Monday, July 17, 2017

The Keeper of Traken

Nyssa: How is it bigger on the inside?
Adric: The Doctor told me its because it's dimensionally transcendental.
Nyssa: What does that mean?
Adric: It means it's bigger on the inside.


The Keeper of Traken is one of those stories that seems to be near the top of tier two. No one ever lists it as a favorite nor does it make any kind of Top 10 list like The Ark in Space or Genesis of the Daleks. But it always seems to be well regarded as an interesting story and well performed. It's also a rather important story given that it introduces the Anthony Ainley Master and Nyssa, although she was not intended as a companion when Johnny Byrne wrote this story. So I'm highly curious about this one.

Plot Summary

The Doctor and Adric bring the TARDIS into N-space and find themselves near the planet of Traken, a planet where evil is not permitted to flourish. The Doctor can't remember ever visiting there but consults his journals with Adric to refresh his memory. As they read, an old man in a chair appears in the control room.

The old man is the current Keeper of Traken. He requests the Doctor's help and shows images of evil creatures called Melkur which fly to the planet, become rooted in various areas and calcify as their evil is suppressed. He shows one Melkur being tended by a young woman named Kassia. She is later shown as a member of the council and recently married to another council member named Tremas. At their wedding, the Keeper shifted Kassia's attentive duties of the Melkur to Tremas' daughter Nyssa. Shortly after he names Tremas as Keeper designate, to succeed him after he dies. Kassia is upset by this and vents her fears to the Melkur. The Doctor agrees to help and the Keeper disappears.

On Traken, a man is found dead with a look of horror on his face. Tremas has readings which indicate that evil is growing on the planet. The council assembles to discuss the matter and they eventually vote to allow the citizenry to arm themselves as a means of protection.

The Doctor and Adric arrive shortly afterward and are arrested by the guards on suspicion of the murder and brought to the council. After they leave, the Melkur wakes and hits the TARDIS with a beam, causing it to disappear. The Doctor informs the council that he was summoned by the Keeper but when they go to find the TARDIS to verify his story, they cannot find it and grow more suspicious of him.

The Doctor appeals for them to ask the Keeper directly and they agree. As they go to summon him. The Melkur comes alive and walks to the doorway of the hall. The Keeper appears but is attacked by the Melkur's plasma beam while lingering in the back and cries out about the invasion of evil before he disappears again.

Assuming the Doctor was the evil spoken of, the guards advance and Kassia cries for their deaths but overdoes it and collapses. The Doctor appeals once more and his invoking of science intrigues Tremas. Tremas takes the Doctor and Adric under his protection while they investigate the energy readings. Kassia meanwhile comes to and slips out. She sees the body of a peasant killed by the Melkur and drags it into the brush, not wanting the Melkur to be discovered yet.

Tremas takes the Doctor and Adric to his home for rest and food while Kassia heads back to the Melkur, which has resumed it's former place. It begins speaking to her and assures her that Tremas will not assume the role of Keeper. The Melkur gives her a collar which allows him to use his powers through her.

After eating the Doctor and Tremas leave his house to investigate the energy readings while Adric stays with Nyssa. She shows him her father's equipment and Adric begins to take measurements of his own. He spots some unusual readings and drags Nyssa out to go show them to the Doctor. The Doctor and Tremas are meanwhile prevented from getting to the grove as the populace has crowded outside the gates based on the rumors of the Melkur coming to life. Tremas and the Doctor instead take an alternate route through the council room.

Nyssa slips Proctor Neman, the captain of the guards, some money and he disperses the crowd around the gate. Adric slips through but Nyssa is prevented from entering the grove by the rest of the council. They are assembling for Councilor Seron to stand examination before the Keeper due to his withholding of Tremas' energy findings. Nyssa is sent home while Adric is grabbed and shushed by the Doctor.

The Doctor discovers that the TARDIS is still there but has been shifted out of phase. The three of them head back to the cavern under the council chamber where the main power source is. There Adric shows the Doctor his readings which suggest a more powerful TARDIS than his arrived on Traken. The Doctor then perfects a small device to unphase the TARDIS.

Before they leave, they notice the power activating, indicating the Keeper is arriving. He examines Seron and finds him innocent but warns that they have been betrayed. Confused, Seron turns as the Keeper disappears to find Kassia now controlled by the Melkur. She fires bolts of plasma and kills Seron. The commotion attracts the Doctor and Tremas as well as the guards. She then claims Seron was found guilty by the Keeper and they move to arrest the Doctor.

They flee into the grove via the tunnel where the Melkur mocks the Doctor. The Doctor rematerializes the TARDIS but before they can enter, Kassia steps in front and stuns Tremas. Tremas, the Doctor and Adric are then captured via an electrified net from one of the guards. The group is placed in a holding cell with strict instructions to the guards to keep them under watch.

Kassia returns to the grove where she asks the Melkur to release her but the Melkur takes further control of her, insisting she become the new Keeper upon the death of the old one. They are interrupted by Nyssa, who had come to tend the statue. Kassia lashes out at her and orders her home, informing her that her father and the strangers have been arrested. Nyssa does go home but amplifies an ion bonder and heads for the prison.

Nyssa attempts to bribe Proctor Neman as she did before but he refuses. She then stuns him and another guard with the ion bonder, taking their key. She releases the Doctor, Adric and her father and stun two additional guards when cornered in a hall. With the alarms sounding of their escape, the group doubles back and takes refuge in Tremas' house, which had already been searched by the guards. The Doctor then convinces Tremas to let him see the plans for the source power supply. Looking over the blueprints, the Doctor and Adric make a contingency plan and then give them back to Tremas. They head back to the grove to get back to the TARDIS.

The remaining council members meet and agree that with the death of Seron and the arrest of Tremas, Kassia will become Keeper upon the death of the old one. Learning of the Doctor's escape, Kassia elects to reset the old trap and orders the guards away from the grove. This allows the Doctor's group to enter the grove where the Melkur warns off the Doctor once more. A view inside shows that the Melkur is actually the skeletal Master in his TARDIS.

A sudden lighting storm rises signaling the impending death of the old Keeper. The flames signaling his life go out and Kassia steps in to the empty throne. As she does so, the Melkur disappears. Realizing what is happening, the Doctor rushes to the council chamber to stop the council from giving Kassia access to the Source. They ignore him and finish her initiation. The Doctor orders Adric below as Kassia disappears and is replaced by the Melkur.

Adric and Nyssa run back to the TARDIS where Adric shares with Nyssa the Doctor's plan to short circuit the Source. Unfortunately, if taken to it's full conclusion, it would also destroy the Source. Nevertheless, they begin to work on the device.

The Melkur takes his place as the Keeper and begins to tap into the power of the source, aligning it with the bio-function of the body. He orders Neman in and has him confine the council members to their quarters, including the Doctor with Tremas. Once in Tremas' quarters, he and the Doctor pull out the plan for the source where the Doctor works out a code that will cause the Source to reject the Melkur as Keeper.

Aware of what the Doctor could do, the Melkur orders Neman to find the plans in Tremas' quarters. As he does so, the Melkur appears and destroys them, unaware that the Doctor has already crafted his plan. The Melkur disappears and the Doctor knocks Neman and the guards out, allowing Tremas and himself to escape. They stun two additional guards before making their way to the central chamber.

Within the chamber, the Doctor and Tremas are able to enter just over half the code before the Melkur reappears and freezes both of them. He overpowers Tremas' will and forces him to kill Neman and nearly kill himself. He then takes the Doctor into the inner sanctum of the Keeper where both disappear.

The Doctor reappears within the Melkur and finally realizes it's the Master. The Master intends to use the power of the Keeper to enhance his own and also take over the Doctor's body, using his regenerations to augment his own, which he has exhausted. Just before he does, Adric and Nyssa finish attaching their device to the Source and cause it to short circuit. The feedback causes the Melkur TARDIS to begin to fail and the Master loses control. The Doctor dashes out and the Master rushes towards his original TARDIS in the form of a grandfather clock.

Adric and Nyssa run upstairs as the Doctor reappears in the Keeper's sanctum. Tremas, aware of the plan, rushes downstairs to disconnect the device once the code is input. The Doctor shouts for Adric to input the last digits of the code. Adric is able to put in most of the code before the atmospheric instability blows him back. The Doctor is able to get out of the sanctum and enter the last digit of the code, restoring stability to the Source. He then urges the two remaining council members to become the new Keeper before the Master can put his TARDIS back in. Councilman Luvic rushes in and is accepted as the new Keeper.

With a new Keeper installed, the Doctor and Adric say their goodbyes and head back to the TARDIS. Though they intend to go to Gallifrey, the Doctor makes mention of trying to fix up the TARDIS a bit.

Tremas and Nyssa decide to head back to their home for some rest. He sends Nyssa ahead while he checks on something. Distracted by the incorrect time on a clock, Tremas reaches up to fix the hands. He becomes paralyzed as he touches the face and the Master steps out of the clock, which is his TARDIS in disguise. He merges his body with Tremas' and Tremas' body becomes younger but now with the Master's mind, effectively killing Tremas. He steps in to the TARDIS and disappears as Nyssa walks back in, confused by her father's disappearance.

Analysis

I can definitely understand why this story is considered second tier. There are elements that are well done and certainly the acting is fairly good. But it is very talk-y and not in a good way. After a pretty interesting set up, Episodes Two and Three become something of a slog before the story whips back into gear with almost a frenzied and mildly unsubstantiated pace. So it's a question of balance and what do you like and what do you not like.

The Doctor is enjoyable here but also rather restrained. Much of Season 18 reflects his advanced age (and Tom Baker's health problems made this easier to convey) but despite that, this was the first story where I felt that the Doctor really was marching to his own doom. I think it's because he lost the buoyancy of Romana and that lack of levity drags him further down, although he does get a small crack of humor here and there. I actually prefer the Fourth Doctor in a more restrained state as his sillier performances can result in loss of the plot for me.

I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed Adric in this story. There seems to be a strong level of respect between him and the Fourth Doctor and I think the age gap between them produces a strong mentor/mentee relationship. The Fourth Doctor played a with that a bit with both Leela and Romana but there was more bite back as neither were going to form a master/student relationship with the Doctor. Adric does seem to be on his way to. What's more, he doesn't argue or talk of going to the other side. The Doctor lands to investigate, Adric follows to learn, they develop plans and Adric follows. No whining, no arguing, no backbiting about how the Doctor is wrong. Adric is at his best when a heavy hand is on him I think.

I also thought Adric had a nice relationship with Nyssa. I suspect that the scene where Adric takes Nyssa into the TARDIS is probably the instigator to why Nyssa was brought along as a companion. She and Adric actually share a nice bit of chemistry and they function as near equals, although it's clear that Adric takes the more Doctor-y role due to his increased experience both with the Doctor and in overall scientific knowledge. But it plays well between both of them.

Nyssa herself does very well. Sarah Sutton is trying to be restrained but you also see more regular emotion with her, especially in her interaction with Adric. Now to be fair, I can also see the coldly logical and wooden Nyssa in her performance. Again, I'm not sure what direction she was given in her character bio, but as emotive as everyone else is, her attempt at passivity always seems to come across as emotionally distant and that in turn makes her look like a bad actor. But for the most part, she does well here.

I've been on record before stating that I actually really enjoy Anthony Ainley and I think he gets a bad wrap for as hammy as he plays the Master for most of his tenure. Many fans point back to Tremas to indicate that Ainley had good acting chops which is rather ironic for me because I thought Ainley was too understated as Tremas. Tremas is a scientist who's world is going through great upheaval, to the point that one of his good friends on the council is murdered. Yet he always seems strangely distant. He very much reminded me of what many of Nyssa's performances would be like in future stories. I don't think he was bad, but having gone through the high energy and emotion that you get both from the Master and his disguises, Tremas just didn't grab me in a way that I thought he should. I felt like I should have cared more about him when the Master takes over his body rather than just the meh I felt.

On the subject of the Master, I thought the Geoffrey Beavers did a pretty good job as the Master. He got a touch over the top just before he tried to take over the Doctor's body and when the Melkur TARDIS began to destroy itself, but his period of restraint before this was quite good and full of menace. In many ways, it reminded me of Sutekh, although I don't think anyone could live up to the vocal performance that Gabriel Woolf gave. But from an overall level, I thought it was pretty good; certainly within the acceptance level of the Master as done in The Deadly Assassin, and at least here you can understand what the Master is saying. The use of the Master's TARDIS as the Melkur is also pretty good as it puts and interesting twist on the capabilities of an advanced TARDIS.

The rest of the cast was fairly non-descript, suffering from the same lack of passion that seemed to plague Nyssa and Tremas. The exception to that was Kassia who went waaaaay over the top in many of her scenes. Her acceptance of evil to accomplish her own goal of not having Tremas be made Keeper was a rather large step given what we were shown initially. I would have liked to have seen some quiet and intimate moments between her and Tremas to flesh out that she cared about him so much as to risk the destruction of Traken just so that they would be together. But instead, she's so focused on the plan and the tasks she must do for the Melkur, that she barely spends any time with Tremas. That just gives the impression that she's more mad than anything else and her over-the-top performance just gets in the way of that. Overall, she's a less compelling and interesting villain than the Master/Melkur and many of her scenes feel like "just get on with it" so we can see what the real strategist is up to.

A common comment about this story is how stagey it feels. I can't disagree with that as the studio was never really given much of an attempt to feel atmospheric. I also think that the rigidity and formality of the performers outside of the Doctor and the Master added to the feeling of having stumbled on a play. That being said, the sets were nice and I thought the direction didn't hurt the performance in any way, even if it didn't add much either.

Ultimately, the primary flaw of this story is that the central portion of it is a bit of a dull slog. This comes from both the plodding dialogue and the almost impassive delivery of most of the players. If a character like Tremas or Nyssa started showing more passion (and there were moments where Tremas did come close to it) the story would have had more buoyancy throughout and it might be regarded higher than it is. I would say that it's not bad, but there's not a lot that would convince me to regard it as that good either. Middle of the road would be a good way to describe it.

Overall personal score: 2.5 out of 5

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