“The Keeper of Traken” is an adventure of the eighteenth season of “Doctor Who” classic series which aired in 1981. It follows “Warriors’ Gate” and it’s a four parts adventure written by Johnny Byrne and directed by John Black.
The story
After getting out of E-space, the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) arrive close to the planet Traken, at the center of an empire known for its peace and harmony. However, when the Keeper of Traken appears in the Tardis asking the Doctor for his help against a serious threat, it’s clear that it won’t be a vacation.
The Keeper also warns the Consuls of Traken of the threat, perhaps linked to Melkur, a malign creature arrived on the planet years before who got calcified and has become a sort of statue. When the Doctor and Adric arrive on the planet, some people think that they are the threat but the Consul Tremas decides to work with them, with the help of his daughter Nyssa (Sarah Sutton).
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 Sarah Sutton e Matthew Waterhouse, actor Anthony Ainley and writer Johnny Byrne.
Being Nice to Each Other. A 30-minute documentary on the production of this adventure.
The Return of the Master. A short documentary on the return of the Master.
Sarah Sutton on Swap Shop. An interview with Sarah Sutton aired on January 31, 1981.
Music-only Option. The option to listen to the music composed by Roger Limb together with this adventure.
Trailers & Continuity Announcements. A selection of BBC ads and promos of the original transmission and repeats 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.
At the end of the adventure, another extra with Anthony Ainley starts automatically.
[ad name=”eBayNetflixDoctorWho468″]
In the previous seasons, Tom Baker had planned to leave “Doctor Who” but was persuaded to stay. Producer John Nathan-Turner had already made several changes to the show and accepted the actor’s decision to leave the role of the Doctor. The problem was to avoid a too traumatic transition to another protagonist and initially Nathan-Turner thought to reintroduce another familiar face such as Sarah-Jane Smith or Leela. Neither Elisabeth Sladen nor Louise Jameson, however, were interested in returning to the show.
Therefore, John Nathan-Turner decided to reintroduce the Master, whose last appearance took place in “The Deadly Assassin“, in which he was at the end of his last regeneration and was physically deteriorating. “The Keeper of Traken” was to be the adventure in which the Master found a way to have a new body.
In “The Keeper of Traken” Nyssa appears for the first time. Originally, she wasn’t supposed to become a companion, in fact at the end of this adventure she stays on the planet Traken.
The Traken Empire looks like a part of a fairy tale as it’s characterized by peace and harmony, so as to paralyze any creature who might come there with evil intent, such as Melkur, turned into a sort of statue, at least appearently. Author Johnny Byrne also wrote poetry so probably it came naturally to him to create a society of that kind.
Visually, Traken and its inhabitants are really good. On the surface, their society seems almost bucolic even if in the course of the adventure we see extensive use of various technologies. The buildings have a style that suits fairy tales and both Kassia and Nyssa wear clothes that make them almost look like fairies.
However, Traken’s utopia seems very fragile, especially when the Keeper is at the end of his life. The period of transition to a new Keeper can be chaotic and highlights any potential problems. For Melkur it’s easy to take advantage of Kassia’s compassion and use it to his plans.
From this point of view, “The Keeper of Traken” could’ve been better. The tragedy of Kassia, a good and compassionate woman who is turned into a weapon against Traken’s utopia, should be central to the story, instead it seems secondary. In my opinion, it would’ve given this adventure greater strength, instead it seems more focused on the cliché of the Doctor being mistaken for a criminal spending a lot of time between a prison cell, his escape and the attempts to clarify the situation.
When the Doctor and Adric arrive on Traken, the Consuls mistake them for the threat the Keeper warned them about and only Tremas gives them at least the benefit of the doubt when he learns that the Doctor is a scientist like him. In general, the Consuls seem to embody more the fragility of Traken’s society than its merits since they have several flaws and they’re easily fooled. With the Keeper at the end of his life, they don’t seem particularly capable of governing the transition period.
This adventure developed for the most part like a fairy tale, however, has an ending based on technobabble and this weakens it. Luckily, after the end of the Keeper of Traken’s story, there’s the Master’s story, which actually is at a new beginning and compensates for what could be a weak end.
In the cast performances there are ups and downs too. In certain cases, I suspect that a better script would’ve led to better results from this point of view. Even Sarah Sutton isn’t particularly brilliant in playing Nyssa but she works well with Matthew Waterhouse in the scenes where Nyssa and Adric act together and maybe that helped convince producer John Nathan-Turner to reuse her character.
Despite these flaws, “The Keeper of Traken” has a high reputation among “Doctor Who” fans. Personally I must say that I’m not so impressed but overall it’s a good adventure with an evocative setting and it’s important within the show. To this, you can add a DVD containing extras with a generally good quality.
This DVD is part of the “New Beginnings” box set – available on Amazon UK
