 2003 Big Finish play ‘Master’ it shows what a great actor he is.
The Keeper of Traken is one of my favourite stories from this series. Even though it is entirely studio based it doesn’t suffer because of it. The story is one of the few stories to grab me on the first view. As I mentioned at the beginning, only the Aztecs has affected me in the same way. The story has well written characters and the direction and set designs were also perfect. Well worth a watch to even the newest of Doctor Who fans.
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