OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 562
STORY NUMBER: 118
TRANSMITTED: Monday 11 January 1982
WRITER: Christopher H. Bidmead
DIRECTOR: Fiona Cumming
SCRIPT EDITOR: Eric Saward
PRODUCER: John Nathan-Turner
RATINGS: 10.4 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - New Beginnings (The Keeper of Traken/Logopolis/Castrovalva)
"Recursive occlusion. Someone's manipulating Castrovalva. We're caught in a space-time trap!"
The Doctor, unsure of who he is, is taken into Castrovalva's dwellings by the hunting party and made welcome. He is given a bed for the night and as he drifts off to sleep is visited by the Portreeve who lets slip that he knows who the Doctor is. Tegan & Nyssa are admitted too, and after being allowed to see the Doctor they retire to bed. Nyssa sees an image of Adric in his mirror who advises them to make sure the Doctor stays there and not to reveal that he is missing, The next morning they meet with the Portreeve and the librarian Shardovan. The Portreeve shows them his tapestry which re-arranges itself to show past events and is the source of the Portreeve's knowledge. Watching Nyssa & Tegan carry him to Castrovalva makes the Doctor realise something is wrong and a remark by a child makes him realise Adric is missing. He confronts Nyssa & Tegan who tell him Adric is missing but when they try to leave Castrovalva they discover it's subject to a spatial disturbance which folds in on itself trapping them....
How nice it is to find an alien society that doesn't all want to kill the Doctor for once? They seem genuinely pleased to have him there. I can remember watching this episode at the time and thinking "The Master's there somewhere" and thinking it must be the librarian Shardovan cos he's wearing black and has a moustache........ Incidentally doesn't the actor playing Shardovan, Derek Waring, look like Edward Brayshaw of the Doctor Who stories The Reign of Terror & The War Games and famed for being Harold Meaker in the children's TV series Rentaghost?
The end of the episode, with the entrances and exits from Castrovalva looping round on each other expose the origins of the story which can be found in the works of M. C. Escher, especially Relativity and Ascending and Descending, both of which depict concepts similar to what we see here. A third Escher illustration, Castrovalva provides both the title of the story and the concept of a fortified town on a hill. Christopher H. Bidmead's novelisation of Logopolis is dedicated to Escher.
Director Fiona Cumming makes her debut on this story: she was previously assistant floor manager on The Massacre, and then Production Assistant on The Highlanders (a film cut off exists of her operating a clapperboard from this story), The Seeds of Death & The Mutants.
We have one of the Doctor Who greats amongst us for these last two episodes: playing the physician, Mergrave, is Michael Sheard who was previously in The Ark as Rhos, The Mind of Evil as Dr. Roland Summers, Pyramids of Mars as Laurence Scarman and The Invisible Enemy as Lowe. He's got one more appearance to come in Remembrance of the Daleks as the Headmaster. Before then he'd find lasting fame as Mr Bronson in Grange Hill. If you don't know who from any of these then you'll have seen him as Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back. He plays Hitler five times including the The Tomorrow People story Hitler's Last Secret and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He was in our favourite Adam Adamant Lives! D for Destruction as the Major, which features Second Doctor Patrick Troughton and a load of Power Station Control Panels, The Sweeney as Mr. Penketh in Hit and Run, Space: 1999 as Dr. Darwin King in the superb Dragon's Domain, The Professionals as Merton in When the Heat Cools Off, Blake's 7 as Klegg in Powerplay and Raiders of the Lost Ark as a U-Boat Captain.
Ruther Frank Wylie appears in the Polanski film version of Macbeth as Menteith. He's not the only Who actor in that or indeed the only Who actor this season!
Shardovan is played by Derek Waring who can be seen in The Professionals as Dr. Seigel in Discovered in a Graveyard.
DOCTOR: One, two. Good day. One, two. No, no, no, no. One, two.According to the Matrix Databank the actress playing the child that speaks to the Doctor, Souska John, is the niece of Caroline John, who played former companion Liz Shaw.
CHILD: Three, sir.
DOCTOR: What?
CHILD: Three, sir, is what comes after two.
DOCTOR: Do you know, that's exactly what I thought.
CHILD: And then four and then five and then six and then seven
DOCTOR: Stop, please. You're making me dizzy. We'll have to give you a badge for mathematical excellence. Adric. Adric!
Series regular stuntman Stuart Fell appears as a Stunt Castrovalvan Warrior in this episode, though I can't quite work out what the stunt work is but the DWAS production file indicates he only appears on location. Fell had been a UNIT soldier & Auton in Terror of the Autons, UNIT staff member & a photographer in The Mind of Evil and a UNIT Soldier & Axon in The Claws of Axos before he got his first credited appearance as Alpha Centauri in The Curse of Peladon. He then appeared as a Guard, Sailor & Sea Devil in The Sea Devils and a Functionary in Carnival of Monsters, Alpha Centauri in The Monster, the Tramp in Planet of the Spiders part two, who the Doctor drives the hovercraft over, and a Guard later in the same story, a Wirrn Larvae & Wirrn in The Ark in Space, the double for Styre in The Sontaran Experiment, The Kraal in The Android Invasion part three, the Monster in The Brain of Morbius, Forking peasant / Guard / Acolyte in The Masque of Mandragora, a Policeman, Coolie & the Giant Rat in Talons of Weng Chiang, a Guard in The Sun Makers, a Sontaran in The Invasion of Time, a Shrivenzale in the Ribos Operation, double for Decider Draith in Full Circle and Roga in State of Decay. He returns as a masked villager in The Visitation and a Cyberman in The Five Doctors. Fell also did stunts in Terror of the Autons, was fight arranger in The Talons of Weng-Chiang, more stunts in The Ribos Operation & Full Circle and served as fight arranger again in State of Decay. In Blake's 7 he was Dortmunn in Mission to Destiny, a Subterron in Project Avalon, a Goth Warrior in The Keeper, a Sarran in Aftermath, a Labourer in The Harvest of Kyros, a Guard in City at the Edge of the World, a Federation Trooper in Rumours of Death, a Guard in Moloch, a Gunman in Death-Watch, a Link in Terminal & Rescue and a Hommik Warrior in Power plus he was the stunt coordinator for Project Avalon, The Keeper, Aftermath, Volcano, The Harvest of Kyros, City at the Edge of the World, Rumours of Death, Moloch, Death-Watch, Terminal, Rescue & Power. He plays a man in the Doomwatch episode Spectre at the Feast. He's in The Empire Strikes Back as a Snowtrooper and does stunts in Return of the Jedi. He also does stunt work on the Roger Moore James Bond films For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy & A View to a Kill. And so much more.
The most well known of the regular actors playing Castrovalvan Warriors, I assume those in battle gear, is Cy Town . His first Doctor Who appearance was as an Auton in Spearhead from Space returning as a Technician in Doctor Who and the Silurians, a Technician in Inferno, a Prisoner, Audience Member & Medical Orderly in The Mind of Evil, a Gel Guard in Three Doctors, a Dalek in Frontier in Space & Planet of the Daleks, a Soldier in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, a Dalek in Death to the Daleks, a Dalek in Genesis of the Daleks, multiple Vogans in Revenge of the Cybermen, an Android Villager in Android Invasion, a Traveller, Drummer, Pikeman, Brother & Servant in The Masque of Mandragora, an Bi-Al member in The Invisible Enemy, a Guard in The Sun Makers and a Dalek in Destiny of the Daleks. He returns as a Guest Gambler in Enlightenment, a Dalek in Resurrection of the Daleks, a City Person in Street in Attack of the Cybermen, a Dalek in Revelation of the Daleks & Remembrance of the Daleks, Execution Victim Harold L & a drone in The Happiness Patrol and a Haemovore in The Curse of Fenric. He's also in Doomwatch: Flood as a Man, all six episodes of Moonbase 3 as a Technician and the final episode of Blake's 7: Blake as a Rebel Technician / Federation Trooper.
Outside of Doctor Who appears in the Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes Spam, as a Surfer, and The Money Programme, as a Trumpeter, plus the film Monty Python's The Meaning of Life as a Restaurant Diner. In Doomwatch he's a Man in Flood, he's a Technician in all six episodes of Moonbase 3, a Security Guard in The Sweeney Golden Boy, in Quadrophenia he's a hairdresser, in Blake's 7 he's a Rebel Technician / Federation Trooper in Blake, he's a Coach Passenger in Miss Marple: Nemesis and in Jeeves and Wooster he's the Vicar in Wooster with a Wife (or, Jeeves the Matchmaker). And if you want to know what he looks like outside of his Dalek shell then there's some screencaps of him on his Aveleyman page.
Mark Allington had worked on the show the longest, first appearing as a Male Guardian in The Ark then a Settler in The Gunfighters and, after a considerable gap, a Unit Soldier in The Android Invasion. He returns in the Marketplace Crowd in Snakedance then as a Schoolmaster in Mawdryn Undead. In Blake's 7 he is a Star One Technician in Star One and in Fawlty Towers he's a Hotel Guest in The Wedding Party.
Ernie Goodyear is making his last Doctor Who appearance. He was previously an Agressor/Miner in Monster of Peladon and a Tesh Acolyte in Face of Evil. In Blake's 7 he was an Albian Rebel / Federation Trooper in Countdown.
Ray Martin returns as a Lazar in Terminus, a Soldier in Caves of Androzani, a School Teacher in Remembrance of the Daleks and a Drone in The Happiness Patrol
Dave Harrison returns as a Worker in The Trial Of A Time Lord 1-4: The Mysterious Planet and a Dalek Operator in Remembrance of the Daleks.
Onto the Castrovalvan Men, presumably those inside the castle in more normal dress.
George Ballantine was a Prisoner & Audience Member in Mind of Evil, Android Villager in Android Invasion, Federico’s Servant in Masque of Mandragora, a Death Grade in The Sunmakers and a a Logopolitan in Logopolis. He has one more appearance as the Hawker in Snakedance.
Giles Melville was a Kaled Soldier & Elite Guard in Genesis of the Daleks and a Young Rebellious Time Lord in Invasion of Time. He returns as a Plasmaton in Time Flight and a Gallifreyan in Arc of Infinity - the same one he played in Invasion of Time? In Blake's 7 he was a Star One Technician in Star One and a Passenger in Gold while in Survivors he played Kevin Lloyd in the first episode The Fourth Horseman.
Malcolm Ross was a Technician/Guard/Citizen in Ribos Operation and a Technician in Armageddon Factor He returns as one of Ranulf's Knights in King's Demons and a Native in The Trial Of A Time Lord 1-4: The Mysterious Planet.
David Bulbeck was a Foamasi in The Leisure Hive and returns as a Lazar in Terminus.
David Payne was a Citizen in Full Circle and returns as a Citizen/Unbeliever in Plant of Fire
Colin Cook was a Citizen in Full Circle and a Citizen in Keeper of Traken.
Mike Vinden returns as a Crewmember in Resurrection of the Daleks
Eric Corlett returns as a Crewmember/Duplication Body in Resurrection of the Daleks and a Worker in The Trial Of A Time Lord 1-4: The Mysterious Planet.
Now the Castrovalvan Women.
Jean Channon first appeared in Doctor Who as a Parisian Woman in The Massacre. She then plays a Passenger/Plague Victim/Passersby in The Silurians, Hilda, the girl in the Lotus Position in The Green Death, a Masquer in The Masque of Mandragora, a Passser By and one of Audience/Dancing Girls/Stagehands in The Talons of Weng-Chiang and a Passenger in Nightmare of Eden. She returns as a Dinner Guest in Snakedance, a Lazar in Terminus and the Woman at Telephone in Survival. In Blake's 7 she is a Zondawl Citizen in Warlord.
Sheila Vivian was a Control Room Assistant in Ambassadors of Death, Female Guest in Masque of Mandragora and a Citizen in Keeper of Traken. She returns as a Worthy in Snakedance. In Doomwatch she was a Woman in Burial at Sea.
Delphine Auchterlonie was a Court lady in Androids of Tara
Maureen Stevens was a Holidaymaker in The Leisure Hive. In Fawlty Towers she is the Double for Miss Tibbs in The Kipper and the Corpse and in Yes Minister she plays Mrs. Crichton in The Greasy Pole.
Rosemary Smith returns in the Cave Crowd in Snakedance.
Jennie Piper later appears as a Citizen/Unbeliever in Planet of Fire.
Finally this is the only appearance in Doctor Who for Dorothy Grumbar. But seeing that surname got me wondering if she's any relative of Murphy Grumber aka Peter Murphy, long time Dalek Operator to the end of the Pertwee era. IMDB says Dorothy Grumbar was married to a Peter Bax which disappointed me ..... till I noticed his dates were the same as Mr Murphy/Grumbar and that Peter Bax is yet another alias for our former Dalek Operator! Further digging indicates they both were Dalek Operators in the sixties stage play The Curse of the Daleks
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