“Logopolis” is the last adventure of the eighteenth season of “Doctor Who” classic series which aired in 1981. It follows “The Keeper of Traken” and it’s a four parts adventure written by Christopher H. Bidmead and directed by Peter Grimwade.
The story
The Tardis Cloister Bell starts tolling and the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) decides to avoid problems and instead take the measures of a real police box to give to the mathematicians of the planet Logopolis to repair the chameleon circuit. However, the Master is controlling him and his Tardis materializes in a recursive loop with the Doctor’s. Along with Adric (Matthew Waterhouse), the Doctor looks for a way to break the loop but when he manages to get out of the Tardis he sees a strange figure in white, almost ghostly, watching him.
Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) is at her first day on the job as a hostess. Her aunt gives her a ride to the airport but on the way a tire is punctured. Tegan tries to change the wheel on her own but needs help so she enters what she believes to be a police telephone box. She ends up on the planet Logopolis, where the Doctor finds Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), brought there by the mysterious Watcher.
Extras
This DVD is rich in extras. There are typical contents such as production subtitles, Radio Times Billings and a gallery of pictures from this adventure.
There are comments in the adventure alternative audio track by protagonists Tom Baker and Janet Fielding and writer Christopher H. Bidmead.
A New Body at Last. A 50-minute documentary on the transition from Tom Baker to Peter Davison.
Nationwide. Two interviews from that time to Tom Baker and Peter Davison.
Pebble Mill at One. An interview with Peter Davison from that time.
BBC News. A selection of BBC news announcements including that of marriage between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, the announcement of Tom Baker’s farewell and Peter Davison’s arrival.
Music-only Option. The option to watch this adventure with only the music by Paddy Kingsland.
Continuity Announcements. Some BBC announcements from the original broadcast of this adventure.
The Doctor Who Annual 1982. The 1982 issue of the magazine “The Doctor Who Annual” in PDF format.
BBC Enterprises Literature. Assorted BBC materials concerning “Doctor Who” eighteenth season in PDF format.
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Script editor Christopher Bidmead had trouble finding suitable new authors to write screenplays for “Doctor Who” and this issue was added to the fatigue of his role so he decided to leave the show after that season. However, Bidmead agreed to write the last adventure of the Fourth Doctor, an anomaly frowned upon within the BBC because the roles of writer and script editor had to be separated but given the circumstances there were no objections.
The BBC hoped to involve the Australian broadcaster ABC in the production of “Doctor Who” but no agreement was reached. Producer John Nathan-Turner thought of introducing an Australian companion to make the series, which was already having success in Australia, even more interesting for ABC. Thus was born the character of Tegan, who immediately shows her grumpy personality.
While working on “Logopolis” script, Christopher Bidmead was informed by producer John Nathan-Turner that he wanted Nyssa to become a companion. The character appeared in “The Keeper of Traken” but at the end of the adventure she stayed on her planet so she had to be reintroduced.
Christopher Bidmead liked computers so many ideas related to computer science were put into “Logopolis” script along with other scientific concepts. During the season, various references to entropy had been included in previous adventures and in the Fourth Doctor finale this element became an important part of the plot.
Unfortunately, in “Logopolis”, as already in “The Keeper of Traken”, a lot of technobabble is used, an element that can be easily abused. In a series historically based on characters such as “Doctor Who” it’s all too easy to exceed the limit beyond which technobabble weakens the story instead of adding something.
Some scientific concepts are necessary for a story like the one set on the planet Logopolis but from some rational basis far-fetched results are reached. In fact, on Logopolis there’s a group of mathematicians who literally keep the universe in existence with their ongoing work.
Logopolis literally means “city of words” but in Christianity the Logos is identified with Jesus as part of God. In fact the mathematicians on Logopolis look like monks and have almost divine powers as without their work the universe would disappear. This religious connotation combined with the scientific basis of Logopolis in my opinion is only partially successful, also due to the inconsistency of some parts. In particular, the use of Earth technology that broadcasts electromagnetic signals which travel at the speed of light to communicate with the entire universe doesn’t seem a great idea.
“Logopolis” is well known as the moment of farewell for the Fourth Doctor. By then, Tom Baker was for many fans THE Doctor years and after many years for several fans he still is. In his last story, from the beginning the events make him to think that something really bad is going to happen. In fact, he hase to face a threat to the entire universe but inevitably the end of this adventure is focused on the regeneration that puts an end to a long and glorious era.
Tom Baker was the actor who played the Doctor for the longest time and his era seems even longer because it went through various stages from gothic horror to comedy until the last season with John Nathan-Turner as a producer, which was the beginning of the last phase of the existence of “Doctor Who” classic series.
As if to mimic the Fourth Doctor era, “Logopolis” seems a combination of many elements mixed in a not always consistent way rather than a single adventure with the presence of the Master and the Watcher, the arrival of Tegan, the return of Nyssa, the planet Logopolis up to the regeneration, in which images of the characters that accompanied the Doctor during those years are shown.
Overall, “Logopolis” works much better on an emotional level than the intellectual one but despite its flaws in my opinion it succeeds in what was its purpose, which is to say goodbye to the Fourth Doctor and show the first image of the Fifth. Even the extras on the DVD, with a good documentary on this moment which is very important in the “Doctor Who” saga and interviews from that time, reflect that purpose.
This DVD is part of the “New Beginnings” box set – available on Amazon UK
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