PREAMBLE:
Some Doctor Who stories are more than just, well, stories. From time to time, they have more to offer, and more importantly, they have more to do. Sometimes they delve more into the mythology of the series – for example, “The Deadly Assassin” was not only a great story, it pulled back the curtain a bit on Gallifrey, and let viewers see more of the homeworld of the Time Lords more than they ever had before. Sometimes they’re more event than story – “The Five Doctors” is just as much a celebration of the series and an excuse to see some old friends as it is a story. Sometimes they have a job to do for the series above and beyond telling a story – episodes like “Planet of Fire” are as much about introducing a new companion (Peri) and saying goodbye to another (Turlough) as they are about telling a tale.
The regeneration stories are probably the most prominent example of this. Besides telling a story, anytime there’s a regeneration episode in “Doctor Who”, a new Doctor – the main character! – needs to be introduced, the roles of the companions need to be established (or re-established), the tone of the series usually needs to be redefined … there’s a lot of important things going on that affect the series as a whole beyond just the story. As such, there’s more going on in the story than there would be in just an “ordinary” Doctor Who serial. Not only does the Doctor need to save the planet, or the universe – he’s got to tell his audience who he is, and what kind of Doctor they can expect in the episodes to come!
With that said …
OVERVIEW:
“Castrovalva” is the Fifth Doctor’s first story … and, in many ways, it’s an excellent representation of the Davison era in that it’s a story that’s more style than substance. And by style, I don’t mean wobbling cardboard and styrofoam sets (although they’re certainly present) – rather, I mean that the stories are rooted in some pretty interesting, thought-provoking concepts, they have some memorable supporting characters, there’s some clever and witty dialogue, and there’s a quite a few scenes that come off incredibly well. Episodes like these are a ton of fun to watch, and they’re really good. Just so as long as you don’t stop to think about the substance – the plot.
Because if you stop to think about the plot for just a second, you’ll realize how utterly incoherent it is, and that it doesn’t make any sense.
And “Castrovalva”, if you stop to think about it for more than a second, is ludicrous.
Putting aside the Doctor’s post-regeneration woes for a moment, here’s basically what happens in “Castrovalva”: The Master, who’s apparently managed to completely understand the complex principles of block transfer computations (and build a hadron web for harnessing someone making those computations) in the five minutes between “Logopolis” and “Castrovalva”, sets a trap inside the TARDIS so it’ll travel back to the Big Bang just in case the Doctor doesn’t die from his fall from the Pharos Project.
Got it?
Also, just in case that doesn’t work, he uses Adric and his newfound reality-altering math abilities to create an imaginary planet as yet another trap for the Doctor, hoping to lure his adversary there so he can heal him up before he kills him.
Um … what?
So the whole plot basically revolves around the Master creating overly-complicated-and-elaborate trap after overly-complicated-and-elaborate trap for the Doctor, hoping that one of them actually manages to kill his sworn nemesis. (You know, rather than use his newfound ability to MATH WARP REALITY ITSELF to do something else way more cool first.) And the traps are all set up in sequential order, so if/when one ridiculous trap fails, there’s an even more ridiculous trap lurking behind it as a failsafe to take its place. (Sounds like the Master has some serious self-esteem issues, as if the poor bastard just naturally expects all of his plans to fall apart.)
Some of the elaborate death traps might make sense if they played up to the Master’s previously professed desires to “utterly destroy” the Doctor – meaning, he just doesn’t want to kill him, but he wants to humiliate him as well – but that doesn’t really work in “Castrovalva”. When the Master finally decides he wants to open the Zero Cabinet and kill the Doctor in the final episode of the story … well, who’s watching this supposed humiliation? Tegan, Nyssa, and a bunch of imaginary math people. Whoo! Humiliations galore.
Watching “Castrovalva” again, it really made me wish that the Master had a companion like the Doctor, sort of a Harley Quinn to the Master’s Joker, who could pull him aside and point out how stupid his plans are. Or, better yet, if the Master’s grandson – we’ll call him Scott Masters – travelled with our fine goateed maniac. (“Listen, I’ve got a gun. Instead on yet another crazy, insanely intricate, convoluted plan that has, like, a 2% chance of working, I’ll just shoot the Doctor in the head. If he regenerates, I’ll just keep shooting him until he runs out of them and finally dies. How’s that sound?”)
Which is a shame, because “Castrovalva” has plenty of good moments. In fact, some of them are great.
Peter Davison really shines in this story. Previous Doctors (namely, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker) didn’t really suffer all that much from post-regenerative trauma – they lay in bed for a little bit, acted a little odd and groggy, but were basically okay by the closing credits of their first episode of their first story. Davison got to start the unenviable trend of having the regeneration be something really traumatic, to the point where he’s either comatose or wildly unstable for the first episode, kind of putting-it-together for the second and third episodes (he’s okay at times, unsteady and confused at others) … and it’s only by the final episode of “Castrovalva” that he really comes into his one, playing the Doctor as the curious optimist, and strongly setting the tone for how he’d play the Doctor for the rest of his tenure in the role. Davison manages this progression in a rather effortless, natural way that makes his Doctor both sympathetic and believable. There’s no doubt that by the time that he finally confronts the Master in “Castrovalva”, he is the Doctor, and he’s undeniably put his stamp on the role.
Strangely enough, though, Davison being out of commission for most of the first two episodes of “Castrovalva” works beautifully for two of his companions - Tegan and Nyssa. Without the Doctor around, they're thrust into the limelight and are forced to become resourceful, resilient characters - their determination to help the Doctor and figure out what's going on is great to watch. Since they have more to do than ask plot forwarding questions like “What's happening, Doctor?” and “What's that, Doctor?” - and since the action's all happening in the TARDIS, with no other characters or storylines to interrupt them - the viewer gets a great look at these two characters at their best.
In some ways, it's a little too good, as seeing them shine like this makes some of their scenes later in the season - particularly some of Tegan's “take me home now!” tantrums - a little odd. But both Sarah Sutton and Janet Fielding are just great in this story, and their performances make it abundantly clear why the Doctor's put such great trust in them as his companions.
And once we get to Castrovalva, the other characters we meet are great as well. In particular, Michael Sheard as Shardovan is brilliant. His character could be over-the-top ridiculous, but instead he imbues the librarian of Castrovalva with a lovely gravitas that's awesome to watch. (His final line: “You may have made us, man of evil ... but we are free!” is absolutely terrific.) Also, Anthony Ainley chews the scenery as the Master, but when he's in his “disguised” role as the Portreeve, he's wonderfully understated.
“Castrovalva” also takes on some really intriguing story concepts, as do a lot of the stories in Davison's first season. Opening up the regeneration mythos with the Zero Room - a place of nonsensory interface - great idea. Further exploring the ideas of Logopolis and warping reality with mathematics - also great. The big ideas are wonderful ... it's just the details of how they fit together where things start falling a bit short.
Basically, it all works if you, as the viewer, just stay in the moment while you’re watching the four episodes of “Castrovalva”. If you just take everything at face value, and don’t question the hows and the whys of the story, you’ll be immensely entertained. It’s if you slow down to reflect on the details and examine them that you might find yourself shaking your head in bewilderment.
SINCE YOU'RE PROBABLY WATCHING THE DVD, COOL EXTRAS TO CHECK OUT: “Being Doctor Who” is a short interview with Peter Davison where he summarizes his tenure as the Doctor. Nothing earth-shattering in it - most of what he says is stuff he's mentioned in previous interviews (he really liked his 1st and 3rd seasons, didn't like his 2nd; he'd love to get another chance at the role now that he's an older, more experienced actor, etc.), but it's nice to have all the information gathered in one spot. “The Crowded TARDIS” is a short feature that covers how the number of Companions for the Doctor grew during the end of Tom Baker's tenure in the role, and continued throughout most of Peter Davison's time as the Doctor as well.
BOTTOM LINE:
Despite the flaws, still a very, very good start to Season 19 and the Peter Davison era. Not particularly an excellent story, but an excellent regeneration and beginning for a new Doctor and a relatively new crew of the TARDIS.
GRADE: B-
